Illumination: Ancient,Modern,& Mine
June 2023. I’ll bet we all have some interesting photos on our phones. We each have an area of interest that fascinates us and now we have a way to collect a visual record of whatever we want. My son saves clever logos. My husband likes optical illusions. I take snaps of design I love. I have a delightful collection of photos of doors, letter forms, flowers, and all manner of things that tickle my creative fancy. Visiting Ireland gave me a chance to expand my collection! Here are four groupings of design photos I want to savor and have for reference.
The Book of Kells did not disappoint. Illuminated manuscripts are fascinating. The details are mind boggling. Humans are capable of such splendid art.
The next set of photos are random bits of good things: painted panel from a hutch, a tea cup from Muckross House, a hotel elevator floor, ceiling of the Chester Beatty Museum, spiral gate of a garden, the Are Lingus logo wingtip, a lamp post in Dublin, and windows from Muckross House. Cool stuff.
Signage and logos are important to me. I love good design wherever I find it. The Irish House Party logo lives up the joyful music we heard at that event. The next sign might be saying “we are closed”, but in such a classy way.
When traveling I love to go to the grocery store. There are always very different tastes, names, and products offered. Tayto chips are surprisingly delish! Caterpillar cakes just looked fun. I love the Odlum logo too. I’d bake with that owl. And Prawn Pringles?! I took the photo so you’d believe me! They weren’t half bad but certainly not a favorite. It’s just amazeballs that flavor exists!
Finally some photos of the Celtic knots I’ve been creating from my online class with Valerie Sjodin. I’m enjoying it SO MUCH and only half way through. Taking this class while getting ready to visit Ireland really got me in the mood. It also meant I was eager to get home to my drawing table to try my hand at more Celtic work inspired by the Book of Kells. I even decorated my travel journal with a few of my own ideas from class. By the way, that last crazy knot is an experiment. I call her Minerva. I was playing around and she popped out, made me giggle.
