Sigils, Standard and Heraldry

Like I don't have enough projects pending....OK, I know that projects come knocking at the mental door. But what law says that I have to open that door? What perverse sense of humor of the ONE caused me to open this latest door? Well....I did, and it resulted in a deep dive for the past three months and another major project on my burner.

It started with a hunt for a sigil. Bear with me - we'll come up for air eventually. I wanted a closer look at the sigil of Gil-Galad (yes...we're dealing with Lord of the Rings again) that both Gil-Galad and Elrond wear at the shots of the Last Alliance in the film version. Peter Jackson and his staff did their research and many of the details that they had in the film were "canon", i.e., they were straight from the descriptions laid out in many of Tolkien's writings. A search for Gil-Galad's sigil led to several websites, including the fan fiction websites that I've been involved in ever since. But in this search for the sigil, I also found many more sigils and heraldic devices that were carried by characters of LOTR. So......

I have an item I purchased several years ago that I wanted to enamel. I have decided that I want to put some of these sigils onto the item in enamel. The sigils are very detailed, so doing the enamel will be a challenge. But I think I'll enjoy the challenge, so I spent two hours last night resizing 30+ sigils to the size that I will need. Now I can start drawing the final versions to-size, do the color plates, and try and figure out the best ways to make this happen....all I needed - ONE MORE PROJECT - OI VEH !

(Sigils pictured are Luthien, Finrod and Earendil, from top to bottom.)

Tucson - Wish I Was There

Every year the world gathers in Tucson for the largest Gem & Mineral Show in the world. The show itself takes over more than 40 different venues across the city and extends for most of a month in length. Many shows are 3-day or 5-day shows, others are multi-week shows. Most of the shows are "wholesale" shows, but their admission documentation varies and often that definition of "wholesale" is quite broadly painted. I love the excitement, the sights and smells, and the beauty of stones and materials that I can't find elsewhere. BUT, I'm not there this week. In fact, I haven't been in Tucson for the past several years. The last time I was in Tucson I purchased a lot of material for my work. And I'm still in really good shape with my raw materials. I simply didn't need enough new material to justify the trip expense and time. So....I'm here in the snowbelt when I would rather be fighting the crowds, the road construction and the parking mess. But, maybe I can go next year. There are some pieces of equipment I would love to see and try out (and maybe bring home to my own workshop), and maybe I'll have had an opportunity to use up more of my overstock so that I'll need new stones. A girl can dream.....

And on the enameling front, I have been getting project backup lately. The past two weeks I have not had the time to fire up the kiln, so I have necklace components for my Beading For A Cure 2010 project waiting for their first experimental firing. I also have decided on a six-panel sequence for my cigar box project and am working on the storyboard for it. I might bring my magnification projector to the shop with me today and start the storyboard work there so that I can see what things will look like at the proper size. That will help me determine the best way to get the imagery onto the copper. Some of the designs are quite complex and I will need to determine how to get that detail through in the glass. What a fun quandry :-)

Enjoy your Friday - create some beauty today.

Friends and Life

Many times, while trying to start my Wednesdays, I will drop by my local Barnes & Noble bookstore to check out the latest magazines and pick up a book or two that I will find interesting. Yesterday was no exception. I dropped through their doors, headed to the magazines and got several that I needed current issues of, then headed to the books to get a replacement copy of Tolkien's "Silmarillion" (I've been hunting for my copy for more than a month without success - so it was time for a replacement copy). I heard my name called from the cafe area of the store and looked up to see a dear friend and customer - Linda Davis. Linda is a doll maker with a wicked and lovely sense of humor. She embellishes her dolls with beads and they come alive! I adore her work and she's been a constant source of color and inspiration for us over the past few years. She's been fighting lymphoma for the past year, so I hereby send white light to her (I've been doing so for several months, but it never hurts to re-focus) and thank her for once again brightening my day.

As workshop days go, it wasn't extremely productive. But I did start working on a project I've had on the back burner for a couple of years. I have two specific cigar boxes that have a recessed lid. I purchased them for cheap at the Renaissance Faire when the local "smoke shop" sold the used boxes rather than reload them into their vehicle and take them back to their brick and mortor shop. I've been wanting to enamel the recessed panel, just haven't been able to decide on a theme. Since I have two of them, I have finally decided to do one of them with six panels of Elvish sigils. The sigils, visible symbols of a house, king, etc., are emblems of heraldry and are beautiful. I have the ones I have chosen in miniature pictures, but need to redraw them to meet the size requirements. That's the next stage. So, even though I didn't get a chance to do a lot of creativity, I still did manage to vaccuum my lower level flooring, scrub my shower and bathroom, hem and work on my cloak, and decide the sigils for my cigar box. All in all, a good workshop day, even without firing up the kiln.

Art, continued....

Yesterday I was talking about my fingers itching and how I needed to create to still the itch for another day. Today I have a video to share with each of you. This short but lovely video addresses art...what makes us happy and what we need to do to be happy. I found the accent sometimes a bit hard to understand, but it's not a long video and well worth watching again. Great drawing and watercolor technique. Here you go.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpunQZ4cUyI Enjoy!!

I am also pleased to announce the the gallery for the upcoming (March/April) auctions is now up for Beading For A Cure. The items are auctioned off during an eight week period with different items available each week. The Gallery is available to look at on the website http://www.beadingforacure.org/ and I recommend that you take a look at the wonderful items that will be auctioned off this year. Make a note about which ones you are interested in and watch our eBay auctions, beginning the first week of March, to make sure you get to bid on the one you want. The monies raised in our annual efforts are donated to the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance and we have raised more than $10,000 since we started this charity several years ago.

Sketching and the Creative Urge

I love to sketch, although I don't think I'm anything fantastic with it. Sketchpads and pencils are among my favorite gifts to receive and to give, and I always have at least one sketchpad and a pencil and/or pen with me at all times. (OK, maybe not when swimming, but I don't really allow myself to get acquainted with bathing suits anymore, so I'm safe with the previous "blanket" statement.) I have found that having the courage to simply sit and sketch and not really care about what anyone around me might think about the quality (or lack of quality) of my efforts is freeing. And I have found that the more sketching I do, the better I am getting at expressing what I really want to through this basic artform. One thing that intrigues me is Sketchcrawl. Sketchcrawl started in San Francisco several years ago and takes place every three months. The idea is to spend a day going around your city/town/area and sketch everything you see. Even better is when you can do this with friends. The next sketchcrawl is coming up in April. I think I might try to participate in it. It sounds like fun.

Do your fingers itch? I don't mean externally, although that can also happen. I mean internally. When your fingers itch to do something creative instead of your boring, day-to-day routine. The day-to-day might bring in the money and support your family, but if it crushes your creativity, then you have made a Faustian deal with the devil. In other words, you just sold your soul to the devil, took a ring from Sauron, chose to leave heaven with Lucifer, etc., etc. All bad, no good. I dream of making art. I don't necessarily dream of specific projects, or even specific media. Just the act of creation. That creation stops the itch in my fingers and makes me happy. I can be coloring in a coloring book, sketching with pencils, using water color paints, sculpting or throwing a pot with clay, making a metal sculpture with metals and fire, making a finely detailed piece of enamel. All are things I would love to spend time with, all are things I have dreamed of participating in within the past two weeks, and all of these things help to keep my finger itching under control. I suppose, if I didn't have the outlet of dreams, I might have every surface in my physical world covered with personal graffiti and pictures. It might not be a bad thing, but it would certainly be a downer to the potential resale value of my home and the cleanup would be horrendous. Dreams can be wonderful.....

Today, remember Buddy Holly and "The Day the Music Died". His muse was music, and his short but bright light is still felt today - 50 years later.

Temper, Temper

I want another day off. I'm very close to being completely over this cold/flu that all of us have been suffering with, but I have to be back to a regular schedule this week and that's not going to be helpful. I only hope that VerLaine isn't suffering too badly - she came down with the crud late last week and really was suffering on Saturday. Jim actually was able to be up for most of the day yesterday, but his nerves are totally raw and he completely lost his temper because I wanted to eat at half-time instead of just before the SuperBowl. Apparently that is cause to rant, rave, throw things around, and act like a really stupid bully. It's his temper that makes me regret our 30+ year commitment. If I throw the temper out of the equation, he's a great guy and all is good. I have no idea what can be done about bad temper though. Maybe he'll argue and fight his way into a stroke or something.... how stupid would that be! It's so much nicer to just enjoy life instead of grumbling because there are still seeds attached to the slices of bell pepper.

Here's an example of great, positive viewpoint. The New York Times has an E-columnist - Maira Kalman, who attended the inaguration. Her viewpoint is delightful and a joy to look through - the inaguration through the eyes of one woman and her art. I highly recommend that all of you follow the link and take a good look - you'll be happy that you did.