The Cloisters - NYC

I just came home from an amazing mini vacation with my friend Polly in New York City.

Our first stop was The Cloisters which is a branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to art and architectural elements from the 12th - 15th century. I have been wanting to go for years so this was a very special visit.

Amazing carved faces, dragons, animals, devils, everywhere you looked.

A carving of Clovis, first Catholic King of Gaul (France) below.

The Spanish crucifix above is from around 1150 AD.

Beautiful fountain in the cloister garden above.

Below are reliquaries. These head sculptures were made to hold the skulls of saints.

You can see the lady on the right also has a round pendant that would hold some other bone

The painting above is part of the Annunciation Triptych and was created in The Netherlands around 1427AD. I can't get over how vibrant the colors are after so many hundreds of years.

The painting below depicts the Archangel Michael stabbing the Antichrist.

I have never seen the devil portrayed in a creepier way.

I finally got to see "The Unicorn in Captivity".

It was so amazing in person, you can't believe the detail.

This famous tapestry inspired my Painted Pony, The Unicorn's Garden.

Poor unicorn...

I love the shot below of my friend Polly. A true friend, she held my camera bag the whole time while I was photographing all I could.

A view of the George Washington Bridge from our parking space.

A young robin outside of The Cloisters.

The Unicorn and the Phoenix

Sounds sort of like a medieval poem or something out of Harry Potter doesn't it?
Well, I'm happy to say that they are the subjects of my two newest figurines that will be produced by The Trail of Painted Ponies as part of their spring 2011 herd! How exciting!
The news was announced yesterday and you know I was just bursting at the seams to tell everyone.

I think they did an excellent job reproducing my designs. These are the figurines that will be available next month. I will have a few to sign and sell myself.

This is the original Phoenix Pony.



And the original Unicorn Pony.

I am so in love with the Unicorn Tapestries.

 Some day I will get to The Cloisters in NYC to see them!

Three mythical creatures, all look so nice together.

Now I just need to convince them that they need a dragon...

When I googled 'Unicorn and Phoenix, this painting by Thomas A. Launy came up.

 Isn't it beautiful?

The Unicorn Tapestries

Some of my favorite medieval art images come from the famous Unicorn Tapestries.
It is thought that they were created in the southern area of The Netherlands between 1495 and 1505. They were owned by the La Rochefoucauld family of France for several centuries until they were purchased by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in 1922 for around a million dollars (what a bargain). For a few years now I have wanted to visit The Cloisters in Manhattan, the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that houses their medieval art collection. The Unicorn Tapestries hang in The Cloisters so I really do need to get myself up there one of these day soon!

If you're a fan of the Harry Potter movies series, you've probably recognized several unicorn tapestries hanging in the Gryffindor common room. I felt inspired to create a welcome sign this week for anyone like me who enjoys things a bit magical and medieval! If you're interested, my original, hand painted plaque is currently for sale on Ebay.