Spring bling
Golden showers
A despot and
A gentle flower
Mehmed the Second
The Renaissance reckoned
With some grandiose magnificent
Turban tortellini
This Sultan was also
Painted by Bellini…
...gold sprinkling in the margins, or zarafshan, was common in Safavid manuscripts. I decided to demonstrate this golden snow on a piece that will be pure fire....…fire that is not quite in this Phoenix's eyes - she's more annoyed than furious. An angry bird…
… whose mood, with a simple curve of a brushstroke, can be changed into a surprised Simurgh. I also couldn't resist adding on a punk feather to the top of her head. Oh, and I changed her tail...
…because as artists, we can do whatever we like, change what we like, something I like to generally encourage.
This dawn tulip's stem is blue - dawn because that's the time I painted it (odd working hours often being the norm for mothers) and that was the colour of the budding spring sky outside …
…and April's edition of the Faces series is Mehmed II 'the Conqueror' who sniffs a flower to show off his refined aesthetic sensibilities. In his other hand he clutches the fabric of his garment in the way he clutches at the edges of his empire. On one bejewelled hand, elegantly poised fingers clamp a rose; the other is a fist grip from which nothing escapes…
The hands, the nose, the pursed lips say it all. But the eyes really have it - where, exactly, is he looking? Constantinople? Serbia? Bosnia? Trebizond? Moldavia? Albania? Or possibly he’s thinking of one of his five wives? Or perhaps even Venice and the Renaissance painters who also painted his portrait in oils?
I love a good despot.
It reminds me of qualities I should avoid cultivating in my own life...
https://www.vaishaliprazmariteaching.com...
..
…and one quality I would like to continue cultivating is the ability to fi-ni-sh paintings that take absolutely ages, like this one - still in progress since before Covid. I wonder how many people have unfinished work started pre-pandemic and that they had to change mid-course to adapt to new realities. This painting has certainly been through the trenches. Looking at it upside down helps with decision-making. It's so near, and yet so far… like the world of painters such as Nainsukh, a renowned Indian miniature painter and the subject of one of my now-favourite films. We discuss anything miniatures-related and more at the free monthly meeting - in a rare burst of super-organisation I've uploaded the Zoom links for both the March and April meetings over at the Forum https://www.miniaturepaintingforum.com ...
…less organised but no less important are this year's instalment of Carpet Pages - which will be a in the form of a flying carpet - I've decided to be freer with the concept of Carpet Pages and no longer restricting the format to shows but extending it to projects I want to do - and in a similar vein, dreaming up other projects for my brushes and beautiful tools and desk accessories working in partnership with my design husband. https://www.theperfectbrush.co.uk More coming in spring...
…which is a season I'd also like to make into an Amit Dutta film season. I love his film Nainsukh and want to see much more. I highly recommend this haunting, spare film that imagines glimpses into the life of the artist as we follow his experiences and thoughts that eventually he turns into paintings. It's as much a beautiful film as it is a paean to the artistic painting process itself. The cinematography is knowingly arranged just like a miniature painting. I'll leave you with some gorgeous stills....
...family life is rarely that still. Once when I was doing life drawing with my kids, I was engrossed in looking at the Zoom model and back again to my paper, and my hand found that my paper wasn't there anymore because in fact the whole easel had walked away - the kids had found the A shape of the easel funny and were hiding and giggling together underneath in their makeshift house and walking around the living room with it. Hilarious! I let the eldest paint the sea freely with my oils on the rare occasion he's allowed to use them (they're not for kids) and the youngest can walk, run and now climb. Onwards and upwards!
Movingly yours,
Vaishali Prazmari
