Egypt Sketchbook Part 4

The top photo is the temple at Luxor (Thebes). This front section was built by Ramses II 1213 BC. The two earlier sections behind this were built by Tutankhamen and Amen-Hotep, 1327 and 1352 BC.

Imagining Egypt, A Living Portrait of the Time of the Pharaohs by Mark Millmore. Millmore creates computer illustrations of temples, structures and artifacts as they may have appeared when new and freshly painted. It is nice to see the structure complete, the missing obelisk returned from the country that pilfered it although it does look lovely in Paris where it seems at home and admired. Several obelisks have appeared in movies, recently in Angels and Demons.

The second photo shows Millmore's reconstruction of the Hypostyle hall inside the Temple of Isis that was on the island of Philae. Due to the construction of the Aswan dam bult in the 1960's, the Egyptian government and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), performed a massive joint effort, surrounded the island with a dam, labeled, removed and reassembled each stone on the island of Agilka Island. An impressive 10 year engineering rescue project as was the rescue of other beautiful temples. 2007 is the copyright date on his book.

The discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb is in Egyptologist Elizabeth Peters' mystery The Tomb of the Golden Bird, a nice brief description of what it may have been like to be an archaelogist at one of the most exciting moments.

Egypt Sketchbook Part 3

The wedjat eyes of Horus, the falcon god, all knowing.



I started this sketchbook in March. Spent time reading about Egypt before all the faces came together as a people instead of individual statues and sarcophagi.

Ancient life had a seasonal rhythm around the rising of the Nile, flooding of the fields, preparing for the crops that will feed a people for the coming year. The pharoah looked ahead, put aside food for a drought year, employed men in construction of burial sites and temples during the flood season when men could not tend the farms. Perhaps they were better planners than the world, 4000 years later.

Egyptian Sketchbook Part 2

Egyptian facebook.
Pakap, overseer of cultivated lands and scribes.
Tjayasetimu, 900 BC, singer of god's wife.
Padiamente, 700 BC, attendent and doorkeeper of the god Re at Thebes.
To the left is more of my antique necklace.

Heart scarab from the 18th dynasty. The heart was considered to be the seat of intelligence. It was the only organ left intact during the mummification process. All other organs were placed in four jars covered with god animal heads. The brain, considered mere stuffing for the skull, was removed and discarded through the sinus, replaced with sawdust.

Amenwahsu, overseer of granary. The image of the deceased is often shown holding baskets of grain or implements of harvest.

The god Horus, a falcon or hawk, his eye is a frequent symbol, "making whole", having regenerative powers. Wedjat Eyes appear on coffins, walls, as an amulet.

Egypt Sketchbook Part 1

Egyptian sketch journal via internet photographs and lots of library research. 31 painted panels, 9 feet, in a small accordion moleskine. I am lucky to have a library with a wonderful rare book room. They have a Tuttle book that unfolds to about 9 feet, a continuous folding Japanese painted screen.

Thinking about clothes to take to Egypt, my Lizard Island t-shirt, canvas hiking boots, an antique necklace of fruits carved in metal with the blossom and seed(s) on the underside of the fruit half. Thought this necklace would fit in well, a meeting of one art piece in a country of rich history and art.

Researching Egypt has been a pleasure. 90% of the country is desert so the patterns of desert sand and sky flow through the sketch journal.

Oceans

Just playing with shapes and colors. 9x12 watercolor.

Klown Korn Bread

Sketched the clown key tag last year and decided it would make a good recipe card. Slowly making a collection of sketched recipes for a postcard size album. The plastic pages protect the sketches. 3x5 inch watercolor.

Thought this sheer voile blouse was fun.

Villa Riviera

Long Beach's grand dame, Villa Riviera Hotel, built 1927 as coop apartments, on the corner of Ocean and Alamitos, faces downtown and acts as hostess to Shoreline Drive, access down to the marina and beach.

Sketched giant nasturciums that climbed my fence, then added the Villa a few days later, two skyscrapers.