EKAE Swap #5

I just got done with the latest East Kingdom Artisanal Exchange, and I have to tell you, this one challenged me a lot.

To be fair, my Laurel did lay down a couple expectations about doing something a bit more . . . involved . . . than my last few swaps.

So I did do something really out of my comfort zone in a lot of ways.  I did go with some things that were comfortable to me (check out the veil pins!), but I also did the paternoster that you see to your right.

This paternoster used a couple of lampworking techniques that I'm still learning (like playing with making my own stringers and very basic canes - the flowers used twisties and filigrana that I made myself!), and I also worked on a more consistent bead shape.

 If you look at the detail of the purple gaud bead, you can (faintly) see the yellow filigrana I used.  Filigrana is a technique where an opaque rod of glass is encased in clear glass and then pulled.  A twistie is exactly what it sounds like - two colours of glass twisted together.  The centre of the flowers used a twistie of colours.  As for the details of the flowers - little dots using a very fine stringer.  The bigger portions of the flower (inspired by my recipient's love of forget-me-nots) were dots from a rod.  I'm proud of this, as the blue beads are relatively consistent in shape, size, and texture, and the flowers, while being rustic, are definitely flowers.  The only bits I did not actually make for the paternoster were the silver ring (which was from a box of beads a friend gave me), the commercially made metal spacer beads, and the silk for the tassel.

In addition to the paternoster, my recipient also wore veils, and in order to wear veils properly, every good woman needs veil pins.  These were at times problematic.  I used brass, both as it is inexpensive, and because the Romans used a copper alloy (check out the link and the Roman digs).  Brass is usually comprised of an alloy of copper and tin, so it would make some sense that the Romans' copper alloy would be similar to brass.  Unfortunately brass causes glass to bubble and react, and while it can look really interesting, it can cause some issues.  I had to redo one pin partially because my torch melted the brass slightly, and two because the bubbles from the brass touching the glass caused the glass head to break, so it was back to the torch to redo another.  (sort of a "things you learn from experimenting.")  All in all, my recipient was very happy, and I was quite satisfied.

And then I received the coolest little enameled medallion based on a Byzantine medallion.  It was a great swap, and I definitely want to do another, but I have to look at Queen's Prize.  Something tells me it may be awesomely Roman.

Queen's Prize Entry

100_3282, a photo by constantiak on Flickr.

It is time for Queen's Prize here in Calontir! This is the novice-level A&S event of the year here.

My original plan fell through - encaustic takes time and money that after a trip out of the country and sixty-hour workweeks I didn't really have, so I switched gears and did traditional scribal. I did want to keep it Byzantine (because, hi, me), so I went with this page from the Rabbula Gospels that depicts the apostles and Christ talking about who would replace Judas.

Not much is known about the artist (or for that matter, studio) who painted the Rabbula Gospels, other than his name was Rabbula.  The extant is on parchment (in the photos, the animal's markings are even seen).

Instead of going with this idea and doing a full-blown replica, I went with the idea of past imparting wisdom to the future, by using the first five kings and queens of Calontir speaking to the current king and queen of Calontir.

From the top, going clockwise - Arwyn and Chepe (1st), Cire and Elisabeth (4th), William (Humpk) and Mammara (3rd), Damien and Issabell (60th and as of this writing, current king and queen of Calontir), Asgeirr and Miriam (5th), and Shadan and Erzebet (2nd).

It is unusual to have the men and women in such close quarters, given how segregated Byzantine society was between women and men, and it is doubly unusual to have the women not veiled.  In hindsight, I probably should have veiled the women (modesty was a big deal in Byzantium, especially in the 5th and 6th centuries, and there's an example in the Rabbulas of Mary being completely covered, however, it appears that she is in mourning), however, looking at the royal ladies of Theodora's court in comparison, they're about as covered, though I will point out that the artist may be illustrating the difference in class.

One cool thing I found out is that the extant is just shy of 13"x10", or about the size of the perg (which is close at 11"x14", though this was due to being trimmed to be rebound. That was a really happy day, lemme tell you.

It is commercially produced gouache (Royal Talens) on pergamenata (purchased from John Neal Booksellers).

I am pretty pleased with this piece, though I really need to draw the figures bigger to fill the space better.

If you would like to see the step-by-step process, the scroll diary can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/belle-etoile/sets/72157634999333773/

Additionally, my documentation can be found here.

Queen's Prize and other Miscellanea

Hi everyone!

I'm in the process of madly writing documentation for Calontir's Queen's Prize, which is in a few days, and will have an entry mostly consisting of my documentation for my entry soon.  I do exist - but my goodness, so many things to do and see and write about!

I'm hoping to start on some Coptic embroidery soon for a new cloak, but I need to do some more research.  I'll hopefully be putting those notes here so you can see what I've written about.

Until then,

Konstantia

Quick Update

I'm working on a rather secret project right now that will be revealed soon - it's for Noblesse Largesse's current documentation-required swap.  The hint I will give is that the object I've made is for a culture influenced by Byzantine culture, and the object is something shiny.

There will be photos - I promise.

I'm also working through a couple ideas for a Norse banner for my barony, as well as a couple of plans for Knowne World Heraldic and Scribal Symposium in Bjornsborg, and one more big project for Queen's Prize in Calontir that I'm exploring.

A year or so after I had joined the Society, I became enamored with iconography, specifically Byzantine and Rus icons.  Since many of Byzantium's icons were destroyed in the 8th and 9th century, and the few dozen that still exist are at St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, there's not a lot of information but what we do have is a handful of icons painted using encaustic paints.

Encaustic painting is painting with pigmented wax, hardened with resin, and applied to a porous substrate (such as wood).  There's a breadth of styles, from rather primitive and almost in a modern chibi style to a naturalistic and realistic style.  It'll take some more investigating, but it certainly looks like fun.