Adam Naming the Animals
I’m adding this image to my collection of snail images from the Middle Ages:
http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=305896&handle=li
http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/gothic_grandeur/
Adam Naming the Animals
Kelly Williams is offering the 3-week course The Medieval Comic Book: Illustrated Stories in Illuminated Manuscripts. You’ll get first-rate art instruction that begins with a lecture and hands-on demo, then is held on site for two meetings at the Getty, then finally in a studio class held work with the materials and techniques in a studio class held at 1010 Westwood where students work with the materials and techniques. One unit of arts credit can be earned. The class costs $195.
I took a similar version of this course last summer. Kelly Williams is an excellent instructor, with expertise on a subject rarely taught in this format. A huge bonus is getting to use (and bring home the leftover) authentic pigments like lapiz and real gold leaf.
Course description:
https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/Course.aspx?reg=W1591
(Estimated supplies cost is $25.) Before manga and movies, decorated books inspired and awed the public by illustrating famous religious and secular tales. This three-part course explores stories in illuminated manuscripts through lecture, discussion, a museum visit, and a studio session. The first class investigates how and why these books were made and includes a hands-on exploration of medieval materials used in their creation. Class two visits the Getty Museum for an extended tour and sketching exercise of the exhibition “Stories to Watch: Narrative in Medieval Manuscripts.” The third session is a studio class, where students use manuscript templates to create their own illuminated page. Internet access required to retrieve course materials.
Westwood: 415 1010 Westwood Center
Saturday, 10am-1pm,
March 12
Los Angeles: Getty Center
Saturday, 10am-1pm,
March 19
Westwood: 321 1010 Westwood Center
Saturday, 10am-1pm,
March 26
3 meetings total
Another post about medieval art you might enjoy:
https://animary.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/discovered-got-medieval-by-craig-pyrdum/
Looking for Medieval Art Lovers in LA:
Illuminated Manuscript Course
Getty Center, UCLA Extension Westwood
October 17-November 7, 2010 (six meetings)
10-1 pm
Do you have a passion for any of the following:
Kelly Williams, a Getty Center Educator, teaches a six-week course called “Illuminated Manuscripts: Patronage and Process.” I took this course a month ago, and absolutely loved it, as did the other students. You don’t really need any training in art to take this course and enjoy yourself thoroughly, but being able to sketch or at least copy a design on paper is enough. You will get to use the same materials and techniques that were used to make priceless objects now in museums all over the world. The Getty Center has one of the world’s best collections of illuminated books, and Kelly Williams will take you on a guided tour (free parking) on the first day of class. Ms. Williams is a highly sought-after teacher, having recently traveled to the White House to teach drawing to the Obama family. So we’re talking excellence here.
The class is offered through UCLA extension. Go to uclaextension.edu and navigate to the art studio section. I’m sorry to say that this site needs better navigation. Don’t you want our money, UCLA? There’s no direct link to “how to register” or anything obvious, but there is a greyed-out tab that says “Quick Enroll” but you need the course number. You will still need to register with your email, etc. and if all else fails, call them at (310) 825-9971 or (818) 784-7006. Monday to Friday, 9 to 5.
The course number is ART X 440.68 and is listed in studio art although it’s really a combination of art history and studio. You can get two units of credits for your $375. And the class meets 10-1 on Sundays, so for the five days the class meets in Westwood parking will only cost you $4-5 (not the $13.50 I shelled out today!!!). And did I mention you get free parking at the Getty?
A note about supplies: You only need to budget $25 for supplies. The majority of the very costly items, genuine gold leaf and natural pigments, are included in the course price. These are of the finest quality, hand-selected by the Getty for their historical authenticity (any toxic materials like white lead are NOT used in this class). If you were to try to purchase these materials on your own, you would need to spend $250-300 or more. So enjoy the rare opportunity to try them out.
I just discovered a blog called “Got Medieval.” I had Googled “depictions of snails in the Middle Ages” to jump start my project idea for a course I’m taking, “The Art of Illuminated Manuscripts*.”
The name hooked me, because I was thinking of creating a character and then making her medieval. “Elizabeth Gearey Gets Medieval” or some such thing. If that ever comes together, well then it may appear in this blog. Or it might not.
Anyway, the fifth Google entry to come up was Got Medieval’s July 20, 2009 post,
“The Case of the Missing Snail Porn (Mmm…Marginalia)”
The site is full of witty and insightful comments relating medieval European history to contemporary themes. I’m thrilled to finally meet up with some medievalists who share my enthusiasm for 15th-century books!
*The six-week class is offered through UCLA Extension (uclaextension.edu) and begins again in October 2010. If you’re interested, look for course number X440.68, “Illuminated Manuscripts: Patronage and Process” taught by Kelly S. Williams, MA.
I forgot to mention in my last post that if you look closely at the books on the table below
you’ll see that only a corner of the book is showing, but it’s Man and His Symbols.
Tonite Dave and I went to see the exhibit of Jung’s Red Book at the Hammer. One of the things I’m loving about living in W. LA is being able to “pop in” to see world-class exhibits, and with free admission on Thursday nights!
I count Man and His Symbols as one of my top five, all-time most influential books, and was looking forward to seeing “Liber Novus.” I had read in the NYT magazine (“The Holy Grail of the Unconscious,” Sept 16, 2009)
‘“I should advise you to put it all down as beautifully as you can—in some beautifully bound book,” Jung instructed. “It will seem as if you were making the visions banal—but then you need to do that—then you are freed from the power of them. … Then when these things are in some precious book you can go to the book & turn over the pages & for you it will be your church—your cathedral—the silent places of your spirit where you will find renewal. If anyone tells you that it is morbid or neurotic and you listen to them—then you will lose your soul—for in that book is your soul.”’
I had expected the Red Book to be more like a sketchbook, with crude drawings and scrawled notes. Jung really meant what he said about a “beautifully bound book.” The Red Book resembles the medieval books I’m so fond of, with exquisite calligraphy, illuminated letters and illustrations. These last are painted with quality paints, some gilding and fine detail, the tempera paintings handled with impressive skill. Many images are beautiful and better than most 60’s –era psychedelia.
The second half of the 416-page volume is an English translation. The Hammer exhibit has five copies you can flip through, with the original in a plexi box. I thought the quality of the binding and printing make it worth the $195 (cheaper of course on amazon). The Hammer bookstore employees said the book is already on its fifth printing.
There are other paintings by Jung on display and I was impressed with both his vision and artistic skill. This exhibit is well worth catching before it closes June 6.
Yes, I should get out more, but I did make it to the following art shows here in LA in 2009:
I was most impressed by the Burchfield exhibit, both because of the scope of the exhibition (including many sketchbooks, wallpaper and other objects from his designs and illustrations) and the artistic journey of this visionary watercolorist. After viewing all the work, I walked back through the show from beginning to end, to note the artist’s progression, especially the transition where he escaped the restraint of his middle work and coupled youthful early energy and feeling to masterful maturity. The rather simple device of adding paper to the sides of his early watercolors allowed him to literally rework and enlarge his vision. I found the results he achieved in his late paintings inspiring.
http://www.mocfa.org/exhibitions/ex_archives/ex_opensource/index_opensource.htm
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