An Alphabet of British Wild Flora and Birds
Now Available for Purchase - 25 signed framed prints in 10"x8" obeche wood frames with dark stain and slips included.
Each print measures at 20 cm x 25 cm and is a digitally manipulated Kandahar ink and carbon drawing printed on archival quality Somerset Rag paper.
Available at Artway Emporium 273 Archway Road, Highgate, London N6 5AA Tel: 02083408142
Also Available - 8" x 6" signed prints and small 6" x 4" signed prints of the Flora only, both in white obeche frames.
They are great for gifts and can be posted, picked up or dropped off if local (North London).
If you would like to purchase these please use the contact form.
Each print measures at 20 cm x 25 cm and is a digitally manipulated Kandahar ink and carbon drawing printed on archival quality Somerset Rag paper.
Available at Artway Emporium 273 Archway Road, Highgate, London N6 5AA Tel: 02083408142
Also Available - 8" x 6" signed prints and small 6" x 4" signed prints of the Flora only, both in white obeche frames.
They are great for gifts and can be posted, picked up or dropped off if local (North London).
If you would like to purchase these please use the contact form.
Details
'An Alphabet of British Wild Flora and Birds' are illustrations by Sara Yasmin Khan influenced by the 12th century Persian tale 'The Conference of the Birds' by Farid ud-Din Attar. The story is about a flock of different birds and their search for the ideal (in their case a god-like bird), which is ultimately discovered to be not in some far off place as they imagine, but within each one of the birds themselves through their virtues.
Working through the English alphabet as an idea of a perfect structured sequence, as learned from being one of the first childhood experiences of the world. An alphabet emerging from a supposed need to order and label everything to learn. Also exploring the basic need and desire to draw what is immediate in the outside environment and in doing so, understanding and describing the inner world.
These ideas have then resulted in a creation of exotic** patterns for each letter of British wild flora and birds, taking the first letter from the names of the flowers and birds drawn in Kandahar ink* with a dip pen and carbon tracings, then scanned and digitally manupulated, completed by printing a digital print onto archival Somerset Rag paper. The use of the exotic** in the pattern relates to something which can be thought of as an extraordinary and distant ideal. The commonness of the subjects might seem somehow more special when presented in an exotic** way.
You will find that during the journey through the alphabet, there is one of the letters is missing. This is purely because there hasn't been either wild flora or a bird officially named starting with that letter in Britain. The focus for you might become the distracting “missing” letter, or as with the flock of birds in the tale, there is complete beauty and perfection found within all of them. The focus should not be about what is missing, but what is there.
* "Kandahar is a region in Afghanistan through which trade brought ink from the Far East to Europe... Daler–Rowney Kandahar Indian Ink is made using Carbon Black pigment mixed with Shellac. Shellac itself is derived from a naturally occurring substance known as “Lac”, which is a resin of insect origin. It is secreted by the Coccus Lacca insect that attaches itself to twigs to feed on sap and complete its lifecycle. The crude resin, called “stick lac” consists of twigs encrusted with the insect secretions and it is processed through many stages to produce shellac. The term lac (as well as the pigment term lake) is derived from Sanskrit writing as lakshatam, or ‘the tree that nourishes a thousand insects’. The shellac itself is dissolved in water and dries to become water resistant. It is important to stress that the black is water resistant and not waterproof, so it will withstand a degree of splashing but not soaking by water."Daler-Rowney.
**"exotic adjective; unusual and often exciting because of coming (or seeming to come) from a far, especially tropical country." Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
"Flowers and birds is the artists trait exquisite design in pencil and paint
Flowers to touch and birds that fly with beautiful colours and tinted sky
A magical moment as the time stands still something to treasure and look at will" - John Booth
Working through the English alphabet as an idea of a perfect structured sequence, as learned from being one of the first childhood experiences of the world. An alphabet emerging from a supposed need to order and label everything to learn. Also exploring the basic need and desire to draw what is immediate in the outside environment and in doing so, understanding and describing the inner world.
These ideas have then resulted in a creation of exotic** patterns for each letter of British wild flora and birds, taking the first letter from the names of the flowers and birds drawn in Kandahar ink* with a dip pen and carbon tracings, then scanned and digitally manupulated, completed by printing a digital print onto archival Somerset Rag paper. The use of the exotic** in the pattern relates to something which can be thought of as an extraordinary and distant ideal. The commonness of the subjects might seem somehow more special when presented in an exotic** way.
You will find that during the journey through the alphabet, there is one of the letters is missing. This is purely because there hasn't been either wild flora or a bird officially named starting with that letter in Britain. The focus for you might become the distracting “missing” letter, or as with the flock of birds in the tale, there is complete beauty and perfection found within all of them. The focus should not be about what is missing, but what is there.
* "Kandahar is a region in Afghanistan through which trade brought ink from the Far East to Europe... Daler–Rowney Kandahar Indian Ink is made using Carbon Black pigment mixed with Shellac. Shellac itself is derived from a naturally occurring substance known as “Lac”, which is a resin of insect origin. It is secreted by the Coccus Lacca insect that attaches itself to twigs to feed on sap and complete its lifecycle. The crude resin, called “stick lac” consists of twigs encrusted with the insect secretions and it is processed through many stages to produce shellac. The term lac (as well as the pigment term lake) is derived from Sanskrit writing as lakshatam, or ‘the tree that nourishes a thousand insects’. The shellac itself is dissolved in water and dries to become water resistant. It is important to stress that the black is water resistant and not waterproof, so it will withstand a degree of splashing but not soaking by water."Daler-Rowney.
**"exotic adjective; unusual and often exciting because of coming (or seeming to come) from a far, especially tropical country." Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
"Flowers and birds is the artists trait exquisite design in pencil and paint
Flowers to touch and birds that fly with beautiful colours and tinted sky
A magical moment as the time stands still something to treasure and look at will" - John Booth
List of titles
1. Autumn Squill & Avocet
2. Bluebell & Blackbird
3. Candytuft & Chaffinch
4. Dame's Violet & Dipper
5. Elecampane & Eider
6. Feverfew & Firecrest
7. Gypsy-Wort & Guillamot
8. Hawkbit & Housemartin
9. Irish Heath & Iceland Gull
10. Juniper & Jay
11. Knot-Grass & Kestrel
12. Lung-Wort & Linnet
13. Mezereon & Magpie
14. Northern Shore-Wort & Nightingale
15. Oxlip & Oystercatcher
16. Paeony & Peregrin
17. Quaking Grass & Quail
18. Restharrow & Raven
19. Sainfoin & Swallow
20. Tooth-Wort & Tawny Owl
21. Upright Clover & Upland Sandpiper
22. Viper's Burgloss & Velvet Scoter
23. Woad & Woodpigeon
24. Yellow Archangel & Yellowhammer
25. Zigzag Clover & Zitting Cisticola
2. Bluebell & Blackbird
3. Candytuft & Chaffinch
4. Dame's Violet & Dipper
5. Elecampane & Eider
6. Feverfew & Firecrest
7. Gypsy-Wort & Guillamot
8. Hawkbit & Housemartin
9. Irish Heath & Iceland Gull
10. Juniper & Jay
11. Knot-Grass & Kestrel
12. Lung-Wort & Linnet
13. Mezereon & Magpie
14. Northern Shore-Wort & Nightingale
15. Oxlip & Oystercatcher
16. Paeony & Peregrin
17. Quaking Grass & Quail
18. Restharrow & Raven
19. Sainfoin & Swallow
20. Tooth-Wort & Tawny Owl
21. Upright Clover & Upland Sandpiper
22. Viper's Burgloss & Velvet Scoter
23. Woad & Woodpigeon
24. Yellow Archangel & Yellowhammer
25. Zigzag Clover & Zitting Cisticola
Examples
The prints can be displayed as single or grouped variations, but also the option as a whole piece of five rows of five.
