All is not what it seems

I asked Pat about this framed object on his wall, which his sister, Merrily, gave to him many years ago.

It struck me because of my recent Blip reference to a moth eaten leaf that I spotted next to what I thought was a butterfly, but which was identifies for me by Ashmeister as a Tiger Moth.

This ragged, moth eaten carpet has appeared to me synchronistically. I went up to it having spotted the light fawn coloured moth adjacent to the hole in the old carpet. But when you get up close, which sadly you viewers cannot do with this jpeg picture, you will see that there are seemingly more than thirty moths, all camouflaged against the colours in the weave.

What is most amazing is that this is a painting, and that when you are up close, the detail of the fibres of the carpet alone are astounding, let alone the artist's ability to hide so many moths within the colours, and the weft and weave of the carpet. You can see a few of the painted moths, but even I can't see them all, unless I hugely magnify the original picture. I love it, although it is a bit unnerving. I had to film from this angle to avoid the reflections from the glass covering of the picture frame.

Patrick also mentioned that the artist had painted the cover for our dear friend John Michell's pivotal book, 'The View over Atlantis', back in the late 60s. John sadly died just over two years ago. One of his own mandala paintings hangs in the same room as this picture.