I finally finished binding the old explorer’s book. Remember the one where I built the specimens from scraps of Nature into interesting things that could be then water colored onto gessoed boards? Now they all hang in my bedroom.
I still have the original “bugs” boxed up in the garage. Here are some being documented to paint on boards that took forever to gesso from scratch only to find they were still not good enough for egg tempera. So, why not water color I thought. I think this snail made from a beach shell near Melbourne, a bamboo leaf from our yard and tiny Eucalyptus pods is my favorite.
Here they are being drawn onto the gesso boards.
After all the specimens were painted and framed I decided that the explorer who found all of these quite likely had a sketchbook to record his findings. Thinking of the undecipherable Voynich manuscript, I decided to give the book its own unknown text. The story could be deciphered through the pictures of what caught the explorer’s eye. There are even some pages devoted to drawings of his tools for handling specimens. It must have been a couple of slow days for discovery.
Now after some Coptic stitching, hot glue, rice paste and water coloring edges, the book is now finished! These were old wormy chestnut off cuts that Lee had and were perfect for such a book. The illustrations abruptly end. Not because I got bored with the idea of a recording of the explorer’s finds. But more likely he drowned trying to catch a couple of water bugs…and only the sketchbook survived. I can assume this because the last drawing is of something floating…..and the water soaked appearance of the finished book.
I think that is enough for today. I really should do a tidy up and have lunch. A blueberry/banana smoothie should do it.
Til later….