December downsize
Perhaps you've surmised
We are moving
And always improving
To a small little flat
East London's where it's at
We'll be lean, mean and clean
Curated and green
I'm super keen
To be back in Bethnal Green...
...It feels like a goodbye to West London and to all my experiences there (Andy and his studio was a big part of this). Shepherd's Bush will always feel like home and the Central Line so convenient. Where Westfield goes, we go (joke)...
…I'm glad to have spent the pandemic with a garden and now ready to move into a beautiful cave of wonders that is our new (tiny) flat. This image is by Özge Gökbulut Özdemir and the whole Carpet Pages VII: GOLD show can be seen here. My work is increasingly online and, as we figured out, can be international - we've spent 2 out of 12 months abroad this year for various reasons and most of it was for work. So we don't need a large space. Miniatures are conveniently portable...
See the Carpet Pages VII: GOLD Show
…though I'll always make room for extra beautiful objects in my life and living space. We're downsizing but I don't believe in minimalism (sensory deprivation). Above is Katarzyna Depta-Garapich's beautiful bronze sculpture, also a performative prop...
...My work:
The historic gold standard (where each dollar was fixed to an equivalent in real gold) was abolished and then, to my mind, money became fictionalised. Freeing money from its attached equivalent constraints in reality sheds its weight and allows it to fly into fiction. Now money is understood in terms of belief and speculation. I work with the 1001 Nights - also a mirror for merchants - generating contemporary visual interpretations of the Arabian Nights.
The Nights are also an exercise in faith, belief and speculation (and gossip). Paper money is a promise - a promise to pay the bearer on demand and in some cases on the premise that the bearer has full faith and credit in the government of the United States. Gold is the most sensitive measure of inflation and reflects our understanding of value. Gold rises when we believe in fairytales more and falls when we believe in them less.
Playing in the amount or number 1001
I invested £1001 GBP in commodities and futures over a duration of 1001 days (and nights: money never sleeps) working with a professional trader friend. I was conservative; I did not engage in short-selling (selling things I don’t own, which originated during tulipmania in the 1600s in the Dutch Republic). The commodities that existed during the heyday of the Nights include ancient metals speculation (gold, silver, copper), lead, zinc, tin, wheat, oats, rice, milk, coffee, cotton. This golden graph (gilt in 23 carat gold and painted in shell gold) shows a year of gold rising from 13.6.2022 to 13.6.2023. Gold is finite on earth. (Imagine if there were whole planets made of gold! Then gold injections for arthritis wouldn’t be so costly). Value changes yet inherent value is fixed. We now value flexibility more. What is real value? What is value for money? ...
...We also downsized this year's End of Year student show, with the theme of Characters (something we've been working on this year - it continues for a bit next year and ends with a...mermaid! Yes!) ...
See the End of Year student show
...It's small but perfectly formed and worth reading the descriptions of some of the amazing Characters in the show.
Using an Everyman/Everywoman/Everyperson miniature stem-cell figure from which characters sprout, these artists created their very own characters. One miniature of a dervish was the baseline inspirational figure and although traditionally male, we flouted the rules - the theatre and pantomime regularly do. This year we have dealt with both stock characters that are a kind of shorthand for the viewer as well as fleshed-out, alive, nuanced people with personalities. The stock types deal with recognised categories; we designed characters who don’t easily fit into boxes. We made real, interesting personages and create guises and disguises that beguile. We took the idea of the Guild processions and Tarot archetypes to represent different strata of society, as if the character was in a play, the game of life, the veiled illusion that is the theatre of the world.
The artists researched and borrow bits from other miniatures and grafted them onto their figures. They repurposed actual historic figures. They invented entirely new ones. They added accessories, hats and fun shoes related to their interests. The result is a small yet colourful collection of characters in 2024's end-of-year show. The Characters classes linger on for a small while into 2025 and then give way to Animals and Oddities as we continue with our merry procession through the corpus of miniature painting. It's a mad frolicking world that loves life and dancing in the margins...
Book classes
...Here is Mansur's Zebra. Watch out for it coming to a class in 2025: I took close-ups of its rendering at the Victoria &Albert Museum's Mughals show. WHAT A SHOW - this was wonderful and the most miniatures together I've seen in a show recently. I took photos of every single one - there are a LOT. Please note that my aim is not to show the miniature in perfect lighting by itself - you can buy the catalogue for that - I'm showing specific things like how the gold shine looks from an angle, or the size of it (also compared to my finger), or it in context with other works. I am also not a good photographer, I know... these are 'working' images (again, buy the catalogue and better yet go see the show if you're able)...
See the V&A show from the comfort of your armchair - Join the Forum
... Take a look at all of my 2025 class schedule
2025 is the year of Magic in miniature painting, magic in different guises. Magic permeates the 1001 Nights as a central theme. We delve deeper into aspects of magic: astrology, horoscopes, oracles, tricks, diagrams, medicine, cintamani, illusions, cards, games and more. We see magic in the form of marvels and oddities, including Qazwini’s Wonders of Creation Aja'ib al-Makhluqat wa Ghara'ib al-Mawjudat (عجائب المخلوقات وغرائب الموجودات) and finally Animals, which are natural marvels in themselves. We include the animals of that other nested frame tale, the Kalila wa Dimna. We see the last of the TALES series.
We finish the last of the Characters series (culminating in a Mermaid!) and there are some new mini series including a Paper Toy Theatre mini series and a Weaving mini series. There is a Cards mini series as well as a charming Marginal Extras mini series. You can then incorporate these design and making skills into your own artworks. This is probably the last year of teaching so intensely and broadly and in the years to come we will refine and hone, doing fewer and more focused things. Please note that we will not be practising actual magic (this is forbidden in some countries); we are inspired by historic and contemporary magic especially vis-à-vis the Nights and study the functions of magic and its contexts. And of course: making beautiful and magical works of art!
As ever, the annual Elements series runs again this year, this time in reverse order (let’s see what magic happens then!). We sprinkle these classes with pareidolia and see anthropomorphic rocks, clouds, water and fire (which is magical alchemy - turn base metals into gold - learn the basics of gilding). Think of mimetoliths, the Face on Mars, ‘picture jaspers’ and the Man in the Moon himself (or the rabbit in the moon - who’s looking?). If I am able to get a suitable studio set-up, we see the return of oil painting classes in the later months - although this may possibly be the year after. (In terms of an exhaustive curriculum we’ve covered fauna but not flora: 2026 is finally about trees, plant life and the garden!) January sees an islands class (pair with the sea creatures for an aquatic theme) and also star charts and the start of some weaving. Tapestry hand weaving is a great art form you can do at home without a specialist studio. It's dry and also portable. I have often used it in my island works and look forward to more. If you haven't done the Elements cycle, now is a good time to start - we're going backwards this year so it starts with the Siyah Qalam class (you don't need to take them in order)...
Book January classes
Join the 1001 Nights reading group at any time!
...Here is a small selection of miniatures from the V&A show. Having taught this for over a decade now I have an idea what students perennially like. You'll see your favourites in the show. Yes the squirrel painting is there! And the angel Tobias. A couple of miniatures from the Akbarnama that we've worked on (painting labourers and launderers) - so lovely to see in real life and also good to know we've mostly got the sizes right - rarely are miniatures above A3 size. But the Hamzanama is not as big as I thought! ...
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..I just love seeing open books. THIS is the whole context of a miniature painting and it's often forgotten. Patrik and I teach the whole thing apart from calligraphy. Look at how the gold - and the paper - shine. I look forward to making many more books next year with him.
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A good holiday season present: If you'd like to own a print of a miniature: A Recreation of the Court of Gayumars use this discount code: GAYUMARS10 since you're getting this email. Go to: https://www.vaishaliprazmari.com/product-page/a-recreation-of-the-court-of-gayumars and add it at checkout...
Buy the PRINT here
...This was a miniature I'd never seen before and loved. This is pure art - the artist having fun. Doesn't particularly look like a commission. Look at the weird elephant-lion-bird. I'll incorporate this into the upcoming Elements cycle, likely in the Ether class.
While we move and transition, our in-person classes are on pause. Online ones all here: https://www.vaishaliprazmariteaching.com/book-online...
Book classes
...Since 2025 is the Year of Magic for me, I'll also be thinking about the last part of my PhD research - magic in the 1001 Nights and Islamic thought. I've honed it down to 2 things: talismanic shirts (which I've started) and falnamas (also started). Otherwise: there are divination bowls and above is a divination ring. Not fully sure how to use it so this might be part of the research. Next to that are some mother of pearl objects. These are so beautiful - another thing that, even in a tiny space I'd live with...
More brushes and beautiful tools herei
...Miniature painting brushes are small and portable. I look forward how my new space will influence the way I think, paint and work. My brushes are coming with me!All my brushes here: https://www.theperfectbrush.co.uk/shop And if you want to paint your own Carpet Page, here's the link to my Make a Carpet Page e-course. Once downloaded it's yours to keep forever or alternatively, purchase some easy-watching, relaxing painting films. You can get your own ALADDIN toy theatre here - something fun to do in the lull between Christmas and New Year, traditionally a toy theatre time...
Book classes
...I'm also teaching a class dedicated to cintamani next year - above are some examples from the V&A main Islamic collection (although this pattern is found all over Asia). The Forum is here: https://www.miniaturepaintingforum.com It's got many more armchair shows to browse! The monthly meeting link is also over at the Forum, which now is a real hub of information and you just need to scroll around or use the Search tool to find information. It's sorted into broad categories too.
Join our monthly Zoom meeting on 21 January 2025 from 5pm to 6pm London time using the link via the Forum https://www.miniaturepaintingforum.com or here's the direct link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87664495686?pwd=NxaklaodaIAJ8E86biaZWleaVbIon8.1
Meeting ID: 876 6449 5686
Passcode: 514930...
All welcome - note time change from now on to 5pm (to accommodate taught classes).
...LOOK CLOSELY: I went to the V&A show with my friend who is a brilliant scholar and his eye was trained in things I am not... he told me to look closely as there is WRITING all over some of the miniatures. I have been doing eye-skip for years it turns out! They are signatures and other things written about the painting, who did it, who it is a likeness of, whether it is a good likeness... fascinating. But you do really need to go and see the show in order to see them. They don't show up well in print. I used the macro lens on my iPhone for these...
...I saw Tim Burton at the Design Museum. It was great to show the kids his drawings and models and then watch Beetlejuice with them later. Below is Monster Chetwynd's sculptures at Gloucester Road tube stations. Tube stations are a great place for art! Captive audience...
...I took the kids to see Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre at the Natural History Museum as I wanted them to see the connection between birds and dinosaurs. Also, I increasingly adore birds - I teach painting birds fairly often and I wanted to understand the science more myself.
Then we walked around the museum as we always do as they have their favourite bits. At the end I asked them: 'So what did we learn today, kids?' And the eldest thought for a bit and without a trace of sarcasm (not old enough yet) replied, 'Um, that dinosaurs celebrate Christmas?' Anyway... the Himalayan Monal is my favourite bird. Has anyone seen one in real life? What's your favourite bird? (I always ask my students and there are as many different answers as there are birds.)...
...I love London. I was born here, my children were born here, I met my husband here, my parents met here and I live here. To me it's still the greatest city in the world despite its flaws. This is London looking good before Christmas. I like crossing the river as it reminds me of why I love living here. Shakespeare's Globe was lit up in a clever way with moving LEDs.
And our yearly panto (it had to be Aladdin for me but I'd like to try Dick Whittington next year) was fun. I love how they make it location-specific. Last year it was set in a Hackney launderette; this year at the Lyric it was set in a Hammersmith launderette. They made fun of posh people and all the adult jokes you could want - the posh evil sorcerer said 'lahmp' instead of lamp and the cave of wonders was set in the middle of Lidl. They even cleverly changed the lit-up Aladdin sign to read 'Lidl'. The rest of London theatre and musicals cater to an international crowd as they should but these are national, indeed, local, in-jokes. 'Every lidl helps'. Can you actually 'Taste the Difference'? See it, say it, sorted. 'Go COMPARE'!
...this is why we're leaving our house: it's beautiful but damned. There are lots of things wrong with it and I've come to learn that houses are never in a perfect state of bliss - something is always leaking somewhere, there is a hole (there is a mouse in that hole), this is broken, that needs fixing. I am looking forward to moving to a smaller flat. Lean, mean and green! Below is our current green room with a little green elf in it who's stuck loads of Scrabble tile stickers onto his face.
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Festive frolics! Kinetic Kwanzaa! Enjoy the holidays! See you in 2025!
Streamlinedly yours,
Vaishali Prazmari
P.S. I've got an idea to share: since January is cold and depressing, I'm using my spare Advent Calendar backwards, counting backwards from Christmas so keeping Christmas vibes alive then gradually easing myself into the new year and new season. So you start with 24 (which is Christmassy - for instance, Christmas tea for me, since mine is a tea advent calendar, highly recommended) - and then you go through all the numbers backwards till 1, which should ease the transition a little. Let me know if this works for you, this is the first year I'm doing it! I had a 2nd tea advent calendar as a gift from a friend but you can buy them now - and they'll be cheaper!
