Page #2 Altered Book

So, yes, I am very behind on my altered book. As I posted before, my students have challenged me to complete an altered book by the end of the school year.  This is an assignment I give my Art 3 students every year.  I started one at the beginning of the year with the students, but never made it past Assignment 1.  They have completed 11 assignments, so they told me a few weeks ago that I must have my second page done by Feb. 14.  Well, I completed it today, only 10 days late. The subject I chose was very difficult and took a great deal of time to complete. 

This is the assignment:
For this week’s lesson in acrylic paint I want you to recreate a famous painting to incorporate into your theme.  You may interpret this however you like.  Remember, this must be a famous painting.  If you are unsure about whether it is in the “famous” category, check with me.  You may create your own variation of the painting to include in your theme, or you may do a work of your own art with a miniature of the famous painting somewhere in the composition.  In your design “hide” the name of the artist.

My book is about the trip I made to Turkey and Greece a few years ago with  a close friend.  My famous art page includes the Deesis Mosaic from the Hagai Sopia in Istanbul.  The is a mosaic that I had seen in art history books for years.  When I came around the corner on an upper lever of the Hagia Sophia and saw the mosaic, I was surprised and excited.  I knew it was there, but had forgotten. The mosaic had disappeared for a while and had to be restored.  Much of it is missing, but is still breathtaking.

I decided to I paint Joy and myself in front of the mosaic. The prospect of painting the two of us made me very nervous.  We had not taken a picture of ourselves in front of the mosaic, so I had to find another photo of us to incorporate into the work. It was a fun trip and the painting was difficult but fun as well.

Also, I "hid" the location within the painting.  I used a very dark colored pencil on the very dark area on the right to label this "Hagia Sophia, Istanbul."  Here is what this looks like.

You have to turn the book to the light to be able to read it.  I tried to use a font that was similar to some that were in the museum itself.

The Hagia Sophia was a Christian Church from the 5th century until 1453 when Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks.  It then became a mosque until 1931.  At that time it was made into a museum housing both Christian and Muslim relics.