Thoughts On Hugs

Thoughts from last weekend …

(And a total fluke that the next one – typed yesterday – actually follows perfectly on from the last.)

Faience – An Ancient Craft

Lotiform Cup, Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22, ca. 945–715 BCIn Ancient Egypt, the colour blue symbolised the Nile, the waters of heaven and the home of the gods; green evoked the ideas of regeneration, rebirth and, more literally, represented vegetation.

The two colours were utilised in jewellery, in the form of turquoise and lapis lazuli, stones rare and precious in the ancient world. They were also expensive to come by. From about 3500 BC, a material called faience – perhaps expressly invented for the purpose – became a less costly substitute. The Egyptians used faience to create amulets, beads, rings, scarabs, shabti, small dishes and other decorative objects.

A necklace composed from various faience beads and amulets, late 2nd and 1st Millennium BCFaience is a non-clay ceramic with a glossy, vitrified surface. Made from fine-ground quartz or sand mixed with additives, it is glazed using various methods, and finally fired. Initially, copper was added to achieve a turquoise colour, and manganese for black. Around 1500 BC – at the beginning of glass production – additional colours were created using cobalt for blue, manganese for purple, and yellow from lead antimonate. It was not an easy substance to work with, softening during construction, and so moulds were often used. Beads, for instance, were made as solid forms, holes being drilled after firing.

The unique look of faience, the limited colour palette imposed by the technology of the time, and not least the delicate intricacy of the designs, are what give Ancient Egyptian jewellery its distinctive appearance. Today faience jewellery is precious in its own right.

Detail of a necklace composed from various faience beads and amulets, late 2nd and 1st Millennium BC

Sweet Madeleine

From sweet Caroline to madeleines to Valentines – that’s the trail of rhymes that leads to this Valentine illustration.

Did you know that the scallop-shaped madeleine cakes were named after one of King Stanislas’s maids, in 1755? In the middle of dinner, the king’s pastry chef went off in a huff without preparing dessert. It was left to a maid to save the day, and when the King demanded to know who was responsible for this delicacy, he named the sweet cakes after their maker. (Read the full story here.)

Hope something sweet comes your way today. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Make Love, Not War

‘The Love Letter’, Fragonard, c. 1778, framed by Keats’ missive to his anxious muse Fanny Browne; image from British Vogue

Need some last minute inspiration for that Valentine to your beloved? Read on …

My dearest Lady,
You fear, sometimes, I do not love you as much as you wish? My dear girl I love you ever and ever and without reserve. The more I have known you, the more I have loved.

In every way – even my jealousies have been agonies of love, in the hottest fit I ever had I would have died for you … You are always new.

The last of your kisses was ever the sweetest; the last smile the brightest; the last movement the gracefullest … The anxiety shown about our Loves in your last note is an immense pleasure to me; however you must not suffer such speculations to molest you any more: nor will I any more believe you can have the lest pique against me …

Remembrances to your Mother.
Your affectionate,
J. Keats

Click on the tearsheets below and see what Zelda said to F. Scott, how Victor Hugo expressed himself when he wasn’t writing French masterpieces, and just what was going through Napoleon’s head when he wasn’t making war. (From Antonia Fraser’s Love Letters.)

Tearsheet from unknown Australian magazineTearsheet from unknown Australian magazine

Etched

‘Distant’, Angela SmithRecently I’ve been working on an illustration for the Lawler Studio theatre with a dragon theme (nothing to do with it being the Year of the Dragon however). The original concept was inspired by monotone etchings, although the final piece is rendered in two colours.

Untitled, One Pink Goose (flickr)I have never done etching, although it’s something I would really like to do. I love the contrasting textures of etchings, the soft, smudgy expanses, the sharp linework, so for this illustration I tried to emulate the look using pen and ink, and conté. A final layer of colour was applied with watercolour paint. It’s an interesting experience creating a piece of fine art to someone else’s brief: although I’m happy with the final piece, it wasn’t my favoured resolution. (I’ll be able to show you the evolution in March, after publication.)

Here though are some of the lovely etchings that inspired me. My particular favourites were Angela Smith and Tommaso Gorla – both of whom whose work is sinister and surreal, transporting one into a dark fairytale world. Their etchings really tell a thousand words.

Tommaso Gorla‘Amy’s Travels’, Belinda Nye, 2008