We have a turrets :) !(!!!!!)
This one has been a bear to carve, but it did turn out as beautiful and intricate as I imagined.
I have a few mis-prints, but, for the most part, the printing went well.
I printed it on grey paper (I couldn't bring myself to print it even the archive copy on white.) and I plan to cut them out and use them on the sides of the pseudo-tapestry as part of an internal architectural frame.
Speaking of the pseudo-tapestry (sigh), I continue doing flower research - I don't think the flowers are right yet, but I'm not sure whether its the shapes, the colors, or both, (or something else). I've marbled some new colors of paper and started carving some new flower shapes to try out. (Luckily, I have a few copies of the foliage and they aren't sew to the ground yet).
Also...I decided it really "needs" some ants, and recent pieces have taught me that it's structurally better to print the ants directly onto the ground paper instead of cutting them out and applying them individually...but (doh!) all the ants I have are on blocks too hard to hand press (like a stamp) onto the ground and very soft block, that work well for hand pressing, are less inclined to hold fine detail and sharp edges. So, it was a challenge, but I think I found a happy medium and it seems to work.
Speaking of the ground for the ants...I've decided I do want marbled paper in the ground layer, (in addition to the large woodblock printed pieces I already have), because I think the space needs to be deeper and think the marbled paper would combine well with the pieces I have. My initial plan had been to use a single piece of mesh backing...but as the ground grows, I no longer thing it's all going to fit. I think I may need to make the bottom and top of the composition separately, side by side, to be combined for display in a space taller than the studio (hmmmmmm.) This stretched vertical format would be appropriate, since it's Gothic-inspired. (hmmmmmmmm.)
On that note, I felt I needed to do more research for the top half, and in particular, now that I have the turrets - I'm thinking about making an arch between them. (by making the turrets and arch separately, I can re-use the turrets on the sides and change-out the arches to make different widths. O:) )
I went to the Cloisters museum and photographed aches between turrets, particularly focusing on rectangular forms. I found this type of shape on many different scales and in many different materials (paper, stone, masonry, glass, ivory, tapestry, plaster, metal). There were plenty of examples...but it's not only figuring out the content, but also how the parts go together. If I make a repeating pattern, like in the manuscript, it's easy to vary the length by simply adding more segments. This could be true of arches too, with each arch being a "unit" and repeating them in a horizontal line, but where to put the dividing lines to vary the length would be trickier - and only certain numbers of arches look good, (1, 2, 3, 5 - basically, a Fibonacci series)...but that might still be ok, because I can add mouldings on either side...(puts head in hands). Basically, I did a lot of research and am still not sure. 
I also did more flower research - look at these un-color corrected beauties - hard to believe these colors exist in nature that way.
I also photographed industrial landscapes, including this weird "flock" of helicopters
In non-art news, I tried a new cookie recipe in honor of my Dad's birthday (while my faithful canine assistant looked on - she didn't get any samples because of the chocolate, but received bacon treats as consolation) I think it's a keeper. Then, I got to be there with him to celebrate the big day :).
And lastly, my roses are finally blooming and I got one of the super dark ones (...though I don't know that I would call it authentically "black" - hmmmmm.) Because I can't help myself - look how Honey's little fluffs behind her ears are growing in :) . Also, she saw her first turtle ("Human - did you see! This rock moves!! Oh...wait...it stopped [sniff, sniff, sniff].") It was a smart turtle and pulled its head and legs into it's shell until I convinced (bribed) Honey that we needed to keep exploring the rest of the park, but it made for a very exciting walk.
