The Flatland Digital Artwork Clip Art Gallery

Pre-Colombian Talisman

A patterned stone in violet with a brilliant gold center, surrounded by cinnabar.  The outer rim has a pattern of pale peach-tinted scallops against a background of blue, beige, orange, and gold.  Kinda weird.

Dragon Eggs 2.

Another gemstone, this one in a dappled or mottled metal with crimson, blue, yellow, indigo, and vermilion on a background of violet red. 

Folded Bindings.

   

Strange gemstones indeed.  This one is made of ornate folded material in pale lavender, coral, pewter, silver, and black on a background in violets graduated from blue violet to red violet.  That's on a background in brilliant scarlet on metal.    

Green's Green Apogee (for Maureen-Anne).

A beautiful image for anyone who loves green or peridots (the August birthstone):  small green gems set in platinum ones alternating with much larger ones set in black stone.  The borders are transparent green ribbons.  This one is for Maureen-Ann, my mother-in-law, who has an August birthday.  The title is from the beautiful poem, "Credences of Summer" by the great Twentieth Century American poet, Wallace Stevens.

Dragon's Egg 1.

Here's a digital pendant with many gemlike colors on a dark background:  intense blue-green, emerald green, red, and gold, on a silver background.  The colors show up the best in the larger sizes; the smaller version looks almost like a piece of agate; the colors, particularly the reds and greens, blend together more. 

Octavian 2: Augustus.

   

Max Pirkis plays the young Octavian so perfectly in Rome:  soft-spoken, measured, as calculating as a little abacus, and yet (in a Roman way) kind-hearted, sort of.  Except when truly backed against the wall (e.g., by the Gauls who abduct him and later Mark Antony), he almost always remains in control of his temper, and you could tell he felt bad afterward about what he and Pullo did to Niobe's brother-in-law.

In real life, he grows up to be Rome's first and greatest emperor, Caesar Augustus.  One does question his parenting skills, considering the things his progeny got up to, but never mind:  by Roman standards, he was the best they had.   

This is the same image as before reconfigured as a shining globe.  The purple chains are meant to resemble the wreath of laurels and the tessellated design might now be seen as carved jade.  Did the Romans know about jade?  On the DVD for the first series of the show, someone---the director or the writer---mentions that Caesar wore silks from China. 

At any rate, these cyan-tinted stones with purple tones seemed right for young Octavian, bless him.

Atia 2.

Another addition to my Rome series:  a second gem for wicked, wicked Atia  A translucent bead with a mosaic pattern in blue, red, and green jewel tones.  The background is in beautiful rainbow colors:  indigo, blue-green, scarlet, crimson, yellow.  The mosaic pattern has a Roman look.

                  

Butterfly moon.

A beautiful gemstone "moon" in shades blue, soft magenta, and pale green on a black background.  The "butterfly" is dark pink or rose; and is surrounded by diamonds on a dark blue background. 

Octavia.

Poor Octavia (Kelly Condon).  In the HBO series Rome, she's been through a lot.  For example, her mother Atia's (Polly Walker) embarrassing and abortive attempt to marry her off to Pompey (Kenneth Cranham): her affair with Servilia (Lindsay Duncan) (leading directly to the murder of her Uncle Julius Caesar (Ciaran Hinds); and that really unfortunate incident with her brother, Octavian (Max Pirkis).

Is it really any wonder that she runs away from home to join a religious cult and becomes a cutter? 

But at least her brother loves her because---if the series tracks the historical record---there are more disappointments in store, such as her marriage to a certain caddish M.A.  Oh, Octavia.

At least she is rich and can afford lavish clothes and jewelry.  That must make up for some of it.  This innocent pink pearl floating against a less innocent and more opulent of purple embroidered with gold seem right for her. After all, she grows up to be an emperor's sister.  That's got to make up for some of it.

1. An entry on the historical Octavia in "The High Beam Encyclopedia" (providing a succinct peek at what's in store for her and proving the true Octavia's remarkable forbearance and generosity).
2. The Wikipedia entry on the historical Octavia.
3. The Wikipedia entry on the Rome character Octavia.

In re: Servilia.

For Servilia, I made this as well.  After all, her look when dressed for a party was understated elegance.  Here is a beautiful mosaic bead with subtle blue sparkles.  It's Roman red (crimson, the patrician color) on white. Again, the background is black and shadowy.  The pattern evokes the beautiful and shocking pattern of blood on a white toga or spattered on a white floor.