new pieces from ornament/monument series

images were taken from my iPhone, so again, not the best in quality, but my layout and process in this work is becoming more clear.
i have taken a lot of inspiration from the artist i've been assisting, Susan Campbell, and her work with plants. a book in her collection, The Pressed Plant, has gorgeous annotations, with i realize should be featured in my work, as the tie between my images and handwritten text is important to the piece.

video of ghazal

hopefully this video will work. my camera broke recently, so image quality on some of this work may be spotty, since they were captured on my phone.

paint-making, research

the other day i found karen michel's book, "green guide for artists", and i haven't been without it since.

the most useful tool in the guide is michel's recipes for natural, non-toxic paints. i've been interested in raw pigments since i've begun working with encaustic mediums, but haven't made my own paint yet. these recipes are so simple, and include ingredients that are readily available and non-toxic, like gum arabic, honey, eggs, and essential oils. i'm excited to make my own paint, and to ditch the studio fumes that come with solvent-based paints.

one paint included in the guide is called glair paint, and was used during the fifth century for illuminated manuscripts- the only ingredients are egg white and pigment.

i have also been avidly following a blog, "pen and parchment" from the metropolitan museum of art, that details book art and drawing from the middle ages in the museums collection. a recent post, here, talks about the formula for making gold paint from a medieval source called the Mappae clavicula. it's amazing.

this research has inspired me to work with medieval mediums, and to make my own glair paint, gold paint and india ink in small batches to incorporate into my work.

first portion of ghazal

a ghazal is an arabic form of poetry consisting of couplets that are related, but are separate poems in themselves. the couplets were described in one source as a string of pearls, beautiful on their own, but more powerful grouped together in one strand.

this is the first couplet in a series of six, written about memories of my great-grandmother, lelia.

they are also meant to represent musical notations, and each couplet will be in a different configuration. i may compose a piece on the autoharp to be played following these notations.


it reads, "to see her was to look into a light."

this will be the first completed piece(s) in my series exploring monument and ornament.

in the studio this week....

experimenting with hanging the new pieces....some almost-complete projects.

studio work

getting back into the studio on the first day of spring.
the epoxy pendants contain paper white flowers and leaves of grass, and passages written in white on white Japanese paper.








these are new works in epoxy that will be made into hanging "books" or "poems" and hopefully, some will be formed into a chandelier.

recent work, new photos!!

New photos by Marvin Shanoui from the work in my Palimpsest series. Above and below: "Leaflet"

"Trying to Forget Icarus":

"Palimpsest for Laura":



"Illuminated Manuscript, Page 2":
"Illuminated Manuscript, Page 1":

"Luminary Three, A Song":
"Luminary Four, The Hand":
"Palimpsest: Archives":

"Palimpsest: Translation":

"A Memory (For Fifi)":