Woodworking

It has been a long while since I last showed some of the things I'm doing with wood. It is very exciting to me since I'm learning everything 'hands-on' so to say, but even without any guidance but trial and errors I can see getting better and better all the time. I'm learning to master our new-to-us stand drill, chisels and wood-burning iron and I'm looking for a good carving knife to test myself on a new level of the carving experience. But here the last things I made ...

Flower-shaped pen holder (or brush holder). It is quite fun if you look at the first two pictures, the toys around the stand drill ... house full of (unschooled) kids that's it heheheh ....

Candle holder out of a branch

 

Pyrographed dread or beard beads

 

All the wood i use is either recycled ( the pen-holder ) or out of fallen branches that I find in the forest, so everything is extremely eco-friendly.

Sawdust

Longer and warmer spring days call for a long time spent outdoors, which means not so many deeds done, or maybe not so much time to record them in pictures as I usually work at my different projects in the teenie weenie space of time between this and that, but I have to admit that even in the hustle and bustle of spring I can still have much done and it usually translates at the moment in huge piles of sawdust ( which my husband highly dislikes, but that's it ... eheheh ). Did I already mention that now we have a stand-drill and I'm utterly thrilled of this new ''toy'' ? With one of my sons we always jokingly argue over who is to use it as we both love the new piece of machinery ....

Father Sun, Sister Moon

Beside runes and nature, another of my passion is Sami culture. The Sami are the indigenous people of the north, they suffered a lot and have been dispossessed of their lands, their ways, their religion and for many years even of their language. Now they are trying to thrive in this world, they are trying not to give up their ways, and I think we could all learn so much from them ( as we could from most of the -few-indigenous groups still existing on the planet. Anyway, a while ago I did some research about Sami's Shaman drums and I could find some images online ( I'm sorry I can't remember which web-site at all ) and loved them, so i started realizing some pendants in polymer clay inspired by those signs. Here the first one I finished yeasterday. It's sun\moon signs and I really like it. It is polymer clay carved, coloured with pastel chalks and polished.

One White Tree - JRR Tolkien

Tall ships and tall kings

Three times three,

What brought they from the foundered land

Over the flowing sea ?

Seven stars and seven stones

And one white tree.

                     (JRR Tolkien)

In the picture a carved pendant I made in polymer clay and charcoral medium inspired by this wonderful poem and original illustration.

Amrâlimê

In this period my main artistic endeavours are aimed in learning new skills on a side ( carving and  woodworking  mainly... ) and including my interests with a few techniques I learned through some online art classes that I took last year. Here a few tries I did with celtic knots, mixed-media art, Khuzdul runes and words.

Amrâlimê is the Khuzdul word for 'my love' or 'I love you'  taken from one of The Hobbit movie, on the lower circle it is written in runes

My first attempt with engraving, not totally satisfied, but I'm trying to be gentle on myself as it was the first try ever with this specific technique.

Credits: sources for all things Khuzdul and Neo-Khuzdul  are Midgardsmal  and The Dwarrow Scholar

Futhark

I finally finished my first set of Futhark runes. I made it with a white polymer clay, not the best choice, but being fairly new to all the carving-burning-sanding process, I'm just trying to refine my skills before trying better and most suitable materials. I'm kinda satisfied, even if the tokens are not perfectly alike and smooth. I like the color I gave, using pastel-chalks. May this set be the first of many more,opening new doors for me.

Innikh-dê

Yesterday I finished a wooden token for our caravan. I made it quite symbolic, as on one side I have engraved and later pyrographed a celtic compass and on the other side the word innikh dê written in khuzdul runes ( dwarvish runes from Tolkien's Middle Earth ) that means 'return to me'.In my mind it's a good omen for safe traveling, for not losing (too often!) our way, and coming back home safe and sound after our journeys. As I usually do, I refer to midgardsmal for the Khuzdul and specifically to this post  
I'm quite happy with the outcome, even if I must admit I prefered it before the 'burning', not totally sure why, though.

Old tools, new skills

If you keep silent, you can lsiten to the call of the wilderness. A call to learn hands on, a call to creativity and resourcefulness. My latest call came from a hundred years old hand woven basket filled with very old tools and knives. A new world opened its doors in front of me.