Several Recent Commission Pieces

So over the past year, i've taken on a couple commission pieces for friends in the SCA,
Starting with this Pelican Medallion:

 This was a small pendant made for a Midrealm Baroness, referencing her land's device:

And the most recent, another Pelican Medallion, for an elevation at this most recent Rose Tourney:

I hope to get more Photos and do a full write up regarding the Red Spears coronets Soon as well :)

Business as usual

Ok, so maybe not "as usual" but i'm trying something new.
I now have an artists "page" on FB,
Rabbit Enamels

and also,

The Glass Rabbit

both of these are pretty sparse so far, but im excited to have some sort of presentation of my artwork online,

I haven't found a good way to integrate the blog into the website, so i may just link the website over here, meh.

Soon i'll get a writeup about the donation piece for SCA 50 year Historic Display fundraiser!!

it was glorious, and i was told the highest earning piece in the whole auction! ^_^ Squee!

Teaser:

On Scale:

The internet is a glorious and expansive resource! Pictures ERRYWHERE!! yes, pinterest is my crack. 

But exactly how does the size of this piece relate to reality? 
For example, this reliquary plaque from 1185 - german.

Great Detail, not a super complicated design, easy peasy! http://metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/464199?rpp=30&pg=11&ao=on&ft=Cloisonn%C3%A9&pos=301

oh wait...it's actually only 1-1/8" x 3-3/8"..

thats, not very big at all...
so i drew it to actual size, and it became painfully obvious. 

Then i considered the technique used for this: Champleve. Which uses engraving to remove areas of metal to then be filled in with enamel and ground smooth. Who wants to remove large open areas of metal? not this girl. i still am horrible with/haven't REALLY tried engraving for this purpose, so there's that..  

So as glorious as it is to save images and zoom way-the-hell in on them, my point i want to make is to consider scale, in regards to purpose and technique, and be realistic in your recreations. Scale is important! 

- YIS Tira

The Great Migration

So apparently middle-ages England is boring. Or i'm just tired of the endless pursuit for the perfect cotehardie.. whatever,

* * * * * *

So i'm migrating to India! well, i've been toying with the idea of migrating to India since i wore a sari to pennsic two years ago, and it was the most comfortable i have EVER been at a hot-weather event. so, #winning right there.

So among all the other in-process projects, I've been switching over my persona to Tiramala Devi, because also, wanting to do ALL THE THINGS!

Originally, i'd started focusing on Tamil Nadu, very southern India, because i loved their sari drapes, but I've recently narrowed it down to Maharashtra, for i'm sure some reasons i can't remember, probably mostly influence from Bajirao Mastani (AHmazing 'period' movie). not gonna lie, i'm one of THOSE people. but i love it.

So seeing as i haven't updated in forever, i'm making it a goal to do so at least once/week, keeping up with projects/progress and the adventures of choli-patterning, and Kathak classes,

Here's to a New Year/New You, SCA edition!

-YIS
TiramaFuu

(a good group of friends refers to me as "Fu" -yes as in 'little bunneh', and given my love of tiramisu, the two were QUICKLY merged upon settling on my new name.. )

Unintentional Sabattical

I do hereby apologize for my unintentional sabattical from posting : (
but here, i made another shiny? it was a gift box for their incoming Magesties of the Middle Kingdom. done in 1 week. because as of monday, i was just going to paint their arms, then the Fox and soon my Laurel, teamed up on me and convinced me to enamel it instead, cause.. well..

thats my thing,.

Original Sketches of their Heraldry:

The Griffin, after the first firing:

And the Final Piece, as gifted, choc full of largess from my fellows in Red Spears:

 Oh yeah, and i completely switched up my persona to Mughal Era India,.. so there's that too : D

Revisions and Refirings and glass splinters..

This post got lost in my drafts, so we're a bit out of order at this point, but here it is anyway!! ^_^

Kingdom A&S was over the memorial day weekend, and I'm happy to say my piece did well enough at regional for both of us to attend : D (yes, I'm one of the reasons the Midrealm was asking for so many metalworking judges : ) I did get the chance to adjust the issues I was having with the greens (I'm convinced it's a compatibility issue, the lamp-working glass doesn't want to play as well with my enamels as I'd hoped, but ah well, lesson learned.

The piece, as submitted at regional A&S in North Oaken. yes, there are gaping wounds in my enamel, the pearls are so round they look fake (thats now a running joke, they really were Real), and no, it's not actually set into the bezel.... and we're not even going to discuss how my copies of my documentation were missing the last/bibliography page. i did ok enough to move on, so lets just do that! ^_^

 Also, the thickness i was getting from patching the green so much was causing issues as well :( BUT! Once it was sorted out, i was able to start grinding the enamels smooth : )

After the last firings, before grinding smooth

 

First round of stoning. shows where there are low spots, but way easier to see all the cloisons in the red garment : D i think i'd nearly forgotten about them honestly... 

I used increasingly fine grades of wet sanding to smooth the top edges to a glossy finish. which of course makes all the wierdness in the glass show up, but meh, whatever, now i know.. had some issues with my bezel setting, but i did replace the pearls with some other smaller but more irregular ones (oh hey, THOSE are totally real! lol) 

 

My Piece on display at Kingdom A&S in Tipton, IN, laid on the tea towel i usually wear on my head, because i'd realized i forgot to bring anything to display my piece on.. Thanks for the advice Tinker!!) I am Very proud to report that I received a First Place at Kingdom : D 

Now, what to do next year.... hmm...

Attack of the Killer Rabbit!!

So recently (ok, June 7th) There was a nice little event in the Cleftlands, called NOWM, and would you believe, my bestie/other half Beatrix and I conned those nice marshals into authorizing us to fight? Silly martials.. ^_^
I am now a Proud grunt in the Midrealm Army
DRACO INVICTUS!! (im in the red and gold, her awesomeness Beatrix is in the green/purple :)

 

SO a bit about my armor, because honestly, it's pretty damn skippy. 

Since the fox has so timely decided he needed new arms/legs, those are his old ones, and honestly, thats his gambeson as well... and his pauldrons.. 

ok.. well.. whatever, the coat of plates is mine!! 

We started with a basic wisby coat pattern (you can find them several places : ) And then there were some fittings with cardboard, and then more fudging of shapes, and eventually even some "side boob armor" because honestly, i cannot ignore them, might as well armor them) 

 

Plates cut and assembled, sewing the lining to the cote.

 

Plates all riveted to the canvas. this was outdoor canvas from slo-ann fabrics and crap (don't judge, i worked there for about 8+ years, lol) 

 

inside of plates all riveted. here you can see my awesome lil' side boob panels, honestly, these work amazing. 

Being plated!! i had cut out the canvas to a general shape, but we had to mark where the plates would go/be riveted.. wow.. this is pretty much in reverse order, sorry!!!

My Gambeson:

Patterned the same way I did the Fox's, since i've been borrowing/stealing his anyway. So same mostly-rectangular pattern : ) 

Pieces all laid out, ready to be quilted : D

Helpful Kitteh is helpful... this is Addi (yes, it's short for Adipose, we are whovians afterall.. and yes, her brother is Stormageddon)

Quilty quilty quilty.. 

Some Assembly required!! all the seams will get finished with bias tape, because i either didn't have enough seam allowance/am too lazy to flat fell my gambeson

Picture showing how i sammiched my layers (medium linen on either side, with cotton quilt batting in between) that i sent to Bea, who was working on hers simultaneously at her own den : P

HELM:

So, i needed a bucket for my mellon, of course, so what else would i do, but barter one of my BFA pieces for a helm? 

So barter victim got this:

 

And i got this: 

I .. have no idea what that expression is..

Put it all together though, and you haz a killer bunneh!!! ; D