Badger Magic

(I am currently again in Macedonia, having not even posted all the photos from my last trip, and it is extremely hot and stressful, so here is something short and full of personal pride.)

It’s been a while since the last time I shared some of my art, and this time around, I must say I am disgustingly proud of myself. Because when Inspiration came, it was inspiration for an image quite outside my comfort zone (not the usual cats and horses, is what I mean) and it really felt like a challenge to complete the project as I imagined it.

The initial sketch happened at work, and came quite easily:

And as big a fan as I am of black-and-white ink sketches, I knew this one needed more. It took another two months (I think?) to turn that drawing into the final painting (not that it took two months of painting, but it took two months to finally have enough guts and enough time to do it; some procrastination may have been involved):

Like I said, I am disgustingly proud of this painting, and yes, I keep using that word, because it almost feels undeserved that it should feel so properly done. I think it’s a bit of imposter syndrome at work, but I also have it on good authority that the painting has been well-received and shall be accordingly framed.

I sent it off with a small story about the official title of the painting, but I will admit that I am still extremely shy about sharing my (fiction) writing. Caine did once share a poem of mine here, and for some reason, that felt very nerve-wracking.

Most of you can probably guess the owner, incidentally – he runs a blog on this network that goes by the title of St Derr (I know, I know, don’t shoot me!), which also happens to be the name of that badger. In a striking case of coincidence, there actually exists a Temple of Derr, most possibly dedicated to the god Ptah, who also happens to be the patron deity of metalworkers.

And I do owe mail to my co-bloggers as well, just don’t expect it within the next 6 months. You all deserve something at least as nice as this.

Can I Get A Squee?

Riddle: How am I like a dog?

And what is Ronja staring at so avidly…?

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Once Upon A Time in Madrid

Or should I say “madrid”? ;D

Second week of May, I spent a full workweek in Madrid for a working group meeting, and it was a fantastic time (as always). Besides the science-y, political-y days (there’s a lot of discussion about legislation and quality standards, not just the fun research and applications stuff), the organizers had planned out a couple of very interesting cultural evenings, and I found myself quite pleasantly surprised by the city in general. It had a very different feel from Rome (last year) – much cleaner, much more organized, more expansive – which I liked, but the organized part works mostly if you’re not driving a car – never mind the six lanes and wide roads, vehicle traffic in Madrid is atrocious (in my opinion!).

Anyway, the weather held out, the people were wonderful, and my first night the lovely hotel staff pointed me towards (what felt like a) very local cafe-restaurant, where, despite the language barrier and despite clearly being not local, I felt very welcome and extremely well-fed (I had octopus). I went back a second time prior to leaving, which I usually don’t do, but it had that perfect mix of being taken care of and being left alone, which was exactly what I needed.

I have a series on chandeliers in the Royal Palace, but for now, here’s just some small details from that particular cultural visit:

One thing that did leave an impression was the collection of Stradivarius instruments – it’s true that brands are often over-rated, and I’m not too big on the detailed decorations on my instruments, but as a former violinist, it still left an impact to see these famous instruments in one room. I’d have to hear them to judge their quality, but the craftspersonship of the construction (and the artistry of the detail) is undoubtedly something else.

Today’s music selection, which felt like it suits the historical theme, is from Latvian Voices – I found this particular performance of theirs via a post answering the question “what is it like to be a woman in the music business?” (that’s a link to their FB page, I don’t know how to link to that post specifically):

As a female group, we’ve been questioned many times about the topic of “how it is to be a woman in the music business?!” We took it very seriously and made research in music history looking on our female colleagues back in the day. As a result, we found ourselves willing to perform more music written by female composers or music which is dedicated to strong and powerful women all over the world.
Please, enjoy our contribution to Frau Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn – the song “Die Mainacht”, poem by Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty.

Video: Kaspars Teilāns
Sound: Andris Ūze
Make-up: Ilona Zariņa
Style Cita Rota

Dog Days

We seem to have got our summer early, although next week is supposed to cool down significantly. I am using this time to try not to melt and to gather materials for a few posts – still have the Skopje Aqueduct to present, then some things from Madrid (basically a series on fancy chandeliers), and a couple other things.

For the moment, though, I’m trying to get back into something like a routine after being sick and after the frequent travel – the good news is I have one more trip to Skopje during the second half of June, and then I get to not go anywhere for a couple of months at least. Looking forward to that, because I can’t get anything done in the summer anyway. Which seems to have arrived with a blast of hot air (30 in May, I’m sorry, too much!).

The heat also discourages Ronja from her usual energetic antics, so I got some nice poses, for your enjoyment. She’s a beauty. And she still hasn’t shed all her winter coat, no matter how much we brush her.

Archaeological Museum of Macedonia – Part 2: Other Shiny Things

Coins is nice, but the Museum has a few other exhibits – it’s not a large museum or particularly stunning in its collection, but I liked the feel of it. I do have some commentary about the art depicting life in the Stone Ages, though. About half the population seemed to be missing in most paintings, and you can probably guess which half.

But the exhibit design was, as with the coins, quite interesting:

I did not take photos of everything, as it was mostly different kinds of pottery and metalwork, but allow me to present a few of my favourites:

And this! Was a piece of musical notation from a few hundred years ago. Religious music, if I recall correctly, and I find it fascinating. And I’m curious as to how it should be interpreted. © rq, all rights reserved.

You can read more about the museum itself here.

Archaeological Museum of Macedonia – Part 1: Little Shiny Things

Also known as a coin collection. I don’t have much to comment here, except that they really know how to set the mood for learning about history:

While there was quite a bit to learn, the focus was on coins. So here we go: be as amazed as I was at the variety of designs, the visible cultural influences, the intricacy and the detail, the mastery and the metalwork.

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Natural Dyes

Since a few years ago, when I read a very intriguing article, Eastertime has become a time for experimentation – for experimenting with natural dyes! For the eggs, obviously.

Now, tradition has it that you use onion skins – gives a nice warm reddish-brown tone, and if you stick little leaves and shoots and spring flowers around the surface of the egg and wrap it in some extra onion skin and gauze (or old pantyhose), you can get some wonderful imprinting and marbling on your egg, in tones of yellow and green.

My original break with tradition occurred about 5 years ago, when I read about red cabbage – apparently, using boiled red cabbage produces a lovely shade of blue, plus you can also do the usual addition of shoots-and-flowers, and also get marbling effects.

It works.

That blue tone at the bottom? If you use red cabbage correctly, it gets even more vivid.

However! In subsequent years I have read about other plant-based materials that can be used as dyes: beets (for raspberry red), turmeric (for deep yellow), blueberries (for dark blue/black), etc. This year I decided to experiment a little again, since I have transferred my knowledge of red cabbage to the immediate family, and it’s time to try something new (the blue colour is no longer original once everyone is doing it).

Meet this year’s subjects:

To review the results:

I expected more from the turmeric, but this just proves you can’t trust online blog posts raving about the wonderful shades of golden-yellow, even if you follow their instructions word for word;
Red cabbage is both a stable value and also quite versatile with the patterning, adding an onion skin for colour will not ruin the dye;
Beets are fakers – I tried beets a few years ago with similar results but was willing to give them a second chance, but alas, if this is raspberry red, then someone needs to review their colour wheel;
Hibiscus tea is a keeper and shall be repeated because it has a wonderful deep shade of blue-black and also holds up well with patterning for some very interesting colouring;
Onion skins is old reliable onion skins and to ensure at least a few good-looking eggs should be used every year.

A few close-ups:

So there you have it – low effort and high quality coloured eggs from ordinary things you can find in your kitchen (or get for cheap). If I don’t forget, I might do a tutorial post for next year, because the whole process is ridiculously easy.

(Choir Juventus cover, original here.)

Canyon Matka – Part 7: Miscellaneous and Odd

This is the final post from Canyon Matka, a couple of views of the dam, and some random items I saw along the way.

As mentioned before, never believe anyone if they tell you there is nothing to see: I was thoroughly impressed with my visit to this canyon, and I would certainly plan to see other parts of the country (especially the mountains!) if I had the chance. Maybe I’m just easily pleased, but the sheer beauty of Macedonian nature – so different from the one up here – is enough to keep me satisfied.

Maybe he assumed it was too dark for me to take a good photo, but this little feller spent a good ten minutes singing right about my head, giving me a chance to adjust the camera to get at least this one decent shot! © rq, all rights reserved.

Farewell to this adventure, and here’s to the next one!

A Beautiful G R E E N Morning

Over the weekend, everything exploded into that fresh, new shade of green that is among my favourite colours – it’s not that I’m partial to green (it’s actually among my less favourite colours), it’s that this particular shade always looks so clean and bright and only lasts a very short while. In other words, it is extremely transient, but it means that winter is over (never mind the possible frosts, life has returned). I love it. And to celebrate, here is some bad phone photography:

(The Green Song by Pērkons. Same vocalist as previously, lyrics below in somewhat literal translation.)

Touch the earth, the earth is white.
The earth is white, a moment before it was green.

Give your warmth, it will be green again.
Remember, remember, remember – your part is green.
Remember, remember – everything is in your hands.

Hail is hail, frost is frost,
Most is mist above all things until now.

On which hill will we light our fire,
Where shall we winter this summer?

How important, do you think,
How important is a single fire?
What will you, icicle, icicle, do when
When the awl of the sun pierces you?
When the awl of the sun pierces you?

Hail is hail, frost is frost,
Mist is mist above all things until now.

As many fires as will be lit on each hill,
So long shall we live.

Canyon Matka – Part 6: Rocks

Yes, just a close look at a small (seriously, not sarcasm this time) selection of rocks – and some rock formations that were especially interesting.

It may be that nothing breaks like a heart, but certainly nothing breaks like a rock. Take it away, Miley.

Spring Greetings

It was Easter weekend and summertime weather (though next week says some frost is in the books, so…) and someone came to say hi!

The reveal is below the fold.

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Magnolia

I made some boasting noises about my magnolia, so just to prove that it really is an explosion of pink and white this year (it’s a youngling), I took some evening photographs, with a special dedication to Giliell. ;)

Canyon Matka – Part 5: Surfacing

After long silence, here is the next installment of my visit to Canyon Matka in Macedonia – now the Republic of North Macedonia! (It was a bit of a joke, you’ve been there several times already but you’re visiting an entirely new country for the first time!)

We’ve looked beneath the water, and we have looked into the mirror that is the water – but today we will look at the surface of the water itself.

The river is narrow but quite deep, and as our visit occurred during the evening, there was some beautiful play of light on water, abstract art and distorted reflections. For all the canyon’s twists and turns, it was poured full of sunlight for most of the trip. Anyway, that’s it for the fancy prose, so without further ado:

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A New Thing: 1

Badger Magic

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Can I Get A Squee?

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Once Upon A Time in Madrid

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Dog Days

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Archaeological Museum of Macedonia – Part 2: Other Shiny Things

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Archaeological Museum of Macedonia – Part 1: Little Shiny Things

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Natural Dyes

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Canyon Matka – Part 7: Miscellaneous and Odd

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A Beautiful G R E E N Morning

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Canyon Matka – Part 6: Rocks

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Spring Greetings

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Magnolia

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Canyon Matka – Part 5: Surfacing

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