Challenging into the Fian!

The White Wolf Fian of Ealdormere accepts challenges from all sorts of passionate artisans. There is a good  range of skill and interest in the arts and sciences in our kingdom. With this in mind the idea is to challenge against oneself to grow and expand or diversify your own skills and understanding of the middle ages.

For me this will mean letting go of many of the modern conveniences that I enjoy every day at my workbench and going right back to the most simple tools and some fairly primitive casting methods.

I only half jokingly made a filk song about my plans the other week,

I'm hiding along the back in my red and green.

Now in the bog there was a Brooch
A rare brooch, a rattlin' brooch;
The brooch in the bog,
And the bog down in the valley-o.
Now for that brooch there was a wax...
Now for that wax there was a mold...
Now for that mold there was an alloy...
Now for that alloy there was a crucible...
Now for that crucible there was a fire...
Now for that fire there were some bellows...
Now for that bellows there was hearth...
Now for that hearth there was a worker (yes folks, that's me)...

Hi ho, the rattlin' bog,
The bog down in the valley-o,
Hi ho, the rattlin' bog,
The bog down in the valley-o.

This is but a sampling of some of the parts of my challenge.  I am about to do very nearly the jewellery equivalent of making a garment from growing the grass that the sheep eats on up.

 I will update this blog as I reach mini milestones on this journey of mine... Wish me luck!