Tribute.

 

Carved with a Staedtler gouge on PZ Kut

It has been a bit over ten years ago that I carved this stamp of my mother when she passed. The sting of her unexpected passing has dulled with the years - so much has happened since she and I last spoke. I like to think that the last thing I said to her was I love you. Frankly, I am glad both my parents are not here to witness this pandemic and current political climate; I am sure it would have distressed them both deeply. They had enough trauma in their lives, as it was (but, that's another story). Anyway, last week marked 77 years since she was born.

Portraits, along with lettering, were always my favorites to carve. And, I learned a few things from the many I have carved:

1. Don't carve teeth - they never look realistic. Smiling portraits are the hardest, in my view, because you must deal with teeth and the lips. The trick is to think about where the light is hitting.

2. Hair is trickier than you think. 

3. Keep clothing details to a minimum - the face is the focal point, not what they are wearing.

4. I do not carve wrinkles - they will always be more prominent than you would like.

5. It is the carver's (and photographer's) responsibility to make the subject look good. Unless, of course, you want them to look a certain way, but you know what I mean.

6. Noses - less is more. I still think I over-emphasized the nose in Mom's portrait. I might do it differently today.

I always liked the idea of a portrait as a sig-stamp. Coming back to carving, I challenged myself to create a new portrait stamp. I quickly remembered all the things I listed above!

Carved with Flexcut tools on Firm Kut

Notice I didn't do anything with the teeth in this one, but the nose is more realistic. My hair is not quite that wavy, either. Sure enough, this carve is not perfect. But it was good practice. :) 

Prior to my mother's death, I immortalized one of the things she told me often:

Every time I write anything, I think of this. We all carry little bits of wisdom, and I suspect she learned this lesson the hard way. It has never stopped me from writing what is on my heart, but the reality of it has sometimes been not so pleasant.

So, happy birthday Mom. I still miss you deeply. 

While I was last out on the trail, I was thinking about what I would say if I had one more chance to speak with her. Would I tell her that she was right about so many things? How thankful I am to have Chuck in my life? How ironic it is that I live on the coast? All the wonderful things her grandchildren have accomplished and what amazing adults they have become? Maybe. But I think the better choice would be to just sit quietly and enjoy her presence one more time.

***

Postscript: Last week it was fitting to go find a traditional box I had planted around Mother's Day as a tribute to my mother about four years before her death. She loved to spend Mother's Day at a local park with her grandchildren, so I planted the box there. Amazingly, it is still there. 

I used an old VHS plastic case covered in camo-tape. Nope, it doesn't keep water out - that is what the zip-bags are for! Everything was well and good, I am happy to report! Perhaps it is still alive because it has not gotten many visitors - one finder noted it had sat unvisited for 7 years - that's a long time! I like to think it would make my mother smile.

For my love.

 

Firm Kut, Archival Ink (coffee)

You may know that during the time I was away from letterboxing and carving, I was in school (and still am ... about a year to go!). But what you may not know is that during my undergrad years I studied away for a semester in Athens, Greece. It was one of the best choices I have ever made.

Since I was considered a 'non-traditional' student, I requested that my partner accompany me for the semester, which was granted. We were much older than the other students studying at College Year in Athens (CYA) who were mostly from affluent backgrounds and ritzy universities. But, that didn't bother us! While they were jet-setting around to see as many countries as possible on the weekends, Chuck and I hung out in Athens. We walked miles every day exploring, when I wasn't studying that is, and really lived as residents of Athens.

One of the things we enjoyed doing was going into the myriad of Greek Orthodox churches. They were usually open to the public, and anyone could go in to immerse themselves in the history and culture of medieval Christianity. It was a religion nerd's dream come true! The architecture and art was absolutely stunning. Our apartment in the Pangrati neighborhood was right across the street from a wonderful church that we were able to observe from our balcony. This was fabulous for impromptu ethnological observations, especially on holidays.

Of course, it was the iconography that was so enthralling. My religion prof told me it was because it was not you looking at the icons, but it was the saints looking at you from the 'other side.' Yes, that's right - all of those eyes don't just seem to be following you as you move through the church ... they really are watching you! At least that is what the faithful believe.

In our neighborhood, a local traditional iconographer had a small shop filled to the brim with icon art. We were taken with watching him work and would often stop to watch from the window. Finally, we stepped inside and bought a small icon to bring home. It is of the archangel Michael, done in the traditional style and method, with gold highlighting. It hangs in my office. Yes, he is watching me all the time! He helps me with those tough papers ... :)

Isn't this wonderful?
I hope you can see the traditional gold leaf.

ANYway, Chuck asked me to carve something for a letterbox idea he had ... and the above effort is what he envisioned. He found the image, and I did my thing. I just love her face - and in the original, she is looking directly at the viewer, in traditional fashion. But, in my carve, the blessed mother is not looking at you ... she is looking away, more like in a pieta (a form of art that features a sorrowful Mary and the grown, murdered Jesus). In a way it is a combination of an icon of mother and child and a lament of the coming suffering. That is just my twist - artist prerogative. :)

We have beautiful memories of our time in Greece. We also got to take a few field trips around the country, as well. We both miss it terribly at times, and have dreamed of moving there. The Greek people are warm and friendly when they get to know you, and they want to get to know you! We have friends there that I miss dearly. If you are interested in reading more about our experience, I kept a blog during the time we were there - A Semester in Athens. Maybe you would enjoy some vicarious travel right about now.

Athens, 2015

Mom

So, I have carved portraits for others - touching portraits and important portraits.  I wondered if I would be able to do the same for myself. 

This is my Mom back in 1962 before she married my Dad.  She had a 'glamour' photo taken so he could take it to Germany with him.  She was to follow him shortly thereafter to get married.

And the rest is history.

(stamp size 3.5" x 2.5"... I may still have some tweaking to do...)

Self-Portrait

Guess what I'm workin' on today?  *smile*

It's interesting how sometimes sketching over-top of a photo comes out quite cartoon-ish.  Since I wasn't really going for a duplication of a photo-type of a look, I decided to take it all the way to comic book by coloring it.  It doesn't look quite so cartoony when it's stamped with Distress Ink (Faded Jeans) onto printed paper.

This stamp was carved on FirmKut material.  I really like how it holds the fine details due to it being a bit stiffer than PZKut White.

An Inchie Self-Portrait

This is for a postal project hosted by yours truly.  I used to be into postals heavily, but had to back out due to rising postal costs and losing my efforts to black holes.  At the time, LTCs were just coming into being so it was a good time to make a switch.  Now, after creating and receiving literally thousands of 2.5" x 3.5" pieces of artwork, I had an itch to get some padded envelopes in the mail.  With the gray oppressiveness of winter looming in the future, I know that receiving art in the mail always makes my day brighter.

As I thought again about what made me leave postals, I came to a conclusion.  Why couldn't you combine the best of the postal and LTC 'worlds'?  Instead of sending the actual stamps (which, when lost, is such a bummer), why couldn't you send images, cut and colored/embellished along with the logbook?  Would that be considered cheating?  Changing the rules a bit?  Everyone in the ring would still receive the stamped image (with the added bonus of the artist coloring it as it was intended) and get to sign into the logbook, as usual.  But, if the whole package gets eaten by the post office or, G-d forbid, falls into a black hole, it can be easily reproduced and sent back on it's way.  A win-win situation, right? 

In my latest foray back into postals, I posed this question of sending stamped images v. the actual stamp to the participants.  Most expressed that it was fine either way.  I suspect that if the risk of losing your carved artwork was diminished, more may participate in postal letterboxing.

What do you think?  Is sending stamped images instead of the carved stamp in a postal breaking the rules?  Would you still consider that a postal letterbox?

An Angel for a Friend

Angels descending, bring from above,

Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

~Fanny J. Crosby

I guess I have never really doubted that we are all born to our guardian angel.  

~Robert Brault

More Inches

I don't think I'll ever get tired of inches.  No, really.

Another inchie project is underway, this time having to come up with three related inches arranged artfully on an LTC.  In brainstorming ideas, I must have come up with at least 20 or 25 interesting themes.  But, I am kind of a one-note-nelly when it comes to carving, I suppose.  As I see the end of my PZ Kut tunnel, I am getting rather picky about what I'm willing to carve.  Call me silly.

an evening's efforts

Not sure if these will make it into the actual swap, or if they are just the warm up.  I have lots of scraps that are usable for more inches.  Besides, with inches you can't just do one!  Of these three, I'm pretty happy with the two love birds, but my hero is not quite what I had wanted.  These are taken from the animated TV series; 3D-CGI Obi-Wan just isn't as stunning as Mr. McGregor.  I might give him another try.  *shrug*

In looking at them side-by-side, you may see my point. I think some tweaking of my inchie-Obi is needed...

Crusader

I have been working on my contribution to the next All About the Carve swap, hosted by yours truly.

I found this image online and, well, you must know by now how I feel about Jedi.  You may recognize it from my other blog, where I used it on a post about being afflicted with the Superhero Syndrome.

As far as crafting is concerned, I'm still trying to get into the groove, so to speak, with 'boxing, carving and creating.  Haven't quite reached where I would like to be yet, but don't give up on me.  Not sure what I'm carving next, but I have a few things I need to carve for upcoming swaps.  I'll be sure to share.

Meanwhile, what are you working on?  Perhaps you can inspire me... *smile*

Brushin' Off

Love what you do.
Believe in your instincts.
And you'd better be able to pick yourself up
and brush yourself off every day.

I love this quote...perhaps it needs to be memorialized in rubber.

This morning I felt the inklings of a spark. When I first returned from our travels, I didn't get a chance to really feel the inevitable let-down. We were plunged right back into the care and whirlwind of the final days of a dear friend battling colon cancer. Now that she has gone to be with our LORD and the memorials are over, I was left feeling a little wrung out and rather empty.

I should be stronger than to let myself sink into a funk...at least, I think so. But, I had to face facts; I was sinking, sure enough. We have been home 3-1/2 weeks and I was starting to wonder if I was going to feel the spark of creativity ever again.

I had started this carve when we first returned. It is taken from a self-portrait photo my daughter took for her online profile. It's so artistic...I always wanted to give it a go in rubber, so I transferred and got to it, only to be bogged down. Forcing carving is just not the way to do it (and perhaps a portrait in orange stuff wasn't the thing to start with). Looking back, I can see I was struggling - I even missed a major line in the penciling that made a huge difference in the carve. I put the carve aside to collect dust and didn't sit back down at my desk...until this morning.

Carved in orange PZKut, the stamp measures 2" x 2.5". Now, do I have enough spark to make it into anything that resembles an artistic LTC?

I'm cautiously hopeful.

The Mythical Atalanta

stamp size 3.25" x 2.25"

What? You've never heard of Atalanta? Well, I hadn't until I started researching subject matter for a swap hosted by my friend Bobguyman. Hey, it's been a while since I studied ancient Greek mythology, y'know?

Here's her story:

Atalanta (her name means 'unswaying') grew to become a most beautiful woman and vowed to remain a virgin. She was the swiftest runner of her time, surpassing the most fleet-footed men in racing. A woman way ahead of her time, she could defeat men in wrestling, got to voyage with Jason and the Argonauts in their Quest for the Golden Fleece, and played an active part in killing the feared Calydonian Boar. Atalanta was also a stunningly beautiful woman and many princely suitors from all over Greece came to ask for her hand in marriage. No way. Atalanta had vowed to remain husbandless until she died, and would challenge any potential suitor to a foot race. If she lost she would become his wife...if the man was defeated in the race he would lose his life! Needless to say, may suitors lost their lives, until a man called Melanion, or as others say Hippomenes, appealed to the goddess of Love, Aphrodite, to help him land Atalanta as wife.

Aphrodite was irked that Atalanta was not moved by feelings of love, and felt that she had failed in her job, so she decided to help Melanion. She gave him some magical golden apples with instructions to scatter them on the ground when Atalanta gained on him. As Melanion was being pursued he threw down the golden apples that he had received from Aphrodite, and Atalanta, slowing down to pick up the exquisitely irresistible dropped fruit, was beaten in the race. Melanion took home his new wife but in his excitement he forgot the role that Aphrodite played and did not pay her proper thanks. Duh. The peeved goddess of Love decided to punish the ungrateful man, so while he was sacrificing on Mount Parnassus to Zeus to celebrate his victory, Aphrodite inflamed him with desire and he lay with Atalanta in the temple while the sacred images turned away their eyes. Zeus saw this profane act in his temple and in his fury he turned them into lion and lioness.

the bonus stamps
the statue measures 2.5" x 1.5"
the name stamp measures 1.5" x 5"

Portrait of a Hero

When the opportunity comes up to carve a portrait, I always jump at the chance! I've been itchin' to give this particular one a go...

Gotta love that Jedi mullet. Top man!

(stamp size 2.5" x 3.5")

The Dark Side

stamp size 2.5" x .75"

More Star Wars carves - this time a quote that always makes me stop and think. Carved this one just because I liked the quote so much; the LTC that I made with it featured tiny mirrors in which you could catch glimpses of yourself - creepy!

And you can't talk about the Dark Side without considering one of the most evil villians in all of fictional history - a young Darth Vader. You wouldn't think that evil could look so good, huh?

The Chosen One
stamp size 2.25" x 2.75"

Muslim Bride

stamp size 3" x 2.25"

My latest portrait. Carved from a photograph entitled Muslim Bride, it was taken by Shelton Muller. I have had this image sitting in my 'wish to carve' file for probably a year or more. She is strikingly beautiful, certainly, and the skill of the photographer is unmistakable. As is usually the case, translating to rubber all the emotion of color and lighting is most difficult.

Gram

stamp size 3.25" x 2.5

Sometimes carving is just inspired. Even if you don't believe in an all-knowing and directing Deity, I'll bet that once in a while it just seems like your tool just takes on a life of it's own. This happened to me with the Blooming Flowers portrait, and now it has happened again with Silva Foot Family's Gram.

I am honored to have been able to carve this for Kristina - what a privilege. And what a beautiful and special soul.

Portraits are one of my favorite things to carve. However, they are never, never perfect. If I examine them too closely, I will most certainly find things that I would want to change, fix, tweak. But there comes a point in carving a portrait that you have to just say 'that's it...no more'. If you ignore this instinct, you could ruin the whole stamp with your over-zealous modifications. Yeah, there are a couple of things on Gram I would want to change, but I know better. Experience is a good teacher. *smile*

Luminara

I have a friend who is half-way through re-creating the fantastic Star Wars costume of Master Luminara Unduli. For the uninitiated or uninterested, she is just another Jedi who gets iced in Order 66. But for those of us 'in the know', she is a very skilled Jedi Knight and the wise Master to Barriss Offee. On screen, she gets very little time, but with the new animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, she is getting the attention she deserves.

As I have been interested in recreating the Barriss character (to go with my friend's Luminara), we have done quite a bit of research concerning the costumes. Face Characters require duplication of small details that most would miss. I am fascinated with the changes they have made in the animated series.

I carved the stamp of Luminara (above) just for fun; notice how long the head piece is? In the movies, it is quiet long, but in the animated series, it's shorter (and more practical, as far as being a Jedi goes). The costumes of both characters are more sleek and feminine than in the movies, as well.

Don't you just love a couple of females that can take care of business, so to speak?



And, just for comparison, here is the movie costume; how could anyone fight with all that fabric??

Dear Secret Santa,

I make it my policy not to post the artwork and efforts of other carvers on this blog (due to privacy and spoilers), but I just cannot resist sharing this gem.

It would seem that I am on the special list of those who receive secret mailings, all of which are absolutely FABULOUS in technique and design. Due to the busyness of the past holiday craziness, I didn't have a chance to go through the pile of envelopes that were carefully placed on my desk by my children. Yesterday, I finally had a moment to sit down and enjoy all the fruit of loving labor that graced my mailbox during this past couple of weeks, the above included.

Now, I had taken note of people exclaiming surprise and gratitude to someone named "Secret Santa", but didn't take much time to investigate further. I just figured it was part of a project I wasn't a part of...which does happen, by the way. When I found this green postcard in my pile, however, it all came flooding back. The resident from Whoville had included me in his (or most likely, her) dastardly plans...

I do find it rather fascinating that I received this particular fellow, since it is no secret my feelings on the most recently passed holiday. I did get a pretty good chuckle that I received 'the mean one'...

Thank you, you most secret of Santas! The carving is impeccable, the surprise was sweet and your choice of image(s) absolutely perfect for this recipient! Your efforts have gained you much notoriety and personal pleasure, I'm positive!

~SHH, who now has the Mr. Grinch song stuck in her head... :-)

How 'bout a little Jane?

(stamp image 2.25" x 3.25")

This is a stamp I carved for a Jane Austin swap not too long ago. To my surprise, she wrote under the pen name 'By a Lady'. I wanted the stamp, and subsequent LTCs, to look like an old-fashioned calling card.

Calling cards are interesting to me. There are folks that collect the old ones; check out these sites to see calling cards for the Gentlemen and some for the Ladies . I also found this interesting site talking about modern calling cards: Chic and Charming.

Interesting swap idea, to be sure...

ps. In thinking about calling cards, I realized that my Padawan and I use calling cards when we troop science fiction conventions. The cards feature some of our many Star Wars stamps on the front and on the reverse is information on how to contact us. People are quite impressed when we offer them one...very handy, indeed!

Discussing Portraiture

(stamp size 3.5" square)

Between lettering and portraits, I don't know which I like to carve more. However, both are a challenge, to be sure. This stamp was an early attempt at portraiture from a photo I took while hiking a trail on the beautiful Oregon Coast. At the time, my sweet daughter was going by the moniker MoMonkey. Of course, when she changed her trailname, she unwittingly made this rather large carve obsolete.

This stamp definitely has some issues. I was pleased with it at the time, but knew there was room for improvement. The mouth screams at me; way too heavy and teeth will mess it up every time, in my view. The nose, as well, does not need to be completely outlined. Oftentimes breaking up those lines (where light would naturally hit) will lighten up the feature and give more balance to the entire face.

(stamp size 3.5" x 2.5")

The above carve is an early attempt at a self portrait. These early carves are invaluable for learning what works and what doesn't and where the focus needs to be. Definitely the nose and the mouth are having issues in this one. A little experimentation with shadowing in the cloak is a good start and the eyes and hair are working, but the whole face is not right due to the nose and mouth being off somehow. The initial drawing of your image lines and really paying attention to light and dark make a huge difference in a portrait. In this one, as well, you can see I eliminated the teeth completely...does that work? Not sure.

If you are asking how could I have done this one differently, I guess the answer would be to redraw it and pay more attention to the small details; not just outlining the nose and mouth, but to really pay attention to where the light is hitting and where the shadows gather. This portrait needs more dimension, as it comes off looking very flat.

Unfortunately, there was no saving or fixing either one of these stamps. Once that rubber is gone, it's gone baby! But the learning experience was definitely worth the price of admission, in my view. Experimentation, the challenge of harder images, and gaining an 'eye' for what images would translate well into rubber are all skills that are gained from working with portraits.

Young Handmaiden

(stamp size 2.25" x 1.5")

Handmaidens to Queen Amidala were composed of young women of a similar age and with a striking similarity to their mistress. These handmaidens acted as bodyguards, decoys and confidantes to her, roles devised by Amidala's head of security, Captain Panaka. Despite their beautiful and delicate appearance, they were heavily trained to be vigilant and able to protect the Queen's and their own life. All of Naboo's handmaidens were members of the secret Order of Sanctuary.

Sabé is Queen Amidala's top handmaiden and it is rumored that they are best friends. Because of her physical similarity to the queen, whenever there is any sign of danger towards Amidala, Sabé is the first handmaiden chosen to act as Decoy. Once in full makeup and dress, she is virtually indistinguishable from the queen. She also imitates Amidala's voice and speech patterns and is encouraged to give orders so that she may keep up appearances.

In The Phantom Menace, Sabé imitates the Queen twice. The first time is during the escape from Naboo. Yes, that is HER in the black dress; not Amidala. She continues to be the decoy until she arrives on Coruscant. She then returns to her normal role as a handmaiden for the Senate scene and remains that way way until the return to Naboo, where she wears the queen's battle dress and attempts to appeal to the Gungans. Unfortunately, despite her training, she lacks the political finesse of the real Amidala, and they are forced to let the Gungans, Jedi, and the rest of the Naboo traveling party in on the ruse.

Sabé as the Queen's decoy with Padme as a handmaiden

Your Worshipfulness

"Look, Your Worshipfulness, let's get one thing straight.
I take orders from just one person: me."

~Han Solo

I have been trying to find just the right portrait of Princess Leia to carve for a friend. I'd prefer to carve her in that controversial but interesting metal bikini, but I have just struck out. Yeah, there are pics out there, just not real conducive to my style of portrait. *sigh*

I have had two full sketches transferred to rubber only to aggressively attempt to remove the pencil from my now-scarce white PZ Kut. How frustrating. This does not happen to me often, where I am bumping up against some unseen barrier than I need not be crossing. Perhaps I'm not supposed to carve another Leia - maybe I'm supposed to use the one I already have.

The stamp featured above was carved quite a long time ago from an artist drawing I found online. I used the image for my second virtual, A New Hope. It was also put to good use as the LTC Padme's Legacy back in November of '07.

In my searching for images, I did come up with this cute one, but ruled it out - maybe you can see why...

A Tribute

(actual size 2.75" x 2.5")

I woke up yesterday morning with the idea for my contribution to the Blooming Flowers Tribute LTC swap, hosted by our friend Tata. This carve of her lovely photo is the first piece towards putting together 100 cards.

And, I'm not complaining about making 100 cards. Sometimes it's not about the effort you put into something, but how it makes others feel.

I wonder how she would have reacted to this carve and all her 'boxing friends making LTCs in her honor...I hope she would have been pleased.