my own exotic miniature

Very recently I saw Garden and Cosmos at Seattle Asian Art Museum. This show is a rich treasurehouse of narrative miniatures depicting life in some royal Indian courts, with a bit of religious imagery as well. The pure, glowing colors alone make for a hypnotic experience, but the tiny details! Amazing. (You have the choice of picking up a magnifying glass at the gallery's entry in order to see better.)



If you have the chance to see Garden and Cosmos, I urge you to go. Now I wanted to find some of the excellent animal details for you - for example, the wise and funny look in the tame elephants' eyes - but the best I can do is direct you to the Flash slideshow. Try it.



I was so disappointed not to cherry-pick some delights for you that I stuck a bindi (bought in the gift shop) on SallyCat and made her my own Indian masterpiece.