Ancient Manuscripts, Gluttony and the Czech Republic
September 27, 2012

"I am an explorer of  food"  Erma Bombeck

Greetings folks...happy you're here! I love sharing my art and inspiration with you. This week's 6-word memoir (above) is inspired by the challenge blog called COLLAGE OBSESSION...their theme is "confections-"  YUM  :)

TAKE A WORD blog's challenge is to create an art piece with a manuscript theme... I went mostly medieval!

 My last art pieces for this posting are inspired by the Art and Sole Postcard Challenge, my year-long commitment. This week, we take a virtual trip to the Czech Republic. My correspondants all met in Prague, the Czech Republic's capital city!  It's a smorgasboard of architectural styles, artistic details, painted (sgraffito) buildings and patterned pavements. From the cobblestones underfoot to the spires on its churches, every element is meant to be pleasing to the eye!  Here  are some of the outstanding sites...

Both of the buildings above are adorned with sgraffito... centuries old, they're a precursor to today's graffiti!

These are views of the famous Charles Bridge and a view FROM the bridge. It connects Prague's Old Town and New Town. It's decorated with statues and is a popular place for food, art and souvenir vendors.

The ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK in the Old Town Square is a sight to behold! It's original parts date back to the 1400's, but has been updated throughout the centuries. It tells time, but also shows the positions of the moon and sun, astrological signs, sunset and sunrise times and even the phases of the moon...though it takes a genius to figure it all out at first glance! It also has a collection of figures that come out each hour! Simply amazing!!!

Marionette operas and theater are a prominent part of Prague's contemporary art and culture scene...it has a long history throughout the Czech Republic.

The John Lennon graffiti wall dates from 1980 to the present. During communist times, it was used as a place for student commentary and today is a wall of peace and love!

One of the most unusual and bizarre sights I've ever seen (as my husband and I were really in Prague...these are my photographs...) was just a couple of hours outside of Prague in KUTNA HORA... the Bone Chapel. It's a small church that holds the bones of more than 40,000 people, most of whom died during the Plague. All the decorations in the chapel are made of human bones.

This is actually a family coat of arms!

Now for the Art and Sole POSTCARD CHALLENGE correspondance postcard and book page...

Thanks so much for joining me for this posting... hope to see you for the next. Wishing you the best...

Hugs,

abbyj 

GREETINGS...

MOSTLY ART... 
July 31, 2011 

Hi Friends, Family and Visitors,
Happy to "see" you here. I hope you've had a good week! 
As is my custom, here's this week's 6-Word Memoir to start my blog posting...

"world traveler, unique friends...same heart"

 

A while ago, I collected some of my favorite people photos from a variety of our travels and constructed the poster above...such different faces, lifestyles and environments...but all have the same heart. The more we travel, the more we realize that basic human nature is the same...a good thing!

It's wonderful to have healing time for my back, stretching before me...lots of time to make art! Here are some of this week's challenges, answered...

CRAZY AMIGOS asked to see in which shoes we walk...

TAKE A WORD asked participants to work within the SEPIA color range...I did two...the one above (MODELS) and below (NATIVE)

The newest TAKE A WORD challenge has to do with illustrating a favorite song...

COLLAGE OBSESSION announced it's challenge to be based on the theme of GLUTTONY...

and finally, SUNDAY POSTCARD ART was in the mood for WINGS...

That's all the standing I can do for now...so, 'til my next posting, thanks so much for stopping by- I hope you'll return again! Have a great week, all!

xox,
abbyj