An Arty Weekend Part II

My friend Barbara and I got to play in her studio. We did small watercolor flowers and I experimented with squares of watercolor and colored pencil.

We certainly made time to go to some galleries and museums. The New Mexico History Museum was exhibiting the St John's Bible. There are several sites that cover this historic piece, but you might try: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/stjohnsbible/stjohns-exhibit.html. This is a "current" copy of the Bible that was spear headed by Donald Jackson. After three years of planning, the Bible, written on vellum, was started in 2000 and finished in May of 2011. It is all hand lettered and illustrated. In 1,150 pages only nine identified calligraphic errors remain. Quills were used and had to be sharpened after about one quarter of the page was written. There are stunning illuminations. The Benedictine monks at Saint John's University and Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota gave the go ahead for this project.

Margarete Bagshaw is a third generation of women artists. She had pushed the boundaries of "Native art" and does large canvases of abstract art in bright colors. Photos of her brilliant work can be seen at: http://search.aol.com/aol/image?s_it=topsearchbox.imageDetails&v_t=nscpsearch&imgsz=&imgtype=&imgc=&q=Margarete+Bagshaw

There were smaller galleries to visit and Monday, as I was leaving town we stopped to hear a talk by James Drake who does large pastels and/or charcoals. The Red Mirror was 136" by 256" (approximately 11'x32') was done on paper that was cut in irregular shapes and pasted on a canvas. This was done in red pastel somewhat in the style of Raphael. Info can be found at: http://www.artknowledgenews.com 12_11_2011_02_05_34_the_new_mexico_museum_of_art_highlights_a_solo_show_of_works_by_james_drake.html

I've included a picture of Barbara, "my sister" and me (on the right). Many thanks for a terrific weekend!