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Newsletter

September 2008

News

Susan Vinciguerra has been selected by The Holland Museum to paint murals. Congratulations, Susan!

FAE is now on Facebook and LiveJournal!

FAE Featured Artist: Deanna Lack, of You've Got Maille

Location: Earth. North America. United States. Tennessee. Sparta. Small house with too many animals and little rings all over the place.

If your biography was a tag cloud what would it say?

Chainmaille, wire work, jewelry, Renaissance, teenage son, supportive husband, dog, cat, Senegal parrot, fantasy, Celtic, science fiction, reading, books, games, Renfair, costume, crafting, calligraphy, medical transcription, work at home, middle-aged, clutter, cooking, baking, fresh bread, chocolate, RPG, D&D, Guild Wars, hiking, horseback riding, nature, hippy, tree hugger, nerd, geek, piano, violin, LLORE, reenactment, Renaissance dance, history

What fantasy creature would you most like to be, why?

A gnome! I'm a monster, RAWR!

What first sparked your love for the fantasy genre?

I came to it late. When I was in my late 20s I dated a guy who introduced me to the original SMAUG MUD, Realms of Despair. A MUD is the forerunner of today's MMOs. Basically a text-based environment that you can interact with via simple commands like look, get, kill, etc. From there, I started reading fantasy, then got hooked on Renfairs. Through the MUD I met my adorably nerdy husband who has been playing D&D since age 12 and loves all things sword & sorcery, and I guess the rest is history.

Favorite artists?

In terms of graphic artists, I'd have to say my favorite is Stephanie Pui Mun Law. Not only is she stunningly talented, I've traded emails with her a few times asking to use some of her artwork for a web site, and she was super nice. In terms of my own main craft (chainmaille), I am in awe of the artist known to the mailling world as Legba. She's the weave queen and I bow to her skill.

Other inspirations?

When I have a camera in my hand, small things impress me like the pattern of bark on a tree, leaves caught in the current of a stream. I guess you could say nature inspires me. The material itself inspires me, since both wire and chainmaille have a way of suggesting new ideas when you mess up what you thought you were working on :)

Any upcoming projects, artistic plans you would like to share?

I have two shows coming up so I'm working on inventory. Brandon (my son, who also is a mailler) and I are working on a chain shirt and I'd like to make some scale bracers and try other armor pieces. I have built up a stash of cabs and gems that are calling me from the bench all the time. Too many plans and ideas, too little time.

What advice would you give to other artists/Etsy sellers?

Take advantage of the great opportunities for networking on Etsy. I love teams, and I'm part of several fantastic ones. I'd also suggest promoting yourself in other ways, such as blogging, Flickr, myspace, etc.

What do you hope people will feel when they see your art?

For chainmaille - I hope they want to touch it. Many weaves are incredibly touchable and people tend to like playing with it. It's great for fidgety people. For wire work - I hope they think it's unique. I'm not there yet, but that's what I aspire to.

Top five websites you love?

* www.mailleartisans.org - The chainmaille community is incredibly sharing and helpful, and this is the hub.

* www.theringlord.com - the place to get your rings

* http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php?n=7&r_by=Dmedtrans - You list unwanted books, someone requests them, you send them off media mail rate, and then get credit to request listed books from other people. It's great!

* www.Pandora.com - Internet music where you put in an artist or song and it'll play similar music for you.

* www.Stumbleupon.com - a plugin; you tell it what your interests are, then click the stumble button and it'll show you related sites that others have nominated.

Where can we find you on the web?

My shops:
http://youvegotmaille.etsy.com
http://WYSIWYGbeads.etsy.com

My blogs:
http://youvegotmaille.blogspot.com
http://chainmaillersguild.blogspot.com
http://lackscottadventures.blogspot.com/

Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/youvegotmaille (Business)
http://www.myspace.com/Dmedtrans (personal)

Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/youvegotmaille

Twitter
http://twitter.com/youvegotmaille

Metalchasers
http://metalchasers.com/youvegotmaille/

The Weaver Critic: Book, Movie & Sometimes Game Reviews
by a Ring Slinger

Well, I really wanted to write a review on something current. Unfortunately, I'm too cheap to pay for hardcover books (unless I've been waiting for them for ages), and usually also too cheap to go to the movie theater; I have Netflix and as soon as that puppy comes out on DVD, by golly they send it to me!

So if you're looking for the latest, up-to-the-minute reviews, sadly you won't find them in this little article. I don't much feel like generating hate mail, either, so I'm not going to write much about stuff I hated (no promises though!). So you're going to get mostly must-read, must-see, must-play reviews from me, about stuff I really liked. But no obvious stuff like LotR, cause, well, if you haven't seen that, you're no true fantasy geek and you wouldn't be reading this anyway.

This week I'm featuring a must-read: George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. The series starts with A Game of Thrones, and proceeds with A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows.

If you like intruigue and getting hooked on characters, please read this. If you like dragons, read it. If you like sappy characters and gushy romance, skip it. This is a nitty-gritty, down-to-earth, real-feeling fantasy that's tough to put down. Martin's not afraid to show blood, war and sex in his pages, but it's a bloody, sexy world his tale takes place in.

The books are monstrous, over 1000 pages apiece, but worth it. Martin takes a unique point of view -- every chapter is titled with a character's name and tells what's going on from that character's POV. There's a little mystery and lots of intrigue, and he manages to write characters that you hate one moment, and are sympathetic toward the next. This isn't your "plug different characters in and retell Tolkien" type fantasy. There's magic, but it's rare and mysterious. There are dragons, but they're all dead. Mostly. There's evil, for sure, and there's good, but there's really not a clear line between them. Even in a single character. And if you like history, this is a fantasy that has roots firmly in reality, without getting bogged down in it like a lot of historical fiction does.

In short, when I sat down and thought about the single most urgent must-read fantasy series I could think of, this is the one.

A caveat: it's not finished. A Dance With Dragons has been in the works for a couple of years. In the fourth book Martin divided his world and only dealt with the characters in part of it, which left out most of my favorites, so... I may be too cheap to buy most hardcovers, but the day ADWD comes out I'll be standing in line. I have the sad impression he's reached some sort of writer's block tangle that he's having trouble resolving and he seems to be doing other stuff. So if you start it, you WILL be left hanging.

Start it anyway.

LLORE Report

I'm involved in a Renaissance group called LLORE, which stands for Lords and Ladies of Renaissance Entertainment, and I thought a few might be interested in what we're doing. We're a community club that grew out of the fantastic but defunct middle school Renaissance Club, and we now do traveling performances in middle Tennessee.

We currently have three branches: The Drama team, the Dance team, and the Chess Match team. The Drama team is working on a Hamlet spoof called What's Happening Hamlet, wherein a semi-rapping pair (haven't met a lot of Tennesseans who can rap) of narrators tell what's going on as brief scenes from the play take place.

The Dance team has a little skit called Master of the Orb. We perform five Renaissance-era dances but this year we decided to mix them into something a little more entertaining than watching the same 12 steps over and over. In the skit, the contemporary Wizard M.J. time-travels to a Renaissance ball whose musicians have been lost with his magical Orb (a boom box) and Wand (a Wii controller).

The Human Chess Match this year is themed after Kingdom of Heaven. If you've never seen an HCM before, basically we have a setting (usually a battle), and play out a chess match to determine the outcome. When one piece takes another, they fight each other a la battle chess to determine who takes the square. This year promises lots of special effects... and trebuchets to fire at the opposing side. It should be impressive.

Our web site is in the works. I will have a URL in future issues of this newsletter. Stay tuned.

Fantasy Crafting How-To: Family Crest Banner

Materials:

1 yard (or so) wooden dowel, about 1/4" diameter

Finials to fit the dowel (should be available at craft store)

1 yard of 2-inch ribbon

1 yard of canvas-type fabric

Acrylic paints

Overhead projector

1 sheet of printable transparency paper

Sewing Machine or Fusible Web

Crest

Availability of Materials: Most items should be available at any craft store. I picked up an overhead projector for under $20 with shipping from eBay; or if you know a school or a teacher they're throwing these things out since they're yeterday's technology... or maybe you can borrow one. The transparency paper should be available at Staples or Office Max. Make sure you buy the kind that's made to be printed on by the type of printer you have. They'll have it in boxes for lots of money, but you should be able to buy individual sheets at the copy center for under $1. You should be able to find your family crest on the Internet by searching "[name] family crest" or "[name] coat of arms". This can make for some interesting research. If all else fails, there are sites where you can purchase your family coat of arms. If you have Scottish heritage consider doing your clan badge. Here's a heraldry clipart site if you're handy with photoshop and can manipulate it.

You may want to stain your dowel and finials a dark color, which I recommend doing the day before you want to do this project to let it dry thoroughly. Cut your canvas to about a yard, then measure six inches up from the bottom, and the center of the bottom. Fold these up to form an inverted V or chevron at the bottom of your banner, and cut to about a 2" border. Fold the sides and top over 2". At the top, cut four equally-spaced 2" slits in your fold for the ribbons to poke through. Cut 5" lengths of ribbon and slide them into the slits, making sure they're sticking out the same amount so your banner hangs straight. Sew your folds, or if you have no sewing machine or sewing talent, use fusible web and an iron. Iron the whole thing till there is NO crease in it where you don't want one. Tape it to a wall, or hang by its dowel (tape is better to make sure it doesn't move around, but I understand concern for your walls).

Print your coat of arms on the transparency paper (give it lots of time to dry well, the paper smudges easily.. you might want to pick up an extra piece of transparency paper or two in case), and the position the overhead projector so you can trace the arms on your banner (look at it four or five times to MAKE SURE it's straight. Tape the transparency to the projector, accidental movement is not fun. Use a regular #2 or charcoal pencil to trace your arms on your banner.

Paint all of the outlines in black paint, then fill in with the appropriate colors of acrylic paint. If you need these to be weatherproof use oil-based or fabric paint. Hang your finished banner on the dowel.

I did one of these for each member of the wedding party in my Renaissance-themed wedding. Here are a few samples of the ones I did:

Etsy's Chainmaillers' Guild's First Contest

From September 8 - 22 voting will be open on Etsy's Chainmaillers' Guild's first contest, "Linked to the Sea." Their guildmembers have crafted chainmaille items with a Sea theme, and anyone who comes to vote on the best one is entered in a drawing to win several chainmaille prizes that they've donated!

Visit their blog: http://chainmaillersguild.blogspot.com to vote. Be sure to leave a comment so that we can contact you if you win!

Promote FAE!