I'm Jealous of the Wari

Several weeks ago, my mom and I went on down to Fort Worth to the Kimbell and were delighted with the new exhibition of pottery and textiles from the ancient Wari in what we now know as Peru. Mom and I were both very impressed by the intricate designs and seemingly advanced attention to detail; the colors were beautiful. Here's just a couple of pieces so you can get a feel for what we got to see!

One of the coolest things was reading about the Wari culture. They had no written language, so what we do know has only been found out through archaeology, speculation, and tradition. Something which I found fascinating was that a way of keeping history recorded was through tying knots in strings. Each knot meant something and a series of strings could tell a story. I can't recall what it was called, but the way these people were able to keep records without a written language was really impressive.

After checking out the Wari exhibit and the permanent collection (which is free to everyone, by the way), mom and I enjoyed some tea and cake. It was a delightful afternoon!

I'm Jealous of Shaun Ferguson

I follow some blogs on a regular basis (blogs which, unlike mine, are actually well maintained and have an obvious purpose), one of which is The Jealous Curator. She shares pieces of art that she wishes she had come up with, and I'm going to imitate her right now.

When I was in London last semester, my friend Zoe and I wandered in and out of some art galleries right by the Royal Academy (I hope I'm remembering this right) after our art class. Some featured unique pieces of art with unusual mediums, but we both agreed that the Fairfax Gallery contained our favorite works, by Shaun Ferguson, and I'll be sharing a few of my favorites with you. I just love the colors and expressions he was able to capture, and it's fun how he utilized unusual or everyday props. Enjoy!

[Disclaimer: all images come from Shaun Ferguson's site and look significantly more wonderful in real life.]