Books and leather and tools arranged
And theatres and shows and jars that are strange
If you scroll to the end
Hop a carpet, my friend
To another Shahrazad exchange...
...[whistled to the tune of Disney's Aladdin opening theme song Arabian Nights]...
Now let's open the book...
...this is the classic Islamic envelope flap. This is not a feature of all Islamic books, but it is unique to Islamic bookbinding. It's another part of the cover to play with...
Page control: Download free Geometry of the Page resources here
…and here is an open page...
...and here is another page. Little fluffy clouds - an in-person class I am also teaching next week at the Princes School. [Will it be the King's School? Will it be the Royal School, although that's already taken by many farsighted organisations? Is it Charles? Is it William? Will there be a royal family? Will there be a Royal Mail? Will there be a Royal Mail that doesn't fail?]...
...I continue to take solace in little outlying floating islands, hovering outside the margins and happy in their own little perfect worlds, discrete and complete...
...this is the tidiest our working desk gets. My gorgeous and handsome employee Patrik likes a tidy workspace before he starts his design and leather work, preparing his coffee, his laptop and cleaning his mind and mood and getting ready to focus (what a hipster). I on the other hand have just learnt to start work without procrastinating, as I am hyper-aware that life exists in little window periods of unbroken time, so the second I am in the studio I am 'on' and just go for it. 0 to 60 in less than 10 seconds flat. On the other hand, this is what my elegant member of staff can do...
…a turquoise cover in progress for an island book! This made me smile and I actually want to hug this book! It feels like my adored indentured worker is hugging me as well - the book cover hugs the book block tightly, embraces it in the Islamic style I love so much. It transported me to my childhood when I saw those colours together in real life (since this existed in my mind only) and happy to share this very personal feeling now. We are teaching a class in how to make Islamic book covers at the Princes School in May as a husband and wife team. In the meantime, there are miniature bookmaking classes on the wife's website at https://www.vaishaliprazmariteaching.com including a Floating Islands book and a Bestiary....
Book the Books
…wouldn't it be nice to have a wife? Perhaps then I could take my slippers off, put my feet up and relax sometimes and watch Netflix. Here are some golden slippers conjured during the last Tales class where we focus on a singular item or object or character each time, aiming to finish in class...
...and this is a blanket to symbolically keep you warm. It's still cold here and we're entering another cold spell (hopefully the last - I am ready for spring!). There will be more exciting TALES classes inspired by the 1001 Nights throughout 2023 and probably beyond for a bit...
Book TALES classes
...and I'm seeing books everywhere now. These have been rebound in European style (which is a bit stronger, according to the way they are stored presumably). This is an early Arabic bestiary (there aren't that many illustrated ones) - a Kitab al-hayawan - possibly Baghdad, possibly 1225 and definitely in the British Library...
...and above is another book in the British Library's Alexander the Great show - which was FULL of miniatures, and which I'll post in all their glory at the Forum later. Here he is founding Alexandria. There will be a bit of an additional bookish theme for this year's Forum meetings, or whenever we get tired of books (when is that?!). The Zoom link is via the Forum https://www.miniaturepaintingforum.com or here's the direct link: Monthly Miniature Meeting 21.2.23, 6 to 7pm London time - all welcome MARCH MEETING Vaishali Prazmari is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Vaishali Prazmari's Miniature Monthly Meeting 21.3.23, 6 to 7pm London time Time: 21 March, 2023 6pm London Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83984748743?pwd=L2dkTDIxSmFZSmV5dVBMQ1dMeDdoUT09
Meeting ID: 839 8474 8743
Passcode: 270677
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...I am also giving a talk on Toy Theatres at this year's Colour and Poetry event at the Slade. It'll be online and recorded, and perhaps I can share it later. Pictured is my darling workhorse - not my husband but my little Clouds brush, which you can purchase here: https://www.theperfectbrush.co.uk/shop ...
More brushes and beautiful tools here
…And my own toy theatre is with the graphic designer, being tidied up. I love the theatre. I love total control. Therefore I love the toy theatre!! (Not sure if in the big theatre you can have the total control you can with a paper one!) I'm excited to start the ornamentation and share it with you and also my children. They love the theatre, and they are out of control. I am that mother who drags them around art galleries and museums (oh yes I am). Actually, in fairness, they love what THEY love, so we do that too: we saw Soheila Sokhanvari's show Rebel Rebel at Barbican's Curve, paintings and film in a giant crystal below (more on the Forum, later), and the theatre beneath, and some sculpture shows - I realise they respond more readily to sculpture over painting. Fair enough!
We visited Ancient Egypt at the British Museum, at the older one's request. Now, I LOVE ancient Egypt! We are so into this in our homeschool that we are just going to sit with this theme for a while. What a fascinating ancient culture. I never did this in school, to my regret - perhaps it had something to do with moving country; I did Hong Kong and briefly China's history, and I also remember learning about cave people and then in the UK we did cave people a little bit and for some reason zhoomed to Greeks and Romans. I was always confused about this, and the timeline I'm making with my son is helping, as well as numerous children's history books which are so good nowadays and so fun to read together (any recommendations? We love Dorling Kindersley and Usborne ones). Ancient Egypt also seems so futuristic - look at that sphinx. Also I think it' s a way for children to process the idea of death somehow more easily, with the mummies. That gallery at the museum is always packed. I always walked past it but now that my kid is into it, so am I, in a big way! Ancient Egypt is now my hobby, imagine that! Even canopic jars - where they store the organs which they pull through the nose, which should be disgusting... somehow isn't disgusting in the context of ancient Egypt. Maybe because it's just so long ago....
...and long ago, in 2017, I started this green carpet page painting. 5 years later, it is almost complete (!). People often ask how long a work takes to do... it's a hard answer as of course I had gaps of months and even years in between when I didn't touch it. So honestly I don't know, I didn't work on it full time, clearly...
...I will finish this quite soon though, and I plan on teaching a class in this special way I constructed it. It's a non-traditional approach to carpet page making and may be this year's Carpet Pages offering, as it's an analytical approach I made up that really helped me and may help others. Egyptically yours,
Vaishali Prazmari
P.S. Beneath is the Shahrazad Exchange, somewhere between Baker Street and Paddington, I forget where exactly. I walked and wandered on my own on a rare warmish night when I was alone walking to the bus and thinking about my 1001 Nights PhD, thinking about Shahrazad actually, and looked up, and there she was. I love moments like those, they seem like a signpost from the universe telling you to carry on walking your path, that it's the right way, somehow. I'll continue flying with my babies into the 1001 Nights. I still carry them on my back - vertically - when I don't have trapped nerves. I think they'll jump on my back - horizontally - forever. Apparently this game is called 'Mama playground'!
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