On Being Artful....

Huh - who woulda thunk I'd ever be saying this but - I love my job, at this particular point in time. Why you ask? Because it gives me enough free time to do research to my hearts content, which then allows me to actually do STUFF when I get home.
Anyhow - I'm on the path to starting the next Ma'at statue.

I've printed off some pictures to give me an idea of what the face should be like, and I've read up on some standard sclupture suggestions. I think that the main thing I did wrong was not having any batting to rest the scuplture on so that it wouldn't flatten on the sides. Also, I think that the fact that I used clay that had a VERY soft color mixed in with it didn't help either.

As I was rummaging around, I found this article, and one of the things that really caught my eye was this quote:

For example, in ancient Egypt, color, not type of material, was evidently the primary criterion of value. Egyptian taste in jewelry favored solid bars of vivid color, particularly blue and orange. Opaque and semi-translucent gems such as lapis lazuli, coral, turquoise, carnelian, and sard were highly valued. Masterpieces of ancient jewelry, such as those made for the boy king Tutankhamen, were beautifully worked in gold by skilled craftsmen. These pieces included gems such as turquoise and carnelian alternated with stones of faience (a ceramic glass of melted feldspar) dyed to resemble a specific gemstone; in short, a fake! Was this due to a rarity of materials? It was obviously not a question of price. Were the Egyptian craftsmen misled by clever forgeries? Doubtful! The Egyptians simply placed a higher value on visual beauty than on the pedigree of the materials themselves.
This seems odd to us today with our preconceived notions of what is precious and what is not. Would Cartier or Tiffany consider offering gold jewelry set with glass, plastic, or synthetic gems? Yet the glassmakers of ancient Egypt enjoyed royal patronage. The point is that preciousness was not an idea tied to the use of gemstones that today are called precious. The popularity of gem materials has waxed and waned over the millennia. The truth of this becomes clear when we consider that much of the gem wealth found buried with the pharaohs of Egypt, at Babylon, and in the royal tombs of ancient Sumer is what many today still label as semi-precious.

It was interesting reading that, because personally, I've never really CARED about the - heritage, I suppose you might say, of jewelry/precious objects. In fact, I usually consider most 'precious' gems to be a bright waste of money, esp. considering how FABULOUS the fake ones are. And what REALLY matters to me is how it LOOKS, not the chemical compisition. One of the things that bugs me SOOO much with jewelry (which I love) is that there are so few high quality pieces made out of 'mundane' metals & gems. So - that was just a bright spot - and another learning experience about the Ancient Egyptains.

But! Back to the statue. I've got more FIMO sitting at my house than I could shake - multiple sticks at, and I'm going to try and blend some lapis lazuli. I have granite - which is gray with little black and gray flecks, and I have all KINDS of different shades of blue - hmmm - I should look up how to make lapis lazuli from Fimo before I leave.