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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