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Spirals, Circles and Arcs - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
This week’s Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade features artisan design that feature spirals, circles and/or arcs. All three symbols were used as early as 38.000 BC in Europe, Africa, Australia and South America when ancient man began to carve into stone or paint cave walls in protected areas. It is possible that earlier hunter/gatherer peoples might have decorated their bodies and clothes or marked trees or features in the landscape but, if they did, evidence of that art has not survived.
The Magical Color of Purple - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Since purple is a fairly rare color in nature, an almost magical aura has been associated to it throughout human history. The first historical record of a purple dye, called Tyrian purple, indicates that it began to be manufactured in the Phoenician city of Tyre in the eastern Mediterranean in the 14th century BCE. The dye was extracted from the glands of several types of shellfish, but especially the Murex brandaris. The process to extract the dye took about three days. Thousands of putrefied, crushed shellfish were left to bake in the sun. Salt was then added and the mash of glands were boiled down. (Can you imagine the overwhelming stench of the process!!!). It took about 12,000 shellfish to extract 1.5 grams of the pure dye, barely enough to dye a single garment the size of a Roman toga. In 301 A.D. during the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian, one pound of purple dye cost 150,000 denarii or around three pounds of gold. This is the main reason the purple color was reserved for emperors or individuals with titles of royal authority.
Valentines Day Gift Ideas! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Valentine’s Day will be here before we know it. It is a day that started with pagan roots, associated with the Roman festival, Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February (February 13-15), Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders, Romulus and Remus. Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity but was outlawed around 496 A.D. when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as St. Valentine’s Day. It is not known, however, which of three St. Valentines (all of whom were martyred) Pope Gelasius was honoring. In 1381, Geoffrey Chaucer, a famous English poet, first associated St. Valentine's Day with romance in a poem he wrote in honor of the engagement between Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. The engagement, the mating season of birds, St. Valentine’s Day and true love were all linked . . . and it’s been a day for lovers ever since.
Think Green for Artisan Christmas Gifts - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Red and green are colors that are closely associated with Christmas. Last week I shared how red became a Christmas color. You can read that post here: Think Red for Artisan Christmas Gifts. This week, green, the other Christmas color, is explored mainly through the symbolism of holly, mistletoe and evergreen trees.
The color green and its association with the time around Christmas has a pre-Christian origin, more specifically tied to the Winter Solstice. Evergreen plants, like holly, mistletoe and pine, spruce or fir trees have been used for thousands of years to decorate and brighten up buildings during the long, dark, cold winter when life could be very tenuous. Ancient peoples were scared of the short days and freezing nights and mistakenly believed that the Sun might disappear altogether. Evergreens reminded people that spring would come and that winter wouldn't last forever. Historical records show that the Romans wove wreaths of holly to hang on their walls and doors to celebrate the winter solstice / Saturnalia. They also exchanged evergreen branches as a sign of good luck. The ancient Egyptians would bring green date palm branches into their homes during their mid- winter festivals as a symbol of "life triumphant over death." To the ancient people, the color green represented life, nature, peace, eternity and the hope of the future.
Think Red for Artisan Christmas Gifts - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
The color combination of red and green is closely associated with Christmas - for example, Santa’s red clothing and green holly with red berries. But how did this come about? From ancient history to modern time, color has been an integral part of cultural awareness and even an understanding of life; it touched all members of society and conveyed deeper messages (such as, only royalty could wear the color purple). Red and green as Christian symbolism can be traced back to Medieval Miracle Plays and rood screen painters. The color combination can be traced to the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh stories from the 13th century. And these stories were probably based on an oral tradition that dates back to the pre-Christian Celts many centuries before where a half-red, half-green tree figures prominently in one of the tales. In pre-Christian times, red and green represented male (red) and female (green), strength and harmony, desire and fertility.
Earthy Browns Abound - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Despite the grass in our back yard staying an amazing green so far into the year, I can see the slide of winter colors beginning to show up. Pretty soon our back yard, the arroyo behind the house and the desert over all will be clothed in the many varied shades of warm earthy browns with tinges of other subtle colors. Waiting . . . waiting . . . waiting . . . . for the brilliance of spring.
“Earthy Browns Abound” is the theme of this week’s “Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade. I hope you enjoy the beautifully earthy artisan creations featured here. And, please, support handmade artisan this holiday season.
The Autumn Wind is a Pirate - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Since I live in the Desert Southwest, autumn comes creeping slowly in with cooler temperatures. Most of the trees here are evergreen so there isn’t much color change. This time of the year, I always think about the forest we lived in for 10 years in Northern Virginia. Oh, the glorious colors as the leaves on the trees changed.!!! Sometimes almost blinding color combinations. Then sometimes, the wind would hit and the leaves became a carpet of color on the forest floor. I ran across this great quote about autumn wind from Steve Sabol: “The autumn wind is a pirate. Blustering in from sea with a rollicking song he sweeps along swaggering boisterously. His face is weather beaten, he wears a hooded sash with a silver hat about his head . . . The autumn wind is a raider, pillaging just for fun.” A pillaging wind playing with and swirling the colorful leaves!
Unique New Handmade Jewelry from Shadow Dog Designs
The past several weeks have been very busy with a huge (and very profitable) show on Labor Day weekend and then a week long trip to beautiful Couer d'Alene, Idaho and Spokane, Washington. But unique new handmade jewelry, mostly necklaces and earrings, have been listed in my Indiemade shop. All of the jewelry is one of a kind, except the very last pair of earrings, the snowmen earrings. Even though I make them in several different colored collars, the red ones are the most popular.
The Lucky Number 3 - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
I am not by nature a superstitious person, but I have a real affinity for the number 3 (even more for 33). For centuries, it has been revered as a lucky number. I also knew it had many, many religious connotations, such as the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in the Christian faith - St. Patrick used a shamrock to teach about the Holy Trinity. It also describes the three attributes of God: omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. In Hinduism, the number 3 represents the three gods: Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer. The number 3 is very important in Buddhism and represents: the Buddha, the historical Buddha Shakyamuni; the Dharma, the Buddhist body of teachings; and, the Sangha, the people who follow the teaching of the Buddha.
