MINERALARTS:

Winter Solstice: Ferns and Mistletoe

We had frost last night but this afternoon was warm and sunny, so we hiked in a rocky, sand-filled wash in the Empire Mountains. One shady north-facing outcrop, sheltered by now-leafless young soapberries and canyon hackberry trees, was covered in lichens and the gray-green fuzzy fronds of Cheilanthes eatonii, one of the more common desert ferns. …

ironwing

December 21, 2008

Nature

What to do with a Gold Nugget?

“I guess I need to start using some of my good material.” A quote from the late Whittaker Freegard, master gem carver and one of my closest artist friends until his death in 2006. He created some of his most ambitious and beautiful stone flutes after he survived a massive heart attack that left him…

ironwing

December 15, 2008

Iron & Metalwork, Nature

Tarot Bag Pattern

PATTERN FOR A TAROT BAG: Lined, reversible, with double drawstrings. LEFT: Padded, flannel-lined embroidered bag for “All Souls Procession Bell” CENTER: Flannel inside and outside, for jewelry. RIGHT: Half-size bag for Pod Knife: Hemp/cotton hand-dyed with pomegranate husks, with hemp cords and silk tassels. This pattern is sized to fit most Tarot decks, but I use it…

ironwing

December 14, 2008

How-To, Needlework

A New Blanket for Rainbow Lion

I made Rainbow Lion back in March but was never happy with his blanket. I also realized that the iron didn’t suit him, even though it was perfect for the other two lions. So I took off the iron bells and made a flannel blanket with sparkly aluminum shisha mirrors decorated with variegated embroidery thread,…

ironwing

December 9, 2008

Cats, Needlework

embroidery, lion, rainbow

Pod Knife with Silver Cone

My newest fish pod knife is all steel, with a single hot-forged silver cone and an antique African iron bead on the black steel wire chain. Total length (including the chain and cone) is 8 inches. The knife itself has 1.5 inches of usable blade. One side of the blade is decorated with tiny dots…

ironwing

December 4, 2008

Iron & Metalwork

New Camera and Cat Photos

My camera is wearing out – I guess eight years old is ancient for a digital point-and-shoot – so we recently upgraded to a digital SLR. We’ve been taking photos of landscapes and cats while eagerly awaiting the new macro lens for closeup pictures. The color is amazingly accurate. For this pendant that I finished yesterday,…

ironwing

November 21, 2008

Cats, Iron & Metalwork, Nature

All Souls Procession Costume

We walked in the Tucson All Souls Procession on Sunday night. We put our items in the urn but did not stay for the finale, which is almost impossible to see unless you’re on the front row of the crowd, and there is at least an hour’s wait for it after the procession while the…

ironwing

November 11, 2008

Cats, Iron & Metalwork

Nature Book Review #3: Little Big Bend

Third in an occasional series of natural history book reviews. Books reviewed here can be purchased through Amazon.com by following the links from my Southern Arizona Desert Botany homepage. A few weeks ago, a Texas naturalist named Roy Morey sent me a fern photo for ID confirmation. Out of the blue, I received this gift – a picture of rare…

ironwing

November 3, 2008

Nature, Nature Book Reviews

Spirit Canoe and Creekwalking

Spirit Canoe is the fourth Spirit Boat that have made. The other three have all been given to friends who recently lost someone close to them. The boats resemble coralbean pods and represent the soul’s final journey across the Oldest River (also called the Narrow Sea and many other names). This one (photographed unfinished and still covered in firescale)…

ironwing

November 1, 2008

Iron & Metalwork, Nature

Two Mirror Shirts

Three new items to wear this winter, decorated with shisha mirrors. I went a bit wild with them, since I get all kinds of comments on my weird clothes anyway. One of the benefits of being “too strange for the Village” (Daniel Deardorff’s words in his book, THE OTHER WITHIN) is that you can wear whatever makes…

ironwing

October 30, 2008

Needlework