Sunday, December 29, 2013

Art in many forms



The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, MD

We visited the Walters Museum in Baltimore to see a special exhibit Egypt's mysterious Book of the Faiyum, an ancient scroll done in hieroglyphics. The artifacts surrounding this work of art were so very interesting. (pics prohibited) I not only saw drawings/manuscripts and art but jewels and mummies of crocs. Don't miss this one.
While here we looked around at the book binding exhibit and although I can't quote names of the makers, they were awesome little gems. Lookie...
Here are two shots of the beautiful books. The one above would make a glorious quilt, no??
The one at the right is bound on six sides! and opens in a zig-zag method, each section a different book!

I love a book, don't love the kindle as much as I do a book, although it has it's good points. I like to hold a book and not scroll from page to page if I missed something. Funny how we have to scroll from page to page now, like the old scribes who wrote in hieroglyphics on papyrus.

The museum provided us with a small piece of papyrus to write our story, but I took mine home instead, to write a story and put it in my journal.
While here we also visited the medieval floor, holding a lot of paintings as well as furniture, dishes, jewelry, suits of armor and swords. I was taken with this particular piece. Now, we all know there are a lot of Mary and Jesus interpretations. This one caught my eye because there is intricate delicate subtle design in the halos and it looks so like quilting pattern. The gold leaf isn't etched, but there is texture, and the design within the halo is so faint but so detailed. Always thinking of quilting, aren't you?
 No visit to a museum is complete without shopping in the giftshop. There are treasures and trinkets specific to each museum. I had been coveting jewelry that looked ancient and some modern, sketchbooks, purses, then This little fellow sang out to me!!  I chortled along with him! He looked like joy to me. This picture just doesn't do him justice but Drew picked him up, and like a puppy, once you pick 'em up it's alllllll over.
He obviously came home with us and lives in our cheerful clutter reminding us to find enjoyment in the mundane and oh so daily life we live. He might have led me to a word to explore for the new year.
Enjoy.     We'll see....
Hope you enjoyed our trip to the gallery, and are doing something different over the holidays. Tell me about your adventures...
(scroll down for studio pictures)
LeeAnna
linked to sew-darn-crafty-

4 comments:

Elita@Busy Needle Quilting said...

So very true, that we see quilty things everywhere! :-) It's inevitable but it's also very interesting. And like you, I think that book cover (the green with the starburst) would be an astounding quilt. You ready to tackle that project this year? ;-) Thanks for sharing!

Val's Quilting Studio said...

Joy in the mundane...I like that!!! He DOES look joyful...I would have grabbed him right away too!!! THanks for sharing your outing....

Maria said...

Love the little guy! Looks like a fun time to be had! Happy New Year!

Adventurous Quilter said...

Looks like a great place to visit! I look forward to following your quilting journey in 2014, Happy New Year!