Gryphon Song Gems

I was out at an SCA (sca.org) event this weekend, and had a lovely time of it. I spent most of the time today sitting in the shade of a pavilion, spinning yarn from a fleece a friend gave me, watching warriors in shining armor very politely whaling on each other with swords.



While I was there, I had the opportunity to spend some time chatting with Epaul Fischer, the artist behind Gryphon Song Gems. You can find him at http://gemartist.com/. I am lucky enough to own several of his pieces. I have a labradorite medallion that is carved with the symbol of the laurel, and a set of copper and black enamel buttons with my heraldry on them. And very soon I will be the owner of his first pewter heraldic buttons. I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out! I'm also envious of a couple of my friends, who have hand carved heraldic signet rings, that actually work to make impressions in wax seals.

Today, he had with him a couple of broaches that he was making for the champions of our local SCA baronies. He was in the process of getting the enameling on them right.

















He had also recently had one of the coronets he had made on display in a gallery. The show was done, so he was returning it to its owner. Isn't it gorgeous? He did the metal work, and carved the jade leaves and shamrocks. The leaves indicate the wearer's rank, and the shamrocks are from the wearer's individual heraldry. You can't see it in the picture, but the stone in the central medallion has a dragon carved into it. It is a breath taking piece, totally suited to the individual.





























I love seeing the marvelous works of art that get created in this group! But I am desperately trying to convince myself that I really don't need to pick up yet another hobby...



EDIT: Here's his description of the coronet: "Duke Arthur O'Flaherty's court coronet. Each set of strawberry leaves is carved from a single piece of jade. Front has Amber w/ carved dragon set in metal Sun, sides have shamrock's in faux emerald and malachite. Entire coronet 24 karat gold plated."

A lovely day for a drawing class

Ok, November in Phoenix, AZ is just weird. I'm from the midwest US, and November should be full of dried russet foliage, low gray snow filled skies, and a decided nip in the air. Today in Phoenix though, the sun was shining, and the scent of flowers wafted on a warm breeze. I'm not complaining, mind you. I'd rather shovel sunshine than snow any day. But it just isn't right.

I worked at the college today, for the life drawing class again. It was nice enough that the afternoon teacher decided to hold class outside. So she tossed me a kimono, grabbed a couple of props, and we headed out to a shady spot under the trees. Here's a couple of the poses. The first two were two minute gestures. The third I held for 45 minutes.






































Yes, I was very aware that I wasn't wearing the kimono anywhere near correctly. There should have been several layers underneath, for one. I do hope those who know better will forgive me--I worked with what I was given, with the limited knowledge that I have. However, the students overlooked the inaccuracy, and there was some very creative art work that came out of the session. Being outside really seemed to spark their imaginations.

The only real drawback to the day? Ants in Arizona bite!

Dragon Gourd

I spent this past weekend at an SCA event, out camping in the Arizona desert. It got a wee bit chilly at night, but the days were absolutely beautiful. The company was wonderful, and there was much silliness that transpired. Songs were sung around the campfire, knights in shining armor held tournaments, archers and rapier fighters did their thing, deserts were made and shared, embroidery was stitched, dancers were left breathless...and there was much story telling, a few tears, and many many hugs. Ahhhh. I love this group.

One of the side competitions that was held was a gourd carving contest. Originally it was supposed to be a pumpkin carving contest, but as pumpkins are new world items the contest was termed 'gourd' carving. The rules were that all carving had to be done on site, with hand tools only. Everyone else did pumpkins. But, well, I have this shed full of gourds...

My Dragon Gourd won the competition, and was promptly snatched up by a collector. And I had a wonderful day plying my art, surrounded by good friends, and much laughter.






Pictures by Christi Martin and Mike Te.

Life drawing poses for Halloween

Halloween is fast approaching, and to celebrate the teachers of today's life drawing classes and I put our heads together. Up till now, the students have been drawing mostly nude figure studies. I've seen lots and lots of drawings of me where I'm kind of floating mid air in the middle of the page. So we decided to give the students a draped figure to draw, and made a tableau that just tempted them to compose an entire scene. It worked, by the way. The students were a little freaked by the change at the beginning of the classes, but by the end they were having fun and making some fantastic art.

Here's a couple of the poses we came up with:














The skeleton is a replica. But that skull? Real. Let me tell you, it gets a bit creepy to sit for 50 minutes, just contemplating someone else's disembodied head! But also incredibly fascinating. That kind of opportunity just doesn't come along every day for most of us.



For those of you who got the last issue of 42 Magazine (http://www.42magazine.com/) , this is the skull in question in my poem "Skull Session in the Life Drawing Lab".

Another Treasury

I'm flattered over here! Some of my kumihimo braided cording has appeared in an Etsy treasury. The theme on this one is autumn colored items from the SCA Etsy street team. But looking at these treasuries is a dangerous thing for me. Now I'm eying the weaving stool, and the slat bed, and oooh is that necklace pretty, and...

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=73440

First go at the Circular Sock Machine

I recently got a Creelman Brothers circular sock machine off of Ebay. It came missing a few parts, so I've spent the last while working on that. I got a replacement yarn carrier, and the new set of needles came in today. I also had an idea of how to fudge around the missing weight buckle. So now that I had all the pieces in hand, today was the day to get started. First thing to do was take the machine apart, clean it with an old toothbrush, oil it, and put it back together. Then I dug into my stash of yarn, took a deep breath, and tried it out.

First off, to knit on the sock machine you need to already have stitches on the needles. Not having any prior knitting to use, this was a challenge. The original machines came with a doohicky that you were supposed to use to attach yarn to for set up, but mine is, well, rather mangled. 100ish years are not necessarily nice on wires. So I decided to try a tip I had read of, and used the plastic mesh that came around the last batch of oranges that we bought at the grocery store. I hung the mesh on the hooks, and then threaded up some yarn and started knitting. It took a bit...but it worked!!



You can see there were some spots that the needles didn't catch the yarn. I learned I needed even tension, and a medium and steady cranking speed to help avoid the dropped stitches.

Once I had gotten the hang of knitting a tube, I taught myself to change colors. That took several tries, but I eventually got it.




After that, I was brave enough to try to make a set up bonnet, so I wouldn't have to use the orange mesh again. I used the excellent directions at http://www.countryrain.com/Bonnet.htm . Learning to move the stitches from one needle to the next took several tries, but I like the effect of regular openings in the fabric.




After this picture, I 'hung the hem', which is explained in detail at the Country Rain web site that I mentioned above. Basically, it takes the bottom of the white yarn there and folds it up to hook it on the needles, so the top of the finished product will be where those holes are. Then I cranked out about 10 inches of tubing. That part went fast!! After I took the piece off the machine, I snipped the blue starter yarn off. Voila! A set up bonnet to use! And it only took three or four tries. I am so tickled!!




And here is a shot of the machine while I was playing with it. You can see the work around I used to deal with the missing weight buckle. I am using a strong clamp, and clipping it to the work. I hang the weights on the knitted material right above it. I'd still like to come up with a buckle, but this is working for now.



Not bad for a first day's learning. There are videos on You Tube that have been very helpful, as well as some written directions around the internet. Next up is learning to use the set up bonnet, more practice making tubes and changing colors, and perfecting the hung hem. Then I get to start learning how to make heels and toes.

Treasury: Fall Shawls

I was informed this evening that one of my tri-loom shawls was included in a treasury on Etsy. I popped over to take a look...and oh my! There are some tempting items in there. I'm honored to be included in that company. And I'm also sitting on my pocket book. I really don't need that Infinity Wrap, no matter how scrumptious it looks. Really. Don't need it.

Pretty pretty stuff!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=89767