A friend asked me today, “What happened with your project with the 12 layered robes?”
I actually felt shame telling him the project was still in the same state as the last time we talked about it over a year ago.
We should never feel shame about a project of our own devising with our own arbitrary deadlines. When other people are involved and real deadlines exist, that’s another story. I have one of those too.
I’ve been stuck. My regular life is increasingly complicated and stressful and it has been hard to focus on what I enjoy doing. Research. Garment construction. Sharing information.
How do we get unstuck when there looks like there’s no avenue of escape, no road from here to there? I’m not sure, but I keep trying, and maybe that’s the key. Keep trying. Eventually something will give or I’ll completely burn out from trying and failing. So how do we avoid burnout from multiple failures?
Give yourself a win.
Change your victory conditions. It doesn’t have to be big. Wash a dish. Read your notes. Lace up your sneakers. There’s a reasonable chance that taking that first step will make the next easier. But that first step is the hard part. You can make everything easier to take that first step, lay out your workout clothes, make a cup of tea, run the sink full of water.
This is when grit comes in to play.
Sometimes you have to make what feels like the hard choice. It’s so easy to let it go for another day, week, month, year…but that one choice can make all the difference. I frequently have to give myself a pep talk before a task. Be your own cheerleader! Repeat positive things in your head or even out loud. And then, make that choice. The choice to do something positive for yourself. The choice of movement vs stagnation.
So why am I stuck? I’m not making the hard choice. I’ve been taking the easy route. Letting the project sit. Leaving emails unread. Calling out of work. Succumbing to entropy. I can’t always summon the grit I need to do the thing. But I also haven’t been helping myself make the choice. I haven’t run the sink full of water or laid out my tools for a project. It’s been hard enough that crying is the go to for everything. Something breaks? Tears. Bad news? Sobs. Minor inconvenience? Go hide in the bathroom so no one sees me well up.
This is when you need extra help. And that’s ok.
Call a friend, or even better, make an appointment with your therapist. Because it shouldn’t be this hard. And you don’t have to do it alone. I’ve been upfront with my mental healthcare team. They know I’m struggling, and we’re all working on it together. I’m not sure how I’m going to get unstuck, but with help, I know I will. And that’s a good reminder. It will change. One way or another, circumstances will change and that hard choice will be just a little easier. Enough that grit can maybe make up the difference.
I’ve had this tab open for days. Trying to get a post written. Any post. This is not the post I thought I would write, but if my struggle can help even one person, it’s worth sharing.
Frozen in place, unable to take the next step due to what, fear? I want to be brave and make the hard choices, every day.
I’ve stalled since the New Year. Partially because I’m out of work and searching for a new position and partially because *waves hands at the state of the world*. It’s hard to think about art and personal goals when people are dying for no good reason. I think the only way I can help is to continue my research and provide a little spot of joy to myself and others. This calls back to the compassion I’m supposed to be showing to myself and everyone else.
SO. Projects. Let’s see if we can get a handle on all the things I’ve wanted to do and start making forward progress again.
SEWING
I have two pieces of clothing that are all but done. Hakama and a kosode. I’d like to finish those by tomorrow and get them in the mail by Monday.
The Kobai project. This one is a big undertaking. I’m still debating whether or not I want to completely hand-sew it. There are 5 ginu/kinu and nagabakama cut out ready to go. This project is intended to be worn with the uwagi I finished for Birka 2025. (I should make a post about that.) I do not yet have a plan for the karaginu to go with it, but I think resetting for next Birka (2027) is the right thing to do. That gives me about 10 months. Doable. This will also mean mending my hitoe from the pilgrimage ensemble (which needs to happen anyway).
I also want to make a smallish number of asetori/kosode (underwear). 3-4 would do it. It is possible to finish one in about two days, but that does not mean it’s easy.
Oh. And I need a new obi. Mine was green, representing “apprentice”. I am no longer an apprentice as I have been elevated to Laurel, so I need a new belt. (That would also be a good subject for a post.)
TANKA
I’ve not been writing very often. Partially I’m trying to decide how much I want to continue to share. I enjoyed sharing my work widely, and many, many people enjoy reading what I write, but I’m considering publishing and most publishers do not want the content available anywhere else. I think I’ll focus on my Kokinshu Challenge project and share that, as I have been in the past. I also share one poem in each of my Waka Wednesday episodes and some here. That should be enough sharing to satisfy that itch. I’ll keep the rest private.
GENJI
Continuing on with the analysis and YouTube videos is the main project I will focus on of all the projects I have in various states of doneness. I do want to create the Heian Look Book I dreamed up last year. And I’ve received a bit of encouragement to move forward with the fan project. I mentioned wanting to make a hiogi, the ceremonial fan, after one is called out in chapter 29 and one of my lovely viewers commented, “make the fan!” The fan project will be a minimum of two, one paper (sensu) for Oborozukio, one wood (hiogi) for Tamakazura, and possibly one for our lady of the molted cicada shell who has now become a nun. We’ll see if there are others in the second half of Genji. The look-book and fans don’t need to be finished until 2028 when the whole project wraps up, so for now they’ll live in a research and gathering of supplies state. I do want the fan construction to be recorded and turned into videos.
SAMURAI TRAINING
This may be the hardest part for me. I have not been able to muster the motivation for this, and I’m running out of time. I’m 46 and the sport is not kind to older bodies. Maybe I should make myself a little chart and get some star stickers and go for it like a little kid. I know that motivation is something you build over time through practice, not some magical feeling that will vault me forward in martial practice. Perhaps another 100 day challenge. This is important to my improvement goals and my health in general.
LANGUAGE
I’ve been studying, but I switched to Spanish. Didn’t mean to, I meant to add Spanish to assist in brain plasticity while I study Japanese. Time to buckle down and make sure I do a lesson from each everyday. I want to be able to muddle my way through without too much help when I finally visit Japan.
While I have certainly discussed other projects, the above list is MORE THAN ENOUGH. Everything else can and must wait. Honestly it’s a little too much, but I don’t want to let go of anything else. If I can focus on these and move them all forward, I’d be very pleased with myself.
Starting once again I draw on hope and resolve to motivate me Steady practice is the way, will this time be different?
This post was originally written on December 28th of 2025.
Three days left in 2025.
At this time of the year, like many people, I begin to reflect on the past year and plan for the next. For me, this period lasts from just before the modern New Year until the beginning of the Heian New Year. And my birthday is in the dead center of that 35-40ish days. Birthdays being another time for reflection.
Before the modern New Year I set my words for the coming year. These are up to three words that I want to focus on. This time I have three, and I believe they all support one another.
Balance – I seek balance in all things. This is my forever word. Every year for the past at least 6 I have had this as my word. I’m sure it’s been much longer than that. This is mostly for mental balance, everything else is secondary. My meds are going to need to be altered soon as one is blowing up my cholesterol. Maintaining balance through that process is going to be difficult. Outside of my mental health, time is the thing that is at the heart of where I need to find balance. Whether it’s my production calendar, work/life balance, volunteering or just time management in general, I have room for improvement.
Improvement – This word I pulled from a conversation with my partner in art, Jan. There are so many things I want to work to improve this year. I want to improve my physical health, martial arts training, volunteer work, and poetry as well as being a better partner. It will require proper balance and great time management to make these happen. But none of it will happen if I’m not compassionate with myself.
Compassion – I care deeply for others and in the past have sacrificed more of myself than is healthy in the pursuit of helping someone else. I need to show the same care for myself as I do for my friends and family. This is especially important when I make a mistake or outright fail at something.
Reading back through my bullet journal I stopped for a while on my affirmations page. One stuck out a little more than the rest: sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. (It’s the title of a leadership and self help book written by John C. Maxwell.) I’m going to hold on to that as tightly as I can this coming year, and I’m going to seriously consider picking up a copy of that book.
I allow myself the month between New Year days to refine and adjust. Around my birthday I set my priorities for the year. This coming year, most of that is covered in the 3 words. Things that will take my attention are self improvement, my partner, my job, the Genji Project, my family, and my Seneschal/SCA volunteer work.
This is something I’ve been wondering about, contemplating, for quite a while. Now that I’m halfway through I think it’s prudent to make a plan for the end. How do I break down a multi-year project into a 5 minute video presentation? Yes, that’s my intention. I want to either display or enter this project in Kingdom A&S Champs when it’s done in 2028. Not sure which. It may be bad form to try for the position again, and I should just display. I’ll seek advice on that when the time comes.
Obviously it gets entered as a research project. As my notes are physical, those notepads can be presented. I’ll want to have examples to show for each of the side projects it spurs. The first side project was Waka Wednesdays which will continue as its own series on my YouTube channel long after Genji is done. There will be garments to show off, possibly the plain white uwagi, a summer (white sheer) hitoe, and definitely the whole kobai project. I suppose I now have a deadline to finish that. For all of it really. I can include a syllabus/handout for the classes that come out of it; those are still in the development stage. What else … I started making a poetic reference document way back in the beginning but quickly discovered I was duplicating well established work that is already widely available. I’m not sure that I’ll do more with it. I’m considering going back through my costume reference notes and making a look book or something similar to make that research more consumable. Currently that’s just spread out through all of the chapter videos. Ooh, I think that means I’ll need to do a number of illustrations. Oh, and probably a fan or two. And let’s be honest, there’s bound to be something else by then.
Let’s see. Start the video with what inspired the project. Describe the project. Discuss the side projects created by embracing scope creep. Talk about the results, what I learned and next steps. That seems like a good outline.
I may be getting ahead of myself. But these side projects require more planning and more time, so I’m trying to get ahead of the inevitable crunch come January of 2028. The look book especially will take a tremendous amount of work. If I space everything out, I might just be able to finish it all. Maybe. I have a tendency to spread myself too thin.
a garden gently tended through the seasons will bloom ever brighter when spring comes around again diligent steady work shines
For now, back to the main project. There’s quite a bit left to do and time is short.
I am thrilled. Thrilled! My Genji Project has officially hit the halfway point. The last Waka Wednesday video for chapter 27 was uploaded today. I have weekly content scheduled through the very end of the year!
This last batch of videos was quite a few at one time. I edited 14 videos over the past few weeks, with the bulk (10) the past 2 days while I’ve been ill. And it’s done. I’m practically giddy about it.
There is still quite a bit of work to go. At the current rate, the last video for chapter 54 will air in January of 2031. 5 years is a lot. If I don’t skip the Wednesday of chapter weeks, I can bring that down to 4 years, and I like that much more. 2030 sounds great, and it would be nice to finish the video series out for my 50th birthday. Let’s aim for that. I’ll institute the new schedule in January.
I currently have a 10 week cushion and I intend to keep that and build upon it. So long as I average one chapter every 3 weeks I’ll stay ahead and increase my lead. Ok, thinking out loud. I’d finish the project a full year before the last video goes live at that rate. Nice. I can use some of that year for prepping the project for A&S Champs the following year and the rest getting to work on the next video series. The Tales of Ise is my current thought for that. I have the Kokinshu and other books standing by for Waka Wednesdays if I decide to examine a piece of period literature with a distinct lack of poetry.
Ha. Dreaming out loud, more like.
Such joy to be found in reaching a milestone on this daunting journey The sun’s proud rays break through and warm my path on a chill day
EDIT: I can’t math. ROTFL. 4 years would be the whole project, not the back half. For what’s left of the project, 2 years 1 week as of January 1st with the slightly sped up rate, finishing in January of 2028. At the 3 week per chapter research speed I’ll be done with the work in a year and 7 months, July of 2027. That sounds a whole lot better.
Well. It’s been entirely too long. I’ve done so much and so little.
I’ve spent the last year and a half entirely overwhelmed. There have been beautiful moments and so much heartbreak. I only completed a small bit of my kobai no nioi project. My Genji Project went entirely on hiatus for more than 9 months. I became a Laurel in the SCA. Several projects fizzled out. I got laid off. It’s been a lot.
I don’t want to try and make some giant post catching up on all the things I have and have not gotten done. As I get back to posting more regularly, I’ll share things as I can and feel inspired to. The Genji Project is back up and running. Opportunities abound and I’d like a challenge. Just a little thing to help me focus on beauty and joy and poetry. I’m going to write a poem everyday that is inspired by the positive: beauty, joy, and gratitude. We’ll start with a month and then see how it goes.
Years have passed and yet you have not forgotten me or the poems I write The tide shows honor to the strand by ever returning
The Birka 2024 Fashion Show theme was announced. Illumination and Marginalia. So I set out looking for a painting to emulate.
I turned to the illustrations in the copy of the Genji monogatari held by the Harvard Art Museums. It’s not currently on view (I did get to see it many years ago in person), but there is a wonderful digital collection. This is an album of 54 illustrations for the chapters in the Tale of Genji, painted by Tosa Mitsunobu.
Image courtesy of the Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of the Hofer Collection of the Arts of Asia
I specifically thought of the illustration for Chapter 20: Asagao. This particular image I’m familiar with because I thought for a small amount of time that it could be used to document a blue kasane no irome, color layering. You can clearly see the lady in the upper left wearing a lightening blue combination. But this illustration is from the early 1500s and therefore not an accurate source for the Heian period. I have been on the hunt for a documentable blue combination for years. This Fashion Show would give me a reason to make a blue kasane, but I wouldn’t feel right wearing it again without proof Heian ladies wore it. It’s important to me that I be able to wear anything I make for as much time as possible.
So I looked at the page girls rolling snowballs. They were wearing color pairings. These seemed more appropriate to mimic, and a giant snowball sounded like a great time for an event that has been affectionately called SCA-con. I chose to wear all three colors, as a riff on yuki no shita, under the snow. This combination is usually shades of pink under white with a blue-green hitoe. For my version I used my red cotton hitoe, pink linen ginu, and a to be made white uwagi. For the snowball, the biggest white beachball I could find.
I already had red and pink layers, and the pieces of a white layer cut out. All of these were made or cut out following information provided by Saionji no Hana on her website. Only my handsewn layers are made according to the Jidai isho no nuikata. It’s something I’m working on slowly as I build a silk wardrobe. I have 3 pattern styles in my wardrobe currently, my cotton, linen, and synthetic war garb, the silk set I was gifted, and the items made for my travelling outfit.
When making the white layer, I found that one of the pieces was stained and had to be recut. Not a big deal, as I have more of the poly peau de soire satin. Yes, it’s a synthetic. It looked nice and it’s what I had. I’m not going to enter it into an A&S competition, it’s for a Fashion Show. Silk is expensive. I encourage everyone to do their best with what they have.
I managed to get most of this garment complete in time for Birka, everything but the bottom hem. It’s still not done and I’ve worn it twice more. So here’s a bit of advice for people, wear it anyway. Really. I would have been heartbroken if I didn’t wear that outfit. My whole event was centered on the Fashion Show. So I wore it anyway. And I’m so glad I did.
Enjoy some pictures of me in the hotel room.
Note the loose, or not tied back hair. This was specifically because the page girls were depicted with loose hair.
The snowball is so big I had to partially deflate it to get it through the door and out of my room. Totally worth it though. So many kids had their eyes just go to saucers as they watched me roll a giant ball through the hotel and down the “runway”.
Here is a photo by Justine Weston from the Fashion Show.
I had a great time, and was chosen as the winner of the Early Period category.
I’ve worn the ensemble with my blue-green silk hitoe, in a more appropriate color scheme for yuki no shita.
The white uwagi has taken on some fairly awful stains, and the unfinished hem is shredding a bit.
I’ll serge the dirty hem, launder the garment, and provided that doesn’t ruin it, I’ll hem it up properly and adjust the collar to be a bit shorter. If too much is compromised from staining, I can repurpose the fabric into a kosode or a karaginu. And if it dies a horrible death, I think I have enough fabric to remake it. It has brought me joy, and that is enough.
I realized only too late that I should have had someone record video of my entry so I could share it on the YouTube channel. But I did make a video with the pictures I have and talk a bit about the ensemble. Click here to watch the video. It’s my first costuming video for the channel. Exciting!
Words by THL Agnes Marie de Calais and THL Sugawara no Naeme
Silent treads the Tyger when in service, yet still his step is heard. Oh crafter of Honey’d mead, golden like the sun upon the bay at noon, one who works diligently to deftly wield sword and shield on the field of battle for the glory of the Realm, those who quietly toil for the benefit of the Society are worthy and deserving of praise and promotion.
We Ryouko’jin, Demon King of the Three Heavens, and Indrakshi Rani, Bengal Queen, do elevate Reinald of Bavaria to a Lord of Our court and award him arms, Quarterly per fess embattled vert and sable, in chief two wolves rampant, a point pointed Or, to be borne by him and him alone. Done at Our Northern Region War Camp on the second day of the seventh month, AS LVII, in the auspicious Year of the Tyger.
This was another wonderful collaborative wordsmithing effort. I’m grateful to THL Agnes for taking my initial words and elevating the entire piece with her elaboration and eloquence.
The recipient has a very specific persona, so I drew heavily on that for this award document. The source I chose is The “Codex Manesse”, also known as the “Great Heidelberg Book of Songs” which was created between around 1300 and 1340 in Zurich. Here are the pages/spread I used:
I altered the image so that the depicted person was wielding a longsword, which is the favored weapon of the recipient.
I redesigned the horse’s barding, the shield and tabard to reflect the recipient’s arms as this is an Award of Arms. The calligraphy was done by creating my own ductus from the manuscript.
Next I added the painted and inked capitals.
Yellow color blocking, and some detailing.
Grey color blocking.
Most of the horse. I missed the belly on this pass, oops.
Green color blocking, grass detail, and I also got the horse’s belly done.
Black color blocking, armor detailing, reigns.
Outlining. Almost a little cartoony, but the exemplar does the same. I remember being told as a young scribe, not to do this. Maybe that person hadn’t seen this source?
Next I added the blue and gold.
Added the red. Touched up details. Finished award document.
This one pushed me a little in the calligraphy department. I’ve been assured this has made it to its recipient. I hope he likes it.
This was my first Order of High Merit assignment. Seems Signet saw my other work and decided to bump me up a level from Awards of Arms and other Silver level award documents/scrolls.
I decided from the start I wanted to gild the document in silver (for the crescent) and gold (for the crown). I also wanted to be a little heavy with the gold in general. I reviewed my recipient’s wiki and decided on a late-ish period Italian theme for the them to match her persona.
Research commenced.
I found a piece in a book of hours I liked and I decided to try a new poetic form, terza rima.
Digitally altered/mirrored image from a book of hours. Scrolling vines in red and blue with flowers in red and leaves of green.
Once I had a rough draft, I sent it over to Her Excellency Aislinn Chiabach who made a few tweaks, and then I made a few more. Eventually the words read thus:
“Words reached Our Sovereigns’ ears of this gentle’s deeds Given so freely, she never seems to tire Her work knows no bounds, of this you can believe.
Devoted local leader tending the fire Providing many labors for all the parts And minding the hearth of Stonebridge’ Shire
She’s a deft hand in promotion of the Arts From local lands to country, she will work from Her noble center, giving of her whole heart
A faithful servant to the Eastern Kingdom She’s led folk in the path of aid, great and small All the long day until the work had been done
Over years, it can be said, she’s heard the call Sitting gate, demos, cooking, and more there is Teaching the Knowne World at War, she gives her all
Great Sultan Mohammed and Wise Brenhines Corotica lift Arabella De Mere to the Order of the Silver Crescent for this
Steadfast service to Shire and Sovereignty fair.”
The words required more space than the inspiration page, so I digitally altered it.
I traced the image onto paper, smoothing the introduced transition and included the lines for the calligraphy
Using a lightbox I traced the image onto pergamenta.
Next it was time for gold. I applied miniatum provided to me by a fellow scribe, THL Aaradyn.
I let it dry, then breathed on it, and eventually had to give up and add modern adhesive on top of the miniatum. Then I went bananas with the gold leaf.
After the gold I applied adhesive and silver leaf. The first go was not great.
I tried again with better results.
Next I hand blended several gold inks to create just the right shade and applied the calligraphy.
I painted the green areas first
I painted the yellow and white sections next. A lot of the yellow is a base for more gold.
Red next.
Then the blue bits
Highlights were applied to the reds and blues and veining on all the leaves
And then, more gold and some fine red line work to finish out the document.
My favorite part – all the tiny gold dots! Even though I had trouble with the miniatum adhering, I love the raised texture it gave to the document. I had fun with all the gold, and I know the recipient loves it, which is the best part.
At Otter’s Welcome in May of 2023, I was approached by Their Royal Highnesses’ Chamberlain, HE Hillarious Clock Werk. He asked if I would be willing to design something, perhaps create a backdrop that would be used at Coronation and likely throughout Their reign. I knew then that I would be out of town at Coronation, and he said that that wasn’t a problem and also that nothing needed to happen before Pennsic.
After Pennsic, this project picked up.
TRH’s have a Discord server for coordination, and I read everything that was in reign theming so I would be prepared with an idea for the first Coronation meeting. TRH’s wanted “a light in the dark” and the aurora borealis as the overarching theme. I immediately had the idea of the aurora in the shape of a tiger across an ombre night sky and set about researching.
I thought I found a tiger constellation. I was wrong. What I did find was the domain of the White or Eastern Tiger, 1/4 of the sky in star maps. TRHs’ both have celestial bodies in Their arms, and Tir Mara, the Northern Army and the Southern Army all also have a star or stars in their heraldry. Plus Coronation happens during an eclipse. In my mind, the design was obvious.
In the meeting, I listened carefully to TRHs’ wants and desires. I treated it like I would a theatrical design meeting. Her (then) RH had a very helpful photoshop image. What They wanted was incredibly similar to the design I had come up with. I laid out my ideas. His (then) Highness gave His permission to move forward.
I folded everything together and created a rendering for the next meeting.
After the rendering was approved, I set to work. I ordered all the paint I thought I would need, and I was lucky enough to be able to use some materials from my place of employment (I work for a top regional pre-Broadway theater). I sewed the drop to 11’ x 11’ to suit the frame available for it, including a flat felled seam and turnbacks, and added grommets. I was in a respirator for a lot of this as we had nasty fumes in the shop from our usual theatrical work.
I prepped the floor with paper and stretched the sewn drop on top, stapling it down. The paper prevents the drop from sticking to the ground.
I labeled the edges for the different colors of paint.
I primed the grommets with direct to metal paint and then spray primed the drop with the lightest color I planned to use.
Next I painted a gradation of 7 colors from black to pool blue. I had hoped I could scumble paint the transitions.
I sprayed the colors at transitions when I realized the scumble was not working.
This plan did not work out well enough. I left it to dry overnight.
The next day I over sprayed the drop with a few different mixed shades, and this finally looked like the ombre of my rendering.
After it dried, using my star map with a grid and a tiger outline on top, I chalked in the images.
I painted The Royal’s signifiers first. For Her (then) Highness, I eclipsed half of her signifier in recognition of the eclipse. The main symbol stars are all in the heraldic style, and the “regular” stars are all just dots of white, like a star map.
Tir Mara’s star got a little lost, being blue on black, so I lightly outlined it in white.
I then started on the tiger. I used two shades of purple and a dry brush technique to create the “aurora”. You can see here that the Northern Army star is becoming occluded.
After that dried, I mixed a pale yellow, intending to follow that with a greenish yellow to pull the image closer to the usual colors of the aurora. But then I looked at the backdrop and realized that if I used a darker yellow/gold instead, I would have the tiger aurora in East Kingdom colors. This didn’t really deviate much from my rendering, but I really liked the difference, so…design choice on the fly. I also decided to move the Northern Army star.
After reinforcing the paint on the other symbol stars, I stopped. I considered adding in a few more small stars, specks to imitate the rendering’s splatter dots. But I knew it was time to stop. So I signed the drop with my chop in the lower left hand corner.
When I got home, I posted a picture to the discord which met with approval.
After sleeping on the idea, I decided that the drop was indeed complete. It matched the star map. I felt no need to add dots for stars not on the star map. Knowing when to stop is important, and it’s usually a decision I struggle with on scrolls/award documents.
I cut tie line and pulled the drop from the floor. There was minimal sticking! Hooray!
It took about 55 hours of work, not including dry time, design through painting.
The one detail I’m the most proud of is the Tir Mara star. It sits on the star map in the location of Andromeda, and I think that’s wild. This star is also sometimes referred to as the “Tiger’s Eye” which feels very appropriate.
I changed the location of the Northern Army star as its original location got covered by aurora. It’s meant to be roughly placed as the tiger’s heart, but like I said, I had to change its location. It’s a star that is part of a constellation known as the “Tiger’s Net”.
The Southern Army stars roughly correlate to a constellation known as the “Tiger’s Stride”. These little details make my heart happy.
TRMs’ signifiers are placed in such a way that they should be almost directly above Their thrones, and my hope is that the other three star placements, which run north to south geographically, will also be able to be seen with the thrones placed in front of it. That’s part of why the drop looks a little like the northern part of the sky/top of the drop is more crowded than the southern part of the sky/bottom of the drop. After seeing a few images from Coronation, this mostly works out. The Southern Army stars (and essentially the entirety of the bottom half of the drop) were obscured by retainers and champions. I knew this would be a factor and I wish I could have thought of something a little better. However, south is south, and that’s where that constellation is.
I’m very pleased with how this design became reality. It matches my rendering in the best ways. The timing I planned for it was accurate. I have been actively working on time management of projects, and it was nice to get this one right.
It is a deep honor to be asked to create something that will be used to reinforce the reign theme, and especially something as important as the backdrop for Coronation. I’m grateful to Their Royal Majesties, King Matthias and Queen Feilinn, for trusting my skills and talents to make this large piece of art for Them and the Kingdom. I’m grateful to His Excellency Clock Werk for suggesting me for the job and asking. It’s really nice to be able to use my mundane skill set to fulfill part of my fealty to the East Kingdom; I swore my art in times of peace. This is quite literally my fealty on display.
Update: At Crown’s Arts and Sciences Championships, Their Royal Majesties named me Artisan to the Crown. I am humbled and grateful.
