This picture was made largely adapted from a fragment of Gothic architecture I found in Richard Glazier’s Manual of Historic Ornament (archive dot org). I combined three primary colors with black ink, and shaded and colored using inktense pencils.
Read MoreDuring my last cruise we stopped briefly in Casablanca, Morocco. I took tons of pictures of historic buildings and this one detail caught my eye, I adapted it as string for this piece. Tangled and shaded with Inktense pencils and Pitt Artist brush pens.
Read MoreBack in 1998 I went to Bali and it was an enchanting place for someone who enjoys ornament and patterns. I extracted the outline of a photo I took back then and used it as a string for this piece. Turned out a little whimsical, almost Seussian. You can see a couple of critters happily playing here and there.
Read MoreThis is a picture that I created while aboard my last cruise crossing the Atlantic. Before crossing westbound we visited Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Tenerife Islands, and I captured some of the details of the beautiful Parish of St. Francisco de Asís. I have to confess that this picture feels a bit “too pink” for my taste!
Read MoreI've been MIA for over 20 days for a good reason: my husband and I went on a month-long adventure which included crossing the Atlantic on a cruise from Europe to Brasil, with some dear friends. Before leaving I selected some pictures to work on while aboard: this one is based on a Gothic artifact found in the John Leighton’s Suggestion of Designs (1880) found in archive dot org. Inktense pencils and Pitt Brush pens with a waterbrush.
Read MoreAnother picture with tangle Amplion (Nina Dreher-Goddertz). I also included a historic fragment taken from Herbert Cole’s Heraldry and Floral forms (1922, found on archive dot org). It's a beautiful design of a 15th century French coffer. Tangled and shaded using Inktense pencils and Pitt Brush pens with a waterbrush.
Read MoreMy second picture inspired by Inktober Tangles 2024 including Heart Nouveau (Romi Marks), Feist (Stephanie Jennifer) and half of an S Bahn (Midori Furuhashi). I’m REALLY in love with this picture, still using Inktense pencils and Pitt Brush pens with a waterbrush. When I participate in Inktober, I tend to do it a little erratically, picking the tangles I like instead of going in order.
Read MoreThe name of this picture should be “do as I say, don’t do as I do”. I often tell my students “don’t outline your work otherwise it looks cartoony”. And my hand did just that! Here I have two tangles from Inktober Tangles 2024: Amplion by Nina Dreher-Goeddertz and Heart Nouveau by Romi Marks. Drawn using Inktense paint pads and Pitt brush pens with a waterbrush.
Read MoreThis picture is an adaptation of a design found in a book by Augusto Garneri (1921) at archive dot org and is described as taken from a Celtic Anglo Saxon manuscript miniature. Looking at other ornament books I found similar designs, so it was probably popular motif in Celtic manuscript illumination. I mixed some techniques there and it took me forever to complete! Tangled with inktense pencils, brown micron and Pitt brush artist pens.
Read MoreI'm in love with all the Art Deco architectural jewels of Los Angeles. The Pantages is one of my favorites, and here you see a small fragment from that magnificent theater, combined with Sunbelt, a tangle by Jody Genovese. Drawn using Inktense paint pads and Pitt brush pens with a waterbrush. I'm very happy with the dramatic results!
Read MoreAnother picture based on a historic photo I took in Santa Monica, CA, 1999. Unfortunately I did not register exactly where it was taken. It seems to have a Romanesque feeling - obviously as a revival, since that style appeared around 11th century. I did not try to reproduce the picture accurately, but instead used as inspiration for a stylized version. Drawn using Inktense paint pencils and Pitt brush pens with a waterbrush.
Read MoreGoing through my old photographs and I found some historic ornament that I took in Santa Monica, CA in 1999, wow! I had just moved to Los Angeles a few years before and I was using my faithful Nikon FM camera to take pictures of historic ornament wherever I could. This picture is inspired in one of those close-ups, probably from the Santa Monica Professional Building. Drawn using Inktense paint pads and Pitt brush pens with a waterbrush.
Read MoreThis arch is adapted from a Renaissance arch from the book “Suggestions of Design” by John Leighton and James Colling (1880) found on archive dot org. I also added some Found Flowers on a frame around the arch. Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens. If you goto my blog you'll see I wasn’t able to stay faithful to the original - I love the way my hand just takes over and adds whatever details it feels like.
Read MoreAn Art Raffle game gave me Fife, Eofer and Mooka. I included one fragment of each, plus added a little random flower to fill up the empty space. Using again that lovely color palette with green, blue and purple. Love that one! Tangled with inktense and pitt artist brush pens.
Read MoreMixing and matching fragments is such fun! In this piece I used a combination of three fragments: Tufton (Jodi Christiansen), Stacked Mooka, Munchin (Zentangle) and also an ogee dome. This is part of a mix and match study I did almost a while back, but only developed the final piece now. Tangled with inktense and pitt artist brush pens.
Read MoreThis color scheme was not my favorite when I finished the piece - what was I thinking! - but it's starting to grow on me. Here is Pickpocket (Tomàs Padros) and also a coiled ribbon pattern similar to Cadent with a lotus in the middle, found on Plate X (Egyptian) of the Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones, 1865. Ancient Egyptian ornament was mostly very geometric; flowing lines like this were very rare. Tangled with inktense and pitt artist brush pens.
Read MoreMy art-cheological explorations are not always historic in the traditional sense: this fragment was found in one of my sketch papers from January 2023. The quote is from a friend who told me to “focus on the solution, not the problem”. I don’t even remember what the problem was at that time, so clearly it has been solved! Tangled with inktense and pitt artist brush pens. Love the color palette!
Read MoreContinue to explore the world of historic ornament. This one is my interpretation of a detail found in the Chaukhandi Tombs, a 500 year-old necropolis richly carved in sandstone, located near Karachi in Pakistan. Photos were graciously shared with permission by Tahamie Farooqui, a very talented photographer referred by Jenny Farooqui. Many thanks for the gorgeous pictures and referral! Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens.
Read MoreI can’t get enough of Byzantine and Romanesque ornament. I found this one with a typical S-scroll vine in the book Byzantine and Romanesque Architecture by Thomas G. Jackson, 1913, page 256. I replaced some of the leaves with berries and light tangling. Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens.
Read MoreI have a thing for the “palmette”, a historic motif used by many ancient civilizations. In this Assyrian design it is flanked by what seem to be two birds deities or birds of prey (mine look a bit like tangled chickens, hahahaha). Palms were sacred trees for the Assyrians and the palmette was their main motif of ornamentation, along with the round daisy-shaped rosettes. Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens.
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