The Only Book Binder in Cairo

I made it finally to the book binder's shop behind Al-Azhar Mosque across the street from the Khan Khalili. He is so amazing. Love the hand bound books. So thought I would post a few pictures. Of course I made it out of the store with two gift bags full of books with Fabriano paper stamped with my initials in gold and other items.

I've been working on more portraits but it is going a bit slower. I did get my Costa Rica March 8-12, 2010 application finished but must work on the bigger grant proposal for the Fulbright Hays grant. I'm shooting for a three month grant during the summer of 2011. Finally, I have loads of stuff to plan ahead for and I'm still here in Cairo for another two months or so.

Picked up my framed portraits from Helmy the framer - oak, gallery frames with matting, back board, wire and glass for 180 LE which is around $36 each. I took a cab to the Abiba Gallery which is in the Cairo Opera Complex that also houses the Museum of Egyptian Modern Art - chose the four that would be in the exhibition and set off with the other two back to my place. It was really hard to choose. I am nearly finished with Maria's portrait and also with Shayma holding Safety. I'm rather proud of my ability to make that black cat look like a cat. Still having trouble with her hand holding him and a little ackward part between her hand, turquoise shirt and the bottom of the cat. Still, I'm happy with the rest. I have trouble with necks sometimes fitting the anatomically correct position under the head and joining with the shoulders. I also have a sketch prepared of this wonderful sweet old lady who was quite arthritic but still managed to smile a bit in her wheelchair. And Ranya's portrait is halfway done. I was in near despair over how it was turning out. I can't even remember how many times I painted her eyes in and out and back in as well as her lips which are so distinctive. I think the trouble comes with painting people you want to impress. I wonder if Velasquez suffered the same doubts? I have to get that distinctive individual gleam in the eye. I was pretty pleased to hear that Helmy was having a conversation with the people I painted as he was framing "them." Sweet!

Thursday, was our jewelry class day for the Khan and picking out strands of beads, silver beads in jars,Bedouin remnants,etc. I ended up staying longer so I could seekout the Bedouin shop again and it paid off. First I had lunch at Naguib Mafouz again and then fortified, it was off to my favorite shop. I have started a necklace with an old silver Bedouin piece from the Spanish jewelry dealer who has old stuff beneath his showcase. The rest is old glass beads from my cannibalizing old pieces from the Bedouin shop with mostly copper jewelry and low grade silver. I bought three old pieces with dangling pseudo-coins and the glass beads that he had made into keychains. Plus, I asked if he had any more glass beads - he only had light and dark amber colored ones so 12 each for me. My "keychains" had green, blue, clear, turquoise, cobalt. The only thing is, is that I want to redo the necklace that you will see posted so that I have old silver beads all the same interspersed with the glass beads. And I now have four medallion pieces which I shined up with Oxy-Clean. Oxy-Clean, I learned from personal experience, gets hot when water is added which surprised me!

My felucca ride for tonight had to be postponed as I have not been feeling my best for a couple of days. Sunday is a Fulbright guest lecture on human rights in Islam from 5:00-6:30 pm. So enough for now. Promise to blog more!