Galliards and Lute Songs Served in Chilling Ale

It's been an interesting week.

I've been sitting here, knowing cerebrally that South Carolina does not get autumn. It seems that it gets slightly...drier, but the temperature and the preponderance of palmetto trees conspire to deny the state a Proper Autumn, with bright colours and crisp smells and chilly breezes.

However, the intertubes have been full of the change of the season this week. A friend posted pictures of the colourful mountain range around her house. Another friend complained lovingly about how it was already too cold in the mornings to stalk around without heavy socks. And I've been forced to watch it all from afar, marvelling at the dissonance between the knowledge that I won't have that here, and the actual experience of lacking it. I'm having the climatic version of taking a sip from a cup that you thought was water, which turns out to be rum. Or, more accurately, I've been hoping for spiced rum and got water instead.

I wonder how many times I'll walk outside and not be slapped in the face by the blustering autumn wind. I'm wondering how many times I'll go to open the window and smell...nothing. And I'm wondering, more and more, what all this is going to mean for my winter. Is it just going to get worse, as I wait over and over for the snow that won't fall? Or will I just get used to it, in that way that humans do, and forget that I ever owned a wool overcoat?

Ordinarily I rely on the change of season to spur me on, and the cold weather to keep me moving. The autumn and winter are when I usually get things done, especially all those projects I'd been thinking up in the heat of the summer when I was too lethargic to move. It's a reaction to the cold and the quiet, I think. It's a reaction to the juxtiposition of briskness and ice-bound immobility. So how is a lack of winter going to affect my creativity, my productivity? Will everything just remain...stagnant? Where will I find my winter inspiration, if not from the sun on snow?

Many winters ago and several states away, I spent the winter staying in the attic of some friends' house, sharing the mostly-finished space with another friend. That season I spent the entire time reading Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, listening to my copy of Jethro Tull's "Songs From the Wood", and handsewing a gigantic woolen cloak. It was chilly everywhere, but that was the warmest I'd felt in ages. I was surrounded by people whom I loved and loved me, we had a constant supply of hot cocoa, and I was immersed in a very medieval-inspired winter. It feels like every year since then is an attempt to recreate those amazing few months, to no avail; you really can't go back home again. But at least I still had the cold and the calm.

So, perhaps, this year is the year I invent something else. A new winter. A new zero. Something less reliant on snow and cold, and more derived from an inner quiet. After all, people have to slow down to think sometime, and I hope that even down here--in a humid land full of palmettos and pecans--people still use winter as the season of meditation, reflection, and calm.

Barbarians and Ruffles

Today I'm working on the design for some workout pants (trousers, for you Brits, not underpants) for bellydancers, and whomever else wants them. They--and some other reclaimed t-shirt clothing I've been designing--will eventually be put up on etsy. I've got a nice cup of chamomile tea, and I'm about to start a pot of chili a-simmering.

Once I finish the current step for these pants (working on ruffles), I think I'm going to work on a current custom tattoo design. I was hoping to get some prelim. graphic design stuff done this week, but since I won't be getting my other computers from West Virginia for yet another week I have a bit of a reprieve.

ON DECK: Research the hair of Alphonse Mucha's women
TODAY ON TV: Ep 101 of "Mad Men"; Terry Jones' "Barbarians"

Gone to Carolina in my mind.

Well, here I am, back in good ol' Charleston again. I'm just in time to catch what (at this point) may or may not be a Catagory 3 hurricane. Joy!

I'm getting a chance to sort through old t-shirts and get to work on some designs for the etsy store. Be assured that as soon as I get some items up I will post a link here. And I'm also putting the word out: I'm looking to build up my supply of old t-shirts from which to make new and exciting garments. If you have an old pile of t-shirts sitting around that hasn't yet made it to the thrift store, please consider sending them to me instead. As an incentive, for every ten shirts you send I'll make you a new and shiny something out of one of them. Spread the word! This is a great way to get something useful out of an old sentimental shirt you never wear anymore.

I'm also going to get to re-paint the room which will soon be my studio. We might even get to buy the paint today, and as soon as James' dad drops off the ladder I can get going. This is all way more pleasing than just painting a room ought to be; it's really the little things with me, innit?

Back in the Saddle Again

Well, I'm back in Ontario, having spent the last two weeks at Pennsic. I'm spending the next day or so here, and then Virginia and I are driving back to West Virginia for some serious prep work for The Maryland Rennaisance Festival.

At this point, the plan is for me to be in town and at faire for Labour Day Weekend. On that Friday, my friend Terri is performing, and on that Sunday is DC Tribal Cafe, which I am very much looking forward to attending. Please contact me if you want to plan something. In fact, if you are available or interested in...conveyance...to or from events, also please contact me. :)

Back to watching Virginia watch the Olympics for me. Cheers, all.

"A night's unbroken sleep might aid my welfare..."

Happy April!

It's been an interesting few days here at Mydwynter Studios.

The work on my apartment above the pottery studios is progressing. Soon, the ceiling will be finished, and after that work can continue more easily. I have completely moved in nonetheless, which has been fantastic...especially for Rigel the studio cat, who has decided now that there is a dog-free zone, he's going to sleep off the last year. (He's been an almost-exclusively an outdoor cat for that time due to some "dog issues".) His greatest ambition thus far seems to be to shed as much as possible onto my bedcover. Congratulations, Rigel. You're doing well.



Last night was a bit stressful, for various personal reasons. I decided to take a page from my freshman year at university and stay up all night, doing some sort of artwork which I seldom get to do. The whole thing is an exercise in freedom; freedom from the usual constraints of time, and freedom from my usual constraints of media.

I was inspired to pull out my old pastels and a beautiful blue piece of pastel paper I had bought on a whim this past fall. I let fly, to this effect:



I've been calling it "study of a celt in lapiz and copper" for lack of a better title. If you have any suggestions I'd be pleased to hear them.

I won't editorialize here, only to say that it was an interesting ride getting back on that horse. I haven't worked with pastels for so long that I can't even remember when I last used them. I had a blast though, and hope to do that more often. "A fresh palatte of pastels" go onto the list of art supplies I need to order; I suspect that this set is nearly as old as I.

The spring winds outside are gusting, and changes are afoot indeed.
Be well,
Bran

Back on the Horse

Well folks, it's been a long ~3 months. Here's what I've been working on:

In December, the last time I checked in, I had just finished making my various-winter-holiday cards. I also teased that I had photos of a commissioned project, but I couldn't post them in case they made it back to the person for whom it was being created.

Well, the present was sneakily transferred to the wife of the recipient, and given as a Christmas gift, and (so I was told) much enjoyed. Here it is:



This was a blast to work on. I particularly enjoyed playing with the way the spirals didn't just have to echo the form in two dimensions, but could flow in and out of the pockets and holes within the skull. Great fun.

After that, I headed out on a long, long trip hither and yon.

I flew out to Seattle, where I spent a month making many lists and weaving lots of trim on a mini inkle loom. As usual, I spent my time hanging out with all my friends out there and being inspired by Seattle's particular mix of health, hipness, and love of originality. I finally made it to a yoga class taught by one of the guys out there, ate at one of my favorite vegan soul food restaurants, and attempted to play a game of frisbee golf. (Which is, as was clear to those who were playing with me, not my favorite past time. As sports go, I would much rather be playing baseball, or football, or a wicked game of badminton.) In spite of the latter, I had quite a nice time there.

Then I moved on to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where I proceeded to be knocked upside the head by a major respiratory flu. Being ill for a week seriously threw off our plans for the month, which were to make what I am calling "Yurt: The New Class"; where I camp at Pennsic, we Celts often use yurts as our temporary round houses. One of my friends who lives up there is basically our "yurt guru", so it only made sense that if I wanted a yurt which a)would break down small enough to be conveyed in a car, and b)was more efficient than our current versions, I would go to her. The three of us up there worked our tails off (especially our yurt guru, to whom I owe a big pile o' thanks and many, many presents). One thing I learned? When working with hickory, you get some serious tear-out which might not only be irreparable with a belt sander, but also irreparable with a nicely-sharpened hand planer. Yikes.

In any event, the delay due to illness cost us the deadline, so I'll be heading back up in July. In the meantime, one of the things we did finish completely was the cherry wood door frame, which I'll be carving (intricately, it seems, according to my sketches) and fitting with a door. Photos on that will be posted once it has been completed.

This month I went down to the last weekend of the Florida Renaissance Festival and over to Mississippi for the SCA's Gulf Wars. I was much inspired by these two events, and more on the results of that inspiration are to come.

Here's hoping the nascent Spring finds you well, and the new-green buds bring you some growth of your own.

Cheers,
Bran

...and tomorrow will be beyond imagining.

The past week was a but nutty, but full of a whole lot of accomplishment. I can post some pictures after Christmas, so as not to ruin a few surprises. However, I did also manage to create and produce my own Winter/Yule/Christmas/Hanukkah, etc., cards.



I hope you all are having a safe, warm, and lovely holiday season.