Saturday, May 28, 2016

Amulets

I believe I've mentioned recently that I'm working on making some amulets to go along with my stories. Amulets and talismans were, in my vivid childhood imagination, something I put a lot of thought into and spent many hours creating for my games/adventures.

Whether they were made of wire, legos, tin foil, paper mache, stones, coal and twigs etc etc, or any combination thereof, I made them in numbers I cannot possibly count and many of them, in my rush to have them ready for play, never made it past the first day. Hardly the stuff of lasting, one-day-to-be-discovered artifacts!

I have, of course, explored Ancient Egyptian amulets in Shadow of the Sphinx.  Only now getting to the skill level where I can get good detail in tiny sizes. . . but for my stories, for my imagination to really run wild, I wanted to start creating amulets just for the sake of themselves believing that the process will take me where they need me to go.

I have no set ideas as of yet for ones to put into my shop and the stories are not at the point where I am ready to commit to any one form or design but the ideas. . . oh they do haunt me in my sleep! :)

So here are a few that I completed this week, No real theme. . . just playing with ideas, ancient forms and current inspirations. . .

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The Troll Knot is an old Norse amulet for, of course, warding off trolls. 

 The Dancing Troll, inspired by the art of Wendy and Brian Froud, in my stories, ancient trolls have magic that is connected to / activated by, dance like, flowing movement. . .

The "Source" amulet. . . an original relic from the world of the Bewildering Pine made with polymer clay and the finish is rusted iron Swellegance!

The "Warrior Princess". . . We've taken to re-watching the entire Xena series from the start so this Chakram amulet was simply a must! Can't explain the pure joy of getting lost in Xena and Gabrielle's adventures again. . . what a show it was, so over the top and completely inspired. As Sofie puts it, "I wish I could have watched this when I was 8 or 9. . . it would have been so empowering." It's also fun to know that a handful of the creators of "Orphan Black" got their start here. 

Well, that's all for now. . . more to come as I have another handful in process right now.

And still working on the packaging design. I'd prefer to have all my amulets fall under one title/branding so that is a challenge I am embracing as many of you know, I love packaging!.

Hoping you all have a lovely weekend. I'll be back on June 1st with more new work!

Until then,

xoxoxoxo
nicolas

4 comments:

  1. These are so wonderful, i cannot pick a favorite, first i thought it would be the troll knot, but then maybe the source! They are all perfect! I can't wait to hear stories to go with them.
    Thank you for your comment on my blog, i am glad the cardinal made you smile as well. And yes, we have lost some of the magic, we just need to get it back in little ways, i have had a post in mind lately where i was planning to talk about the ways i find small magic in life, ... But i have about as many posts in mind as i do art projects and directions so not sure when it will come to be. (But of course i knew you would understand)

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    1. Thank you Andrea! I think the "Source" is my favorite since it is the one that is completely my creation. . . and I already now what the source is in my stories so it makes the most sense to me right now. . . but its all a process and I am simply loving the time spent making these little wearable talismans. I imagine, as my stories grow, so will the little accoutrements I'll want to make to bring them more to life. :)

      I'd love to hear about the little ways you find small magic. I think it would be wonderful to do a "small magic" post where people can widget/link to their own posts about small magic. I think the world could use a good dose of inspiration in this way. . .

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  2. Nicolas!! Love them!!!! Warrior Princess is my fav! Xena rocks!!! Can't wait to read the stories to go along with them! Hope you're having a great long weekend!

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    1. Thank you Stacy! yes, Xena (and, of course, Gabrielle) will always have a place in my heart of hearts. :) I have enjoyed the weekend but am looking forward to getting back to the normal schedule and to some exciting changes to my "work life' which I will be talking about here soon! YAY!

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