And A Ribbon Ran Through It 3

And A Ribbon Ran Through It 3

“The Orange”

Pages created of  single folded sheets called “bifolia“.

Meditative pose..

Folded arms.

Ribbon slipped under stitches.

Each bifolium stitched to spine, and covers and spine stitched to felt, which hinged covers to spine and allows book to open.

Covers are textured with crumpled repurposed tissue that once separated metallic leaves, and Mod Podge.

Layered textures, patterns and colors. Ribbon used as a visual accent inside as well.

Ribbon “gesture” changes the look and feel of the piece.  Above, serious, sober, quiet.

Here, flirty…coquettish…ready for anything!

Ribbons folded into interior, slipped under inside stitch.

Gold leaf…shock top…juxtaposed verbiage creates text tension.

“Unfolding”

“Old World Art” metallic leaf packing repurposed into folded pages stitched together like multiple signatures.

The orange of the repurposed tissue and strips of ribbon sang together.

Pages unfold and create sculptural spaces.

Flattened…

Bound back…open spine.

The ribbon eventually was adhered…the color was fun to play with.

“Open Book 1”

“Arms outstretched”…

Polka dots…

And more polka dots…

“Open Book 2”

Inside

Outside

Dots in a row…

And a Robbin Ran Through It.

Architectural Gem Series 2

Architectural Gem Series 2

Strait Is the Gate…near Miracle Mile, Los Angeles

Looking Up: Griffith Observatory Murals

Looking Up: Griffith Observatory Murals

Heaven may be right there on the ceiling…or a bit of it, anyway!

A trip into LA’s  Griffith Park, with the express intent of seeing the Hugo Ballin Murals in the W. M. Keck Foundation Central Rotunda  of the amazing Griffith Observatory  yields immediate results.  If you would like to do this yourself…here are the instructions:

Walk into the W. M. Keck Foundation Central Rotunda  of the  Griffith Observatory, stand still, and look up.  This is what you will see…

Turn your head slightly, and you will see a whole new view, and details that may have escaped your initial glance!

No delayed gratification here!

“On the vaulted ceiling and upper walls of the W. M. Keck Foundation Central Rotunda are Griffith Observatory’s greatest artistic treasure: the Hugo Ballin Murals. Workers have carefully and completely restored the murals so that they appear as they did when first painted by muralist, film producer, and author Hugo Ballin (1879-1956) in 1934-35.

Medieval cathedrals told stories in stone. The Ballin ceiling mural celebrates classical celestial mythology, with images of Atlas, the four winds, the planets as gods, and the twelve constellations of the zodiac. The eight rectangular Ballin wall murals depict the “Advancement of Science” with panels on astronomy, aeronautics, navigation, civil engineering, metallurgy and electricity, time, geology and biology, and mathematics and physics.

In addition to Griffith Observatory, Hugo Ballin’s murals also appear throughout Los Angeles in such noted buildings as the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, the Los Angeles Times Building, and Los Angeles City Hall Council Chambers.” —http://www.griffithobservatory.org/exhibits/brotunda.html

The joy is in the soft range of hues used, and the details, which combine to create a harmonious, yet thrilling whole, and complete the narrative.

The nearby fluidly shaped recessed ceiling is also highly ornamental, treated to what looks to be meticulously applied painted texture, or “paint effects“, a magnificent central floral/sunburst style image,

bands of architectural details gracing its curves, gold surfaced “dentils” , and repeated lines and shapes which, in concert with the color palette, tie it all together.

If all things Griffith fascinate you,  may enjoy seeing this video on the Park, the Observatory, the Murals, and the man who started it all, Griffith J. Griffith.

Enjoy the view!