Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
helwen: (MacGyver)
Yesterday I completed a second plate (#3 -- #2 will have to wait until after the weekend), and we managed to get them to Odbald finally. He fired them in the evening and will be picking them up today to take to Birka. Hopefully they both came out okay.

Both are love-themed. Amorial plates were popular in Medieval/Renaissance times, as well as other love tokens.

One is close to being a reproduction -- doing freehand painting makes it a little difficult to do an exact repro, but maybe I'll be able to get closer with underglazes. Odbald gave me overglazes so I could start out doing something closer to painting, I think (what you see for colors is what you get -- with under glazes you have to imagine more). It's in blue and orangy-yellow. A woman holding a goblet with a heart coming out of the bowl part, with a small flame on it and two arrows sticking into it. She's standing/walking between a couple of large, odd-looking bushes. The scene is surrounded by peacock feathers within a border of blue and yellow rings. There's a Italian phrase written next to the lady: El mio core e ferito p- voe (My heart is smitten by you). Faenza ware 1470-1480

The other is not a repro, simply done by an absorption of all the different plates I've looked at over the past year or so. Gold, silver/gray, green and black. A cat and dog rampant regardant with tails crossed (they're both standing on one foot, facing away from each other but looking over their shoulders at each other). They're surrounded by a circle of black and gold acanthus leaves, which are framed by two simple rings of green (although the 2nd ring fought me tooth and nail re: application). Between/above the heads is the popular Latin phrase: Amor Vincit Omnia (Love conquers all). Folks back then had a pretty good sense of humor, and I believe the concept of 'fighting like cats and dogs' goes back a long ways, so it seemed like a fun combination of things to do. That plate is very large and would make a great serving dish. The glazes in this case are lustre glazes, so a bit more metallic and shiny than the usual.

With Valentine's Day coming up, as well as people in serious relationships wishing to express their feelings, I think these two plates could be contenders for uniques gifts. Unfortunately they won't come cheap as they take a while to paint, but we'll see what happens. I think the peacock one would be a natural as a gift for [livejournal.com profile] peacockduchess, but I don't even know if she and B will be at Birka, so that's moot at this point. At the very least, I hope people enjoy the eye-candy as they walk through the marketplace today and tomorrow.

Back to activities - we worked on books last night, [livejournal.com profile] sorcieredeneige brought by the completed juggling sheep, bookplates were printed/cut/wrapped. This morning, laundry, cut book covers and buttons (fitzw), bookbinding, packing, food shopping, cooking!

Then off to Birka, hopefully leaving here no later than 2pm so we can start setting up before the marketplace opens for business, and check in as well, since I need to setup our room so there's room for my table.

Snow!

Jan. 22nd, 2007 12:10 pm
helwen: (Default)
Okay, it's just a little bit, but I'm still happy to see it.

Getting work done on a couple of ceramic plates. Hope to finish them today. Contemplating what to put on the third plate -- looks like a gigantic pie plate. It's one of the early templates, before Odbald got into the wider rim. The two I'm currently working on are kinda flat, but that's okay as the Italians had both flat and deep dishes.

Hmmm...
helwen: (Default)
Okay, it isn't a really big revelation, but...

From Aberystwyth and District Archaeological Society web site:

"The raw materials for making a pot consisted of clay, dug from the ground, and water. Clay extraction inevitably left large holes in the surface, and the potters were supposed to fill them in again to prevent people and animals falling down them. Mediaeval court records are full of cases where potters had neglected their responsibility or where they had excavated clay from forbidden areas such as the King's Highway."

So dangerous holes made in the road by potters are.... _POT_HOLES!!!

Friday

Oct. 6th, 2006 11:21 pm
helwen: (Default)
Work was good this morning. Had a couple of folks to work on, took out trash and recycling, etc. Did a bit more in the garage today. Scott painted the Swiss Coffee on the ceiling. Still some more painting to do on the last wall, around all the glass blocks.

It was nice to not have to drive from Gt. Barrington up to Ashfield to set up -- we'd still be there right now, not at home on the PC. But kind of strange too... I've been working at AFF for 7-10 years (sorry, would have to check my records to know for sure). And I do wish I could have come to the realization sooner that things just weren't working out. At least I can afford to make up the monetary side of things to the scholarship fund, but there are a few folks who'll be looking for me and wondering where I went. I do hate to disappoint. I know it's the right decision, but that doesn't make it any less icky.

Meantime, have moved forward on two projects, and considering a new lesser project -- llama with a wreath around its neck. Should make a good holiday card, I think.

One of the projects requires research, so in addition to web research I have some books on order. Some should arrive next week, and some are from England, so they could end up being a nice Christmas present to myself. Medieval English pottery :) And yes, I will definitely be showing them to my friend Odbald -- maybe we can get some nice 14th c. pottery ready for Crossroads at Canterbury. He's apparently looking into getting a wheel, which would be a lot of fun. I've never thrown anything higher than 6-7", but there are some nice jugs and cups that look really cool and aren't being made -- at least around here. Of course, I should get some books on Italian and French stuff too, but the budget can only handle so much at a time, so I'll have to see what Odbald's collected so far, and what I can find online.

Tonight I should check my supply of sugarhouse magnets and bring them up on a cookie sheet, in case the folks want to carry them at their booth. I should have plenty, so then I can set up the spinning wheel and do a bit of spinning -- my wild purple/blue Romney :)

But first, dinner!

Friday

Sep. 1st, 2006 11:14 pm
helwen: (Default)
Nothing too exciting today... scraped loose paint off the now-interior garage wall and around the garage door, and did some puttying of holes and such. fitzw did some as well, and vaccuumed all the little bits up too. Forgot to do laundry, sigh. Wrote people about stuff... did more online research on salt cellars, pottery, beakers, goblets...

Kind of interesting that some glassmakers and ceramicists were trying to make things that looked like porcelain, to compete with imports from China (milky glass and tin-glazing, respectively).

g'night

Profile

helwen: (Default)
helwen

December 2024

S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    

Most Popular Tags

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Style Credit

Page generated Jul. 7th, 2025 01:49 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios