Our next venture was one of the more ambitious projects we have undertaken. We decided to bring one of Nate’s old ideas to life: a rocking “horse” in the shape of a dragon.

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The Bat box!

I was discussing steampunk with spooky-librarian Jeanne, a friend that makes stained glass art.. the conversation wandered into the lack of “evil” stained glass works, and the possibility of doing an art nouveau Bat.

a few days later, we saw a call for artists in a halloween show, and the goal was seized..

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Carving is kinda a new art to me, at least, in wood. So i tend to fiddle a bit, and practice a bit in various woods before i tackle “real” projects.. trying to get the feel for the wood, for each is different. poplar is supersoft, but the weak fibers “feather out". oak, takes a lot of effort to carve, but picks up a perfect surface if you learn to understand the grains. walnut and ash..oily, hard to cut, but glides so well, and burnish so well.. sassafras, the open grain of oak, without the strength, maple an interesting mixture of good and bad traits..

so far the only wood i *hate* is pine. So here’s a few images of stuff i’ve tinkered with..rough sketches and doodles.

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As our circle of friends grew in the crafting world, several people suggested that we make a traditional 3-legged stool, something that people who spin yarn would use. The project really kicked off when Spazspun of Etsy.com commissioned us to make one, and is actually made to be the right height for a spinning wheel, but could be used for anything.

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This one was a long and (in my mind) wierd story.

The very sweet and talented CelticGoddess of Etsy.com had gotten to know each other a little in the forums, and she was hoping to commission a traditionally themed bracelet display for craft shows - something that would be a bit more difficult to shoplift from than the regular “capitol T” shaped commercial bracelet displays. This is the end result.

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As Jason began the cutting for the Tuam, I began work on a very ancient style of travelling throne used by the Roman magistrates. I’ve not researched it closely, but I have read in a few places that this style of folding chair, in the shape of an X, was allowed only for high Roman officials. Even after the Roman empire collapsed, those territories that were affected by the romans still considered the X chair as a sign of power. There were many many variants over the centuries, and the X chair evolved farther and farther from its roots. If you’re bored, look up a savonarolla, or a dantesca or the throne of the franc king, Dagobert.

I am told that even today, X-shaped chairs are reserved for Catholic bishops, and that they actually use Faldistoriums in ritual, though I do not know if this is true. My idea, however, was an interpretation. Say, not long after Rome retreated from the British Isles and Hadrian’s wall was overrun. What kind of throne might a Celtic warlord have made? How would he have re-imaged a Roman Faldistorium? So, I made this -

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After finishing the bog chairs, Jason and I began studying history to find out where we might head next in this venture. Though an artist, I’d never done much in the way of woodworking. Though a cabinetmaker, Jason had never made chairs. It was time to try to up the complexity.

We decided to go through examples of ancient furniture, the older the better for a couple of reasons. One: it was pretty and unusual from what we’d seen, and Two: it came from a time before power tools, and was theoretically simpler to construct. Note: Reason two was utterly disproven as we worked on the next two projects. Because they lacked good glue, they needed to make their gear more solid, and because they lacked power tools, they did a lot of things very difficult for power tools to replicate. For example, note the curves on this seat. Not gonna happen on a tablesaw.

So. We began two projects, at the same time: one that was mine and heavily carved, (the Faldistorium, Chapter 3 ) and one that was plainer, elegant, and clean lined. This was the Tuam, and Jason led on this one. The Tuam, according to notes we read, was an ancient and simple farmer’s chair that has been around in Ireland for centuries, likely back to the year 1200 AD or so.

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As I begin to document some of this on my own site for the first time, I’m kinda prompted to look backwards, and show some of the past. I’ll get into my personal history later, but what began all this was being dragged to the Ohio Renaissance Faire by my love and some friends. I really am not fond of ren faires. It irks me to pay money for the privelege of shopping, and I hate to see history get scrambled. But, My sweet Love enjoys the pretties and the shows, and I do really like my girl, and like hanging out with friends, so there I was. And I saw a chair of a style I’d never seen before, despite having been in the SCA for a couple of years.

It was just two planks of wood, assembled as a seat, with a crudely woodburned, ugly design on the back. It was slipshod and awful, but… I’d never seen anything like it. I’ve been a hobbyist and closet artist my whole life and I was having a horrible time at work on a consulting gig. I’ve done pewtercasting, made full suits of leather and steel armour, painted, done pottery. I saw that chair, and something *popped*. I said “I can make *that*… and I can do it better, too.” My mind spun. This is just a fledgling little dream, but it’s interesting to think how saying “I can make something better than that” at a silly outdoor shopping mall can lead to the first steps of a grand adventure. All from a chance sighting of a silly little chair.

So, here’s an image of the chair I made with Jason and some construction pictures follow. (remind me to introduce you to Jason in a bit. He’s a former fine-cabinetmaker, and theatre set builder. He cannot draw or carve, but he is a master of sanding and shaping, and truly is half of this adventure. Huh. I suppose I just introduced him. Right. There ya go.

The seat artwork-

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How to start? This is the news area for Procyon Designs. In the next few months you’ll see lots of pictures, and in-progress shots. Musings upon breaking into the unknown (to us) world of art galleries. We’ve been on Etsy.com for a while as the shop Procyonidae, and have made many friends. More and more, as time goes on, I’m thinking our larger stuff is just too big to sell online. It needs to be touched and seen in person to do well. So, it seems I need to get a portfolio built, and see if I can convince a gallery to talk to this newcomer. Time shall tell, I suppose.

And so it Begins…