Faerie Ravine

Faerie Ravine by ~audreydc1983 on deviantART

This painting is an anniversary gift for Krystina and Thorfin, based on a drawing that she did. She asked me to paint the hand and the faerie, but she had no opinion on the background - she told me to use my imagination. "Be an artist, make it up...." and all that jazz.
Here is the finished product. I hope you all enjoy!
Medium is acrylics on canvas board.

Viking shoes #1 - an experiment

Okay, I know that there are things that are not "period" about these shoes.

#1. The vikings did not use 'moc' leather for shoes.

#2. The vikings did not sew up their shoes with flat rawhide thread. They most likely used linen strengthened with beeswax. I checked.

#3. The use of the 'baseball' stitch is not supported by historical evidence.

So, why did I make them this way? I'll tell you why. I made them out of moc leather because I am new at leatherworking, it is easy for a beginner to work with, it is light, (and best of all) it is on the cheaper side. Moc leather also comes in a staggering array of colors.
I used rawhide thread because it is large, easier to work with, and cheaper than the round leather thread (which I used on the front and top, just to see what the stitch would look like with that thread. I'll pass.).
I used the baseball stitch because I haven't done it before, and it seemed like something cool and new to try out. Simple as that!
Here they are, then:

Here is the Front view:


The Top view:


And the Back view:


What they look like on my feet:



You may notice in this picture that there is a lot of room in the toes; a bulge there even! Why do they look like this you ask? Well, it was really cold in Northern Europe, and the climate wasn't very dry. To keep their feet from freezing, they would shove cloth, wool and straw into the toes. For an "insole" they would use straw on the bottoms, to repel wetness. They may have also worked beeswax into them, in another effort to repel moisture.

People in Europe had worn shoes much like this for centuries. Viking ankle boots were made out of tougher leather (of course), and possibly had a thicker sole (although some Viking-Age excavations turned up shoes made of one piece of leather, hence this pattern.

I've come to a conclusion while leatherworking: I am NOT going to end up a master leatherworker. I've tried it several times, and it's something that I don't particularly enjoy, although, in a survival situation, if I had to make my own leather clothing (well, shoes anyway) I could.

This is only the first pattern. I found another, taller pattern that looks a bit more cozy and stylish. Pictures will be forthcoming...as soon as I finish the shoes!

Hope you like,

Aud

My dad is Awesome!

My Dad is AWESOME by ~audreydc1983 on deviantART


This is the cross stitch card that I made for my dad. I used 2-sided tape to attach it to the inside of the window of the card. It might not be my first cross-stitch, but it is definitely my first cross-stitch card. COOL!

Oh, and did I mention.....that my dad is AWESOME?!

Thor's Hammer Cross Stitch

Here is the finished thor's hammer cross stitch!


Thor's Hammer Cross Stitch by ~audreydc1983 on deviantART

It was extremely tedious, required a lot of counting, and it was all the same color. The results are striking, but I don't think I'll EVER do this one again. Too boring when it's all the same color.

If you decide not to heed my warning, and would like to cross-stitch this masterpiece go here: http://crossstitch.about.com/od/freecrossstitchpattern1/ig/Wiccan---Pagan-Symbols/Thor-s-Hammer---Mjolnir-Chart.htm

Tyr Painting...A look back

To Tyr, the God of Justice, Bravery, and Courage!



Tyr is known by many names, most notably, The One-handed God.
Thanks to wikipedia, I do not have to re-type the story in detail. Here's the short version:
'According to the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, at one stage the gods decided to shackle the wolf Fenrisulfr (Fenrir), but the beast broke every chain they put upon him. Eventually they had the dwarves make them a magical ribbon called Gleipnir. It appeared to be only a silken ribbon but was made of six wondrous ingredients: the sound of a cat's footfall, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, bear's sinews (meaning nerves, sensibility), fish's breath and bird's spittle. The creation of Gleipnir is said to be the reason why none of the above exist. Fenrir sensed the gods' deceit and refused to be bound with it unless one of them put his hand in the wolf's mouth.

Tyr, known for his great honesty and courage, agreed, and the other gods bound the wolf. After Fenrir had been bound by the gods, he struggled to try and break the rope. When the gods saw that Fenrir was bound they all laughed, except Tyr, who had his right hand bitten off by the wolf. Fenrir will remain bound until the day of Ragnarök. As a result of this deed, Tyr is called the "Leavings of the Wolf". '

Most people, seeing through the misty veil of Christianity, misconstrue this story as an act of sacrifice: Tyr "sacrificed" his sword hand for the safety of his brethren. But this act was in fact one of bravery and justice: about doing what is right, regardless of the cost.

To my knowledge, this is the only painting that has ever been done of Tyr and the Wolf in this perspective. In every portrayal I have found, the hand is missing, or he is still two-handed, feeding the wolf, Fenris. I felt like a genius when the idea of this perspective occured to me. I am so glad that it worked, and I hope this painting does him "justice"! (Oh, the pun was bad, but it made me feel soooo soooo good!)

Hail, Tyr, bravest of the Gods!


An interesting bloggie fact to clog up your brain, thanks to Wikipedia:
Tuesday is in fact "Tyr's Day." This is because the Anglo-Saxons at that time pronounced Tyr's name as "Tiw" thus giving his name to the 2nd day of the week.

Oð Poem

Oð is a Norse God, the husband of Freya. It is said that he traveled far away, and Freya searches for him among the 9 worlds, weeping tears of gold and/or amber. They have a daughter, named Hnossa, and she is so beautiful that her name is used as a word for extremely valuable treasure. I believe that Oð is the god of travel. Here is a poem I wrote for/about him.


Oð

All of us are searching for something.
Our purpose.
Some of us are lucky, and stumble upon our purpose early in life.
I think that these people are rare.
Some of us live on the fringes of our purpose.
We live happy lives, but never reach our full potential.
Some find our purpose late in life, and attack it with gusto,
Throwing caution to the wind.
And still, more of us never find what we are looking for.
If you are of the last group you have two choices:
You can become bitter, because you never found your purpose,
Or you can feel blessed.
You can take joy in the fact that you had the opportunity to take this journey.

Thor Mini-Sampler

Here is my first sampler:



It's based on some of the Christian Samplers I have seen. If you can't tell, I absolutely LOVE Folk-Art hearts. :)


Hope you all enjoy!

Aud