Almost There Folks, 2015

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I know this won't mean much on the surface, but Historic Origins, as a website has gone through quite a few incarnations over the years. It's been a reflection of my ever changing tastes and desires, but ever since I started in business in the early 90's I've wanted to somehow create the perfect easel. Web design, coding, digital graphic arts, meh. I learned because I had to, and have found some enjoyment in it over the years. The problem has always been, what I call "pixel OCD". Diane, my sons, and anyone close to me knows if I'm up at 4 am pecking away at the keyboard it's usually a damn pixels fault. It's how I roll. Given the complexity of the new direction I'm adventuring in with Historic Origins, (namely the bronzework) I have to at times settle for functional, or at least set aside that pixel sickness thing...

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Where it all started: Time

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 This is the piece that started it all, over 30 years ago. Bronze and walrus ivory casket from Gandersheim (Anglo-Saxon origin, late 700's) I don't know what it was about researching this piece that got me all fired up, but after awhile I found myself travelling back in time to an early workshop, selecting tools by firelight- images dancing on the walls and even the smell of fresh bread to compliment a bowl of stew sitting near my lap for hours. A bite here, carve a little there. Time. It doesn't really matter when you are in your element. Heres a small excerpt from the book I had been reading at the time: "Gandersheim Casket. This elegant house-shaped small casket is one of the finest pieces of Middle Saxon carving to have survived. It dates to the late eighth century, and was at Gandersheim Abbey in Germany during the Middle Ages, passing in 1815 into the...

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A Few Words on Inspiration

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At various stages I start pulling things together for a "feel". Out there, there are many wonderful artists who have inspired us. Inspiration is what drives us all when we make, or do something. Too much time has passed in our evolution to really, no really lay claim to something. It's been thought of, done, or even set aside for possible re-visitation by someone, somewhere before. Everything IS our "take" on what we see, feel, and hear. The embodiment of art cantake on many forms, but in general:      Art; (ärt)Noun: art; plural noun: arts; plural noun: the arts. 1. The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting orsculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power."the art of the Renaissance"Synonyms: fine art, artwork"he studied art"Works produced by human creative skill and imagination."his collection of modern art"Synonyms: fine art, artwork"he studied art"creative activity resulting in the...

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Bronze You Say?

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Bronzes, for me invoke a connection to the past. A lifetime of study in the arts found me frequently returning to those pages in books and museums where the "good stuff" was: Viking, Celtic, Anglo Saxon and even Native American metalwork. I'm tribally Germanic to begin with, so I'm just settling for the belief that ancestrally I'm being beckoned backward to revisit those paths. It's also been the primary focus of my efforts for the last few years. Finally coming to pass this year in 2014 is my "allforge" - Not one, but 3 furnaces dedicated to Norse Gods and fueled by visions of a small boy knowing that in order to move forward, you must explore, before. I can't say much at the moment, but look back here soon and my reasons for secrecy to the very last will become quite clear. 2014 and 2015 are going to be magical...

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Demons, We All Have Them

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Demons. We all have them at one time or another. They can define us, or drive us. They can take the form of something as simple as a vice, habit or behavior and on a grander scale, as the stories go a physical entity. Those who choose to limit themselves by making the determination that in extreme cases these can be a sign of imagination, stress or even mental health issues have never been able to fully prove that they don't exist, but without physical proof still prefer to stay on the side of "some other reason". This is never true for those experiencing them. For me, life has presented me with very few situations I could attribute to the appearance, disappearance, or subtle influence of such a thing. But when they have, no literary description can (in my eye) fully describe the intensity of emotion and it's physical manifestation. I'm a passionate...

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Realms of Steamgard: Inception

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Back in 2007, I had just re-subscribed to the idea I needed to get back to design work; Casting, Leather, Wood and Metals. In addition to my normal paths (Historical, Medieval, Gothic) a newer thing made it into my peripheral vision. Steampunk. I kept an eye on it and found myself from time to time contemplating the norm for me: "If I do, what can I contribute to it's presentation and later, history?" I started where I always do. I looked at the roots of the subject and began first with what I liked. Science and Industrial discovery of the period. You'd have to know me a bit to understand I have always been a dreamer, innovator and to a fault, purist in my own conceptual beliefs on materials I choose to work with. My first ideas were simply re-creative of already established items that were on the market, but with my own flair....

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