My First Award - Thank You!!

This award was presented to me on July 9, 2009, by fellow Miniaturist and Friend, Mike Rowe, who is one fantastic Turner. Thank you very much, Mike!

The rules are: I have to pick up a book that I have at hand, turn to page 161 and write the fifth sentence on that page here. Then pass the Award onto five other bloggers.

I recently finished reading a book so I hope that counts... "The Green Gardener's Guide" by Joe Lamp'l, a neat book with info on going even greener in your gardens and yard. Page 161, 5th sentence: "Salt is salt (at least from the standpoint of what it does to your soil and plants), and synthetic fertilizer has a lot of it." Just what you all wanted to know :)

I hereby present this award to the following wonderful folks who have become friends over the years:

Angela of Angela Michelle Dolls, a very sweet and talented Doll Artist http://angelamichelledolls.blogspot.com/


Ray of Mini Builder, an up and coming fantastic miniature furniture artist http://minibuilder.blogspot.com/


Pat of Miniatures by Pat Carlson who has a big heart and creates and publishes fantastic miniature books http://skywind.mycdhm.com/


Candy of Fairy Garden (aka Gypsy Trading Company), whose quick wit is enjoyable and finds its way into all of her "dead" Fae
http://gypsytradingcompany.blogspot.com/


And, a "right back attcha!" to Mike Rowe, a great guy who is a superb miniature Turner and Carver http://mike-rowe.blogspot.com/

Flower of the Month For July...The Larkspur

"...The larkspur listens,'I hear, I hear;' ... ~Tennyson

July's flower, the Larkspur, is a genus of ranunculaceous plants and has often shared its identity with the Delphinium. The original Latin name for the flower was Delphinium Consolida. Later, botanists divided them into to separate groups and the Larkspur became Consolida ambigua. The name "Larkspur" is derived from the spur of the flower and reminded some people of parts of the lark, hence "Larkspur".

Characteristics of the Larkspur are showy flowers, a spurred calyx, and tall stems with many branches. The European form of larkspur supposedly had medicinal properties that made it useful in healing poisonous stings, and it was also dried and used in a powdered form as an insecticide. The American larkspur. the nuttalianum, was known to West Coast tribes who used it to make a blue dye; and the settlers used it to make ink.

The Larkspur was a favorite flower during the Victorian Era, and the message it conveyed varied according to color:

Pink symbolized fickleness

White was a symbol of joy and happiness, levity, lightness, laughter, and purity of heart

Purple/Blue was associated with a sweet disposition, first love, ardent attachment

Some history and folklore associated with the Larkspur:

**Delphium ajacis owes its name to the Greek hero Ajax. When Achilles was killed, his armor was supposed to be given to the most heroic of the Greeks who remained alive. The two candidates for this reward were Odysseus and Ajax. Minerva swung the vote to Odysseus since she felt heroes should mix intelligence with bravery and Ajax was not very sharp. The dishonor drove Ajax mad and he began killing a herd of sheep believing them to be his rivals. When he realized with he had done, Ajax felt the honorable thing to do was to kill himself and so he impaled himself on his sword. Where his blood fell, larkspurs grew. On their petals, one can find the Greek letters AI, which is the Greek cry of mourning.

**In Germany young men and women stared at the Midsummer fire through a bunch of Larkspur. It was believed this would preserve their eyes for another year.

**An old Italian myth tells of three brave warriors who slew a dangerous dragon. Once the beast was conquered, they wiped their swords on the grass to clean off the blue blood which made the blue flowers of Larkspur, and the venom in the dragon's blood made the plant poisonous.

**A Pawnee legend tells of Dream Woman who was rather nosy and was very curious about the goings on in the world of humans. To satisfy her curiosity she cut a hole in the sky and took some of the green material which is the inside color of the sky and made it into a stalk. But, some blue flecks of the outside of the sky got mixed in. When she lowered her stalk toward the Earth and began to climb down it, the stalk dried in the sunlight, became brittle, and broke into millions of little pieces which became our Larkspur.

**Some Native American tribes called this plant sleep-root, and gave it to whomever they were sitting around with for a night of gambling. It dulled the senses of the person on the other side of the dice.

**Because it is poisonous, Larkspur was a favored herb of English witches. And, in France it was used to keep away ghosts.

Linda Master...Fellow Miniaturist and Hand-Carver Extraordinaire

Linda Master

Fellow Miniaturist

Hand-Carver Extraordinaire

I have admired Linda Master's hand-carved Miniatures for quite some time, and when she completed her Noah's Ark masterpiece, I knew I would blog about it. Through CDHM, a group of miniaturist artisans, I was given the chance to see her hand-carved animals come to 'life' for her Noah's Ark scene in a time lapse -.before, during, and after pics - then saw the finished scene. Please enjoy!

Ancient historical records belonging to many different Peoples contain references to The Flood and a large vessel being built. Throughout time we humans have depicted The Flood via art and the written word, with the Biblical story of Noah's Ark being the most referenced and well-know written version.

"It all began with a miniature elephant I carved, and a friend suggested Noah's Ark in miniature." That was two and one half years ago, and Linda Master "jumped at the chance," and began her version of Noah's Ark. She hand carved the Ark and all the animals from Jelutong wood, hand painted everything, and created the entire diorama.

What is so unique about Linda's interpretation of Noah's Ark is it's size...micro-miniature also known as 1/144th scale. (For those of you unfamiliar with 1/144th scale...1/12th of an inch is the equivalent of one foot.) The Ark is only 4" long and 3.5" high. The Zebras only 1/2" high; chickens less than 1/8" high. In all, there are eleven pairs of animals. Those with paws have carved toes and tiny paw pads; those with claws have teeny carved claws.

Bringing a Flamingo to "life"

More animals but not all

The diorama 'before'

The completed Noah's Ark

To view more pics of Linda's Noah's Ark as well as her other awesome miniature carvings, take a leisurly stroll through her web site: http://www.miraclechickenurns.com/index.html

Some of her miniature carvings are for sale through her CDHM Gallery: http://www.cdhm.org/user/miraclechicken

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Flower Of The Month For June...The Rose

"O my luve's like a red, red rose.

That's newly sprung in June;

O my luve's like a melodie

That's sweetly play'd in tune..."
from: A Red, Red Rose

by Robert Burns

June's flower, the Rose, is possibly the most popular flower in the history of the world. DNA research has traced roses back some 200 million years. The Rose is the national flower of England and the United States, and the provincial flower of Alberta, Canada. There are over 7,000 different rose plants of approximately 550 varieties. The roses bloom from April through October with the peak coming in June, depending on the weather.

The Latin name for the Rose is rosa, which means red, but Roses come in many different colors each with its own specific tradition and meaning:

1. Red Roses are the traditional symbol for love, romance, beauty and perfection.

2. Pink Roses symbolize grace, elegance, admiration, appreciation, and joyfulness.

3. Yellow Roses are associated with warmth, happiness, and friendship.

4. White Roses represent innocence, purity, honor, reverence, remembrance and are traditionally associated with marriages and new beginnings.

5. Orange Roses symbolize desire, enthusiasm, passion, excitement and fervent romance.

6. Lavender Roses are a symbol of enchantment and express feelings of love at first sight.

Some of the folk lore and legends associated with the Rose:

*Roses are ancient symbols of love and beauty. The Rose was sacred to a number of goddesses, and is often used as a symbol of the Virgin Mary.

*Roses were introduced to Rome by the Greeks. During feasts young men and women in Athens adorned a crown of Roses and danced naked around the temple of Hymen to symbolize the innocence of the Golden Age.

*Cloris, goddess of flowers, crowned the Rose as Queen of the Flowers. Aphrodite presented a Rose to her son Eros, god of love. The Rose became a symbol of love and desire.

*Eros gave the rose to Harpocrates, the god of silence, to induce him not to gossip about his mother's amorous indiscretions. Thus the rose also became the emblem of silence and secrecy. The Greeks would plan their battles in the secrecy of a rose bower or sub rosa. In the middle ages a Rose was suspended from the ceiling of a council chamber, pledging all present to secrecy.

*Prostitutes in Nimes were known as roses. Clearly a visit to a rose would need to be done in secret.

*Jewish legends attributed the red color of the Rose to the first blood that darkened the Earth’s soil.

*The Teutons believed the Rose was a symbol of the underworld and called their battlefields rose gardens.