Purple flowers in the Pilbara

 

I'm pretty confident this is a Solanum variety. Possibly Solanum lasiophyllum as it's leaves are more fuzzy than the orbiculatum.

Pilbara wildflowers

I have no idea what species these flowers are, but they are a beautiful splash of colour in an otherwise red and dusty environment.

Scribes guild application - exemplar

For something different I thought I'd attend a newbies activity day organised by the local representative of the Lochac Scribes Guild. I've been interested in illumination ever since I dated Master Piers of Malmsbery who made the most beautiful scrolls. He'd spend hours upon hours planning layout and themes and each one was lovingly crafted for the individual. So having tried some rough attempts myself, I thought I'd get some expert direction. So I went along to MrD's house (I can't spell his SCA name - sorry) and he gave me some ideas on the finer points of gouche. He also informed me that I could make AoA scrolls for people if I submitted an exemplar to the college and it was deemed acceptable. I got really excited because Piers' Laurel scroll is still available for assignment and if I can make it awesome enough, I think it'd be lovely to give it to him if I can lure him to court one day.

Anyway, I present my exemplar. It's been styled after the Macclesfield Alphabet Book. It is similar to my previous attempt which was done with acrylics. I have added some things and remove the berries and tried to stay true to the colour scheme. I have sort of failed in one way because the original colour scheme has two red pallets, one fading to an orange and one fading to a pink. Ah well, I still think it is vastly superior to any of the attempts I have made with acrylic thus far. I'd hope someone would be happy to have something like this on their wall as their AoA.

Sari I - complete

The weather was beautiful this weekend so I finally got a chance to wear my completed red stripe silk sari set to Stormhold's Monthly Bash. The sari fabric is 100% silk I bought from Spotlight for $10 (yay!) a number of years ago. It doesn't drape as nicely as I'd like but it's wonderfully light and simple.

It took me a while to get around to finishing of the edges of the sari and making a choli top to go with it. I completed the top last year... unfortunately, I've put on weight so I couldn't wear it this weekend. (I'm also not very good at shaped, supportive garmets yet) Instead, I whipped out one of my backup tops, a not-quite medieval, not-quite velvet (stretch) number in turquoise.

Accessories (very important): 20 gold plated bangles (from Dandenong), be-gemmed (imitation) necklace, earring and mangtikka set (from Footscray), and carnation headband. I unfortunately broke one of the earrings while taking it off, on the upside, I now have extra dangles to make more tikka's from.

 

I'm really happy with how the headband turned out. When I wear a plait, I frequently re-do it two or three times a day as I hate the whispy bits that eventually work their way free. After my flowered headband post I started working on a set of artificial flowers for my hair. This one was made from fake carnations (with the green sepal removed). I wrapped the headband in a cream ribbon and then hotglued the carnations on. I left lengths of ribbon dangling from the ends of the headband and tied additional carnations onto that. The idea was to braid the ribbon into my plait creating the 'covered in flowers' look and allowing me to avoid modern hair ties. Unfortunately it was too bulky for me wave in myself, and one of the flowers came off in the process. The headband keeps all the stray whispy bits from my face!

I might cut the ribbon off the headband and make the plait decorations an entirely separate piece. I still haven't gotten around to making a jasmine hair accessory, it's on the list though!

Things learnt: The green sepal is essential to keeping the carnation petals together. Hot glue can be used in it's place if you don't mind getting a few burns to your fingers when shaping the petals. Hot glue doesn't work for the braid bits though.

Note: Did you know there's an SCA India email list? I only found out this weekend! Excited!

Illumination - November intent to contest I

An attempt at illuminating our intent to enter November Crown letter. The fine black ink lines aren't strait enough and I've screwed up the shading on some of the blue items so I'm not entirely happy with it. I'll be re-doing it with a light green as well as it looks to dark, and the green doesn't match the original close enough. Apart from that, this was an enjoyable learning project for shading. I might apply some of these techniques on my next plate project. Though here the base colour is dark, and when dry, shaded with two lighter colours which won't work with glaze pigments.

Spring is coming. I discovered a random Jasmine plant in the back yard today. I guess it's thriving again after Rohan slashed all the vegetation along the back fence. I really love the smell of this jasmine. I think I might create some fake jasmine out of cotton with the tips dyed pink for my hair. I could probably drip some jasmine essence on them as well so I get the same effect as wearing real flowers. I'm really happy spring is coming. I'm getting sick of days of intermittent rain.

Flowered headwear acquisition - Yay!

 

Last weekend while wandering the city blocks the boy and I stumbled upon some sort of Indian cultural festival. By stumbled upon,  I mean: we heard the Bollywood music from blocks away and I dragged the poor man all the way there. I happily acquired three new items for my Indian personal. The first (above) is a matched set made out of ribbon to represent strings of marigolds and carnations. The central loop is intended to go around a bun pinned into place through the white circles. The other loop can be strung around the head or through the plait.

Some similar garlands can be found below, though I suspect most of these are composed of actual flowers.

 

(Figure 1 - left) Aishwarya Rai's wedding hair. Totally my most favorite actress.  (Figure 2 - right) A modern Australian bride with beautiful jasmine in her hair and simple yet elegant decorations for her Hindu wedding.

 

Figure 3 - Other methods of using flowers to decorate hair - wrap enough jasmine flowers around the head to create an aura of flowers. Use jeweled pins to pin the braid together (something like this is on the things to do list)

Figure 4 - Strings of jasmine buds can dangle from the head and will provide a light, refreshing scent throughout the day. Don't have long hair? Wrap the entire 'braid' in flowers and no one will know!

These days the best flowers-in-hair images come from Indian weddings where hours are spent getting the bride's hair perfect. However, simpler arrangements can be use for day to day wear. I suspect wearing a jasmine garland all day will provide perfume through out the day.

 

Figure 5- Common women at household chores - Ajanta Caves - Cave 1?. The central figure seems to sport the jasmine flower aura seen in Figure 2.

 

Figure 6 - Dancer sporting intricate hair decorations as well as a fitted dress. Ajanta Cave 1 - 6th-7th CE

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I also bought a string of fake jasmine buds. These have been created out of cotton, and the tips dyed green. They actually look alot like actual buds (right). I might try making some out of cotton wool buds and PVA. This is also designed to wrap around a bun, but this one ties with black wool string. I will have to strengthen it and make it easier to attach if I plan on using it at Pennsic.

I do wonder if I can get away with something like the arrangement shown in this portrait by De Vinci. Incrust the net at the back with flowers. Secure with a jeweled band to the forehead and bind and decorate the braid and hair extension as shown.

Dash's birthday Daisy

It was Dash's 30th birthday this Sunday so we took a stroll through the city. I couldn't resist snapping some photo's of these daisies near the Ripponlea train station. I think they'd look amazing in ultraviolet light. I suspect they'll be popular with the local bees because of this.

Hardenbergia violacea

A beautiful Hardenbergia violacea.which Dash acquired in trade at the market this weekend. It's a native Australian pea plant. It has purple flowers throughout winter and should become a nice compact climbing vine. We've planted it near the front of the house so it'll get enough light and hopfully cover up some of the ugly.

Some sort of native lily?

Random Australian ? native on the path to Uni.

Flowers are >1cm across. Leaves remind me of kangaroo paw. Flowers can have four, five or six petals, typically five. Quite pretty.

Wattle-ling along

It's wattle season again. These trees are always so bright and cheery at the end of a grey winter. This year they remind me that it's Pennsic season and I'm missing out. Ah well, perhaps next year.