Deep inside the comfort zone

When some people are melancholy they tend to comfort eat.  I, on the other hand, go off my food and instead comfort paint.

Even if I have a mountain of things which really Need To Be Done, I'll set it all aside and paint something familiar and easy and mindless with no other intent than to be doing.  I'm not trying to make great (or even good) art.  Most of the time it's a small-ish oil painting... there's something very soothing about mixing colors and the physicality of manipulating paint, without having the pressure of meeting any sort of expectations.

Here are a couple "comfort paintings" which I did recently.  Both are about 9x12 inches.  Neither are terribly good, but I kind of wanted to share this side of myself anyway.

One of these days I'll stop being obsessed by Bill Kaulitz's face.  Maybe.  But until that point, images of him will always make me feel better.

And this one was based off a stock image which I'd found on deviantArt.  It's kind of hard to not relax when drawing/painting pretty girls.  Although I suppose this one ended up a little bit dark.

Like I said, no real thought behind either painting, and they clearly show what I'm super comfortable painting... people/portraits/no-real-background-to-speak-of.  The 'comfort zone' is called that for a very good reason.

Plying my trade at Opsail

This past weekend was spent down in Norfolk for the big Opsail event, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.  I had promised to attend months ago, portraying a portrait artist/miniaturist of that era.  Both days I was there with Nicole, who was demonstrating shoemaking, while Samantha was only able to join us on Sunday.

Prior to the event, I didn't really know what to expect, and had the idea that I'd simply end up talking to people about artists and miniatures during the early 19th century, but that otherwise I'd be able to wander around and visit the tall ships and fort and whatnot.

To my great surprise and delight, people were genuinely interesting in my drawing, and, most specifically, in having me draw them.  I ended up doing a fairly brisk business with the small charcoal portraits, and aside from food breaks I did almost nothing but draw portraits straight the entire weekend.  It was definitely different to be at an event in a historical vendor type of mode as opposed to strict living history, but I must say I quite enjoyed it (even though I never did get to see all the ships). 

Apparently when I draw I look rather serious... I guess that must just be my 'concentrating' face, since I was actually really happy to be doing art again!

Naturally, I didn't get pictures of all the drawings I did for people, but I did get a quick snap of the sketch I did of the scrimshaw artist/sutler who was set up just a few tents down from me and one of Samantha.

Yo ho ho!

This past Sunday I did something a bit out of the ordinary, and went with a couple friends to the annual Blackbeard Pirate Festival down in Hampton.  There was a lot of wandered around the docks, checking out the sutlers' goods, people watching, meeting and chatting with the piratical side of the reenacting world, and just generally seeing the sights.

It had been AGES since I've gone to any sort of costume-ish event where historical accuracy could be thrown to the winds... and even though I am typically a huge proponent of Things Being Done Properly, I must admit it was loads of fun.

I put together various pieces of 16th and 18th century clothing in a gloriously innappropriate manner, and topped the whole look off with an awsome red velvet embroidered vintage hat, a pair of fantasy-esque shoes I had picked up at a local boutique a several years ago, and a whole lot of eyeliner.

Mike and Samantha both wore straight up 18th century, but I think we all managed to work visually together.  ;)  Besides the pictures here, I have a bunch more in a set on flickr.

I particularly enjoy this picture of Samantha and I.  She looks so sweet and happy, while I seem almost decidedly evil...

It's hard to say whether Pirate "reenacting" will become something I'd do regularly, but it was a great way to spend the day.  And in an odd way, I'm now really excited to work on Steampunk things.  I'm planning on going to TeslaCon this fall, and am overflowing with ideas.  Once you step outsides the bounds of historicity, the possibilities are as limitless as your imagination... a deeply satisfying thought!

on paper

I did this little painting a couple months ago as a bit of practice in trying to develop an 18th cen style of painting for portrait miniatures, thinking I should probably give stippling a try since that was a very commonly used technique.

I used a scrap of watercolor paper to paint on... even though ivory was the preferred surface, paper was definitely used at the time as well and has the benefit of being a LOT cheaper (though fittingly, it looks a lot cheaper too).  In fact, one of the coolest ways I've seen miniatures used is one found in 'Napoleon and the Empire of Fashion' which was painted on paper, and stitched into the center of a round silk reticule.  I'd love to make a reticule like that at some point. 

Anyhow, long story short, I think stippling is dreadfully tedious and it's a good thing not all miniature artists used that technique because if I has to stipple every miniature I would loose my mind.  There's a good reason I normally like to work with oils...

An evening in 1912, or, the Epic Titanic Dinner dress

Last weekend I had the very good fortune to attend a truly marvelous, and aptly named, Epic Titanic Party. 

Imagine an evening spent in a pleasant and tastefully decorated home with great company, good conversation, sparkling dresses, lots of champagne, and a mind-blowing and utterly delicious thirteen course dinner.  After the dinner all the guests changed into appropriate 1912 lounge wear, and, well... lounged.  And chatted.  And drank more champagne and absinthe before tumbling into bed.  (I am not too proud to admit that I didn't even get to a bed, but instead crashed right on the floor where I awoke the following morning.)

I can't begin to describe how perfect everything was and can never thank our host, Jenny-Rose, enough for all of her amazing effort in pulling it off so splendidly.

What I can somewhat describe, however, is my dress.

I've always really liked 1912 as a time period and welcomed the excuse to finally make a dress from this era.  I liked nearly every extant dress or illustration or fashion print that I saw, but none of them jumped out as The Dress.  More than any other dress though, I was inspired by this pink one belonging to Queen Maud:

In the end it was easier to not let myself be bound by trying to reproduce a garment, and I eventually simply bought fabric and then fit a design to the materials I had.

The embroidered fabric is an amazing vintage Dupatee which I found on ebay... a purple/burgandy crinkle silk chiffon with gold emboidery and sequins and tiny green and red glass beads.  I then purchased a plain silk chiffon in a matching color, and layered them over a base of congac/paprika/burnt orange silk charmeuse.  Burgandy velvet also decorates the skirt and is used for the bow on the front of the dress.

The charmeuse foundation of the dress is patterned from the 1910 dress in Janet Arnold, and the other layers were simply draped on top.  I can't even begin to imagine trying to flat pattern these sorts of dresses...

I don't really have much to say about my lounging "harem" outfit which followed dinner except that I threw it together the morning of the event, and from start to finish it was done in well under an hour.  Good times...

Back to the 1860s! Finally, a new dress...

I have finally gotten back to sewing for myself, and have a new silk 1860s gown to show for my efforts!  Last weekend the Mariner's Museum here in Virginia had their 150th anniversary event of the Battle of Hampton Roads (the fight between the Moniter and the Merrimac).  Obviously, I had very little to do with the naval history side of things, but myself and a few other ladies had a display of various sewing and needlework and fashions which we talked about and gave demonstrations of.  It was a long weekend and very exhausting, but quite fun.  It's always so refreshing to be able to do Civil War events every now and then...

There was a gentleman at the event who was taking tintypes, so the three of us had our image taken together.  I was a little amused that between us we represented three different generations, and had somewhat unintentionally dressed ourselves accordingly.  And I'm always happy to take on the burden of portraying the young, fashionable side of society.  ;)

It's also interesting to me to see how tintypes and period photography really give no real hints toward color at all.  One would never imagine, for instance, that the dress I'm wearing in the tintype is really such a rich, intense blue.

The dress is made of silk taffeta, which languished in my stash for a long time on the grounds that I already had too many blue costumes... but considering I don't wear them all at once, that reason fell apart under the weight of a non-existant budget.  The bodice lining and hem facing are brown polished cotton, and the trim is velvet ribbon.  Hopefully next time this dress appears in public there will be a great deal MORE ribbon on it.  The undersleeves are quite basic, made of white cotton organdy, and are basted into the armscye of the dress.

I also finally got pictures of the sontag I crocheted over a year ago.  This weekend was very chilly, and I was able to put it to good use.  The sontag was really easy to make, and I adapted an 1866 Peterson's pattern which was re-printed in 'Basic Accessories in Knit & Crochet' by Lynne Bury.  The original sontag would have been much too large for what I wanted, and since many patterns from that time say helpful things like 'do a lace pattern of your choice for 3-5 inches' I figured that it was entirely normal to use knitting/crochet patterns as general guidelines rather than the rule.

When I make clothes from the Civil War (or any time period for that matter) I typically fill my computer desktop with a collage of images that I'm drawing the design from, and which I will refer to when making trim decisions or finalizing the pattern.  Naturally I also refer to books, and for this time period I absolutely love 'The Way They Were: Dressed in 1860-1865' and its sequel by Donna Abraham. 

These images are what I had up when making this particular dress, mostly for trim placement and scale of sleeves and bodice points.

I also really love this image of a woman wearing a sontag.  Unlike most sontags you see many reenactors wearing, it's not very large at all and in fact doesn't even wrap around to her back.  The edge at least is clearly crocheted, and the contrasting color is something I considered and used when making my own.

no rest for the wicked

I've been super busy recently, having just moved into a (brilliant) new place.  Of course most of the rooms  need to be re-painted and that endeavor is already underway.

The sewing room is still all in pieces, my drafting table won't arrive until tomorrow, and most of my supplies are still languishing in boxes.  I can't wait 'til everything's all together and I can start working on things again!

I thought I'd leave you with this drawing which I started right before moving... it might turn into a painting.  We'll see.