Opus & Beatus.....and maps

While so many people are finding ways to amuse themselves, I’m mostly doing what I’ve always done - sewing. Fortunately, I have my Opus to work on. No matter how long we’re shut inside, this will take longer. I’m currently working on the border, avoiding the question of how to finish the globe (the one Christ is holding in the inset, below).

I sew, and I research. Yes, Apocalypse 2020 (the horsemen at the bus stop) is fully researched and designed. No more Death and Famine! But while I was researching them, I came across the Beatus Manuscripts, which have an intriguing style of illustration:

But even better, the Beatus Manuscripts had an ancient map:

Which got me back to investigating old maps. Yes, I’ve done lots of work on maps before, but now, with all this uninterrupted time, I’m trying to go a little deeper.

(Below) Here’s some of my earlier efforts, from my series of 6” tiles:

(Above) I was inspired by this ancient clay map (left) to create my own clay map (right). I copied the symbols (see insert) from Google maps a few years back, and had them made into rubber stamps. By pressing the stamps into the clay, I mixed the ancient and the modern.

(Above) The Mapquest digital image layer is being removed to reveal an ancient mosaic map of Jerusalem. Just images printed on cloth and stitched down.

Chester England, is a city that has maps going back hundreds of years. Here I’ve stitched colored images from Chester’s Medieval history onto a more recent map. Then I couch-stitched white cord to show the new roadway cutting right through the old city.

(Above) On the left, we have Gervase of Ebstorf's world map, drawn in Germany in the 13th century. The Ebstorf Map is based on the medieval T and O model, with Jerusalem at the center of the world. It is decorated with illustrations from Biblical stories for each part of the world. ( Information from https://allthatsinteresting.com/ancient-world-maps )

All I did was print out the map on cloth and sew on purple Google Map key images - all those little icons showing where to get food, lodging and information. Which was a clever trick, but doesn’t do anything to explain the Ebstorf map, or why it’s important.

So starting next week, you’ll get to see all the new information that I’ve gathered on maps. Either you’ll be delighted, or viewers will unsubscribe in droves…..

Famine and Death

NOTE: Yes, you saw the finished image last week. Today I go back with more information about the characters.

(Below, left) This figure has no emotional resonance. Just hunger as carved stone. So, I Googled images of starving children ( No, you don’t want to see the many images I found). The figure in the center is a composite of several different photos. Then I removed all color from the image….

In this country, at least where I live, starvation is only something I learn about on the news. We don’t have malnourished children begging in the streets of NJ. So perhaps Famine should be portrayed as a strictly newspaper figure….

This scrap of newspaper (with different print) made just the sort of background I was looking for. The part of Famine will now be played by a newspaper scrap…

I’ve been thinking that each figure will have some surrounding articles (masks for Plague, maybe hand grenades for War?). For Famine we’ll have locusts. I gathered images of swarms, and inverted the colors (Below). Nope…swarms are too indistinct. We’ll need individual locusts.

In the constant battle of Too Subtle vs Too Obvious, I made sure there is just a part of the word “LOCUST” in the newspaper, for those of us who can’t identify a locust.

(Below) Aside from last-minute tweaking, Famine is all set.

Now, Death. This is the place-holder figure in the early composition:

But I love the idea of Death as an old woman, especially the Scandinavian idea of an old woman with a rake and a broom (Below).

So I started casting for Old Women. Old Italian, Old Greek, Old Russian Peasant Women…ya’ gotta love these faces!!

(Below, right) The attitude! The position! Her I.Do.Not.Care. posture. The woman in the middle looks like she’d bite your head off, if she had the energy…

(Below) By combining the top of one woman with the legs of another, I had the basic character I was looking for.

(Below) The skull of Death, wearing her babushka, holding a rake, a broom and her very sharp scythe. She’s now wearing very old boots, unlaced. She doesn’t need to move fast…everyone will come to her.

Next week, the final composition, with all the extra details.

another note: I’m told that my contact email isn’t working. …>sigh<…one more thing to fix. Meanwhile, how about you copy and paste the dianesavona@aol.com ?