Black and white

Looking for inspiration the other day I delved into my tatty copy of the  *'Encyclopaedia of Patterns and Motifs' and found myself once again captivated not so much by samples of intricate Gothic metalwork or illuminated manuscripts, but by the graphic simplicity of these.  Sometimes less is definitely more.  Lovely, aren't they?

Carved soapstone zebra from Zimbabwe

Native American food bowl decoration from Arizona

Art Nouveau book illustrations based on images of Can Can dancers

Japanese nobleman badges

Japanese crane

Snake design from Ghana

Mexican monkeys

*Encyclopaedia of Patterns and Motifs by Dorothy Bosomworth 1995