Down Sick for a Week

Hey Friends,

I am really sorry that I haven't been posting. I caught a really nasty bug on the plane home from Egypt and I have been completely down sick for over a week. Of course this is the worst week that I could possibly have been sick because it is Holy Week and I have a four days of services to sing in a row. I tried all my natural remedies and they just didn't cut it this time. I finally

 broke down last Monday when I had no voice at all and had to go get a steroid shot and antibiotics and finally today I am actually feeling much better.

In the meantime in the couple of hours that I have been conscious per day I have been trying to write up the rest of the trip, and so it should be showing up on the blog in the next couple of days. I have also been creating a bunch of art that was Egypt inspired. I was really energized artistically by the trip which has made it very hard to be so sick when I got back that I haven't been able to do much. However, these are the thinks I have made so far:

I brought home a letter sized sheet of Papyrus paper for about $5 from the wonderful Aboudi Book Shop that was next to our hotel. I had looked at the Papyrus paintings that they sell as souvenirs, but they just didn't look right to me. They looked like they were printed instead of painted and they artwork didn't seem to be right in terms of the colors and proportions. So I started painting my own. The first five paintings are taken form different vignettes in different copies of the Book of the Dead. In the second three paintings, the top painting  is loosely based on the Tomb of Nebamun now in the British Museum, and the bottom is a scene from the Satyrical Papyrus which has animals acting like humans. The center painting is another Book of the Dead vignette.

I also want to make Faience in the worst way, but you have to have a Kiln to fire it. Faience is a special kind of Egyptian fired clay that is self glazing. They used to make lot of small amulets and beads from it as well as other jewelry. Anyway, I have been experimenting with making my own amulets from clay molds and then turning them into necklaces. I have been using polymer clay for the time being until I find a kiln that I can use.

Anyway, I finally have my spirit back today, so I'm hoping for a lot more next week to tackle the huge backload of stuff to do, Inshallah -(God willing).