Mongolian roofs

My husband and I spent a year living on the southern edge of the Gobi desert in Inner Mongolia in China. I enjoyed the chance to get to know Mongolian culture and fell in love with the roofs!

Traditional Mongolian nomadic houses are called gers (yurt is a Russian word). They are round, made of thick felt, with domed roofs, no windows, and a large wooden door and frame. The roofs (also felt) are often decorated in blue and white, reminiscent of the clouds and huge sky of the Mongolian grasslands.

A small ger.

While we lived there I came up with some designs closely based on what I was seeing around me. Here are some colored pencil drawings I did when we were in China.

As a memory of that part of my life I did a Mongolian roof in my Book. It's a real challenge for me to leave everything so very simple! I always want to do more embellishing. I used gold ink in the central circle and one of the perimeter rings, and attempted to simulate grass by using a scribble technique in green.