At The Walters Art Museum, I found myself in a small room that is used to educate museum goers about illuminated manuscripts and bookbinding. I spent at least a good 45 minutes to an hour in this room looking at the only two display cases. (You see why I enjoying exploring and going to places by myself?)
I am in love with looking at images from Book of Hours. I take great interest in the technique and the materials used. So of course I found myself in this room for so long. These traditional techniques are also used by contemporary artist, Makoto Fujimura. Mako is also my friend and my favorite artist. His teaching and writings of how he uses these pigments help me to understand a little about the minerals and made me fall in love these "gifts" from the earth. I'm also in love with bookbinding tools & materials and bookbinding. I could have stayed in here for at least another hour. (What would happen if I was able to get inside the display cases and use these materials? That would be a good dream to come true.)
Here are some pictures that I took:
