Three attempts to remake the Elessar

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Title: Elessar
Artist Name: elliska
Prompt: "My heart will be glad, even in the winter." (Fellowship of the Ring, "Lothlórien")
Winter brings with it the darkest time of the year but also a return to light. Write or create art about a moment in a character's life when she or he began to perceive hope in the midst of darkness.
Description: Three attempts to remake the Elessar
Rating: General
Warnings: none
Artist's Notes: When I signed up for this prompt, I had one idea in mind for it, but almost immediately realized it wouldn't work for a wide audience. So, when I went in search of different ideas, I re-read the portion of FotR where the prompt originated. I ran across this in the same chapter:

'Yet maybe this will lighten your heart,' said Galadriel; 'for it was left in my care to be given to you, should you pass through this land.' Then she lifted from her lap a great stone of a clear green, set in a silver brooch that was wrought in the likeness of an eagle with outspread wings; and as she held it up the gem flashed like the sun shining through the leaves of spring. 'This stone I gave to Celebrían my daughter, and she to hers; and now it comes to you as a token of hope. In this hour take the name that was foretold for you, Elessar, the Elfstone of the house of Elendil!

The idea of the Elessar seemed perfectly related to the prompt--the idea of glad heart and a return to hope/light.

So, I decided to remake that jewel.



I have been wanting to try several different new crafts for a long time, so I took advantage of this challenge to do it. I wanted to try wire wrapping jewelry, bead embroidery and polymer clay. This was my first time doing all of these. I learned a lot and was generally satisfied with the outcomes here.

Comments

[zdenka]

That's amazing, and I am very impressed.

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I had lot of fun doing these.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

These are all excellent, each one in its own way. Very nice!! I would really hate to have to choose which one I like the most.

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was really glad I signed up for this prompt to give me the needed push to experiment.

[dreamflower]

These are gorgeous! I love all of them, but my favorite is the polymer one.

I'd love to see you post or link these at lotr_crafts!

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. I was most satisfied with the polymer one myself. :-)

And thank you for pointing me to that group. I joined, posted, and hope to use that group to keep me inspired to keep doing more crafts. I was amazed at how much my overall creativity level was up this month as I worked on these prompts.

[baranduin.livejournal.com]

These are all beautiful, each in its own way. Wonderful!

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I had so much fun experimenting with these.

[shirebound]

I'm just delighted to see these! Gorgeous work.

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I really learned a lot doing these and I'm so glad I signed up, It was just the prodding I needed. :-)

[tanis2014.livejournal.com]

You had time to do ALL of these after the prompts were posted and given out? These all appear to be master craftsmen level work to me! The beaded one, alone, must have taken days to do!

They are all gorgeous, but I, too, really really like the polymer clay. I'm not the least bit artsy in this way, so are you open to sharing a little bit more especially about the polymer piece? For instance, is it layered, or just carved/cut so that it appears to be layered? Is it painted then? And is this the kind of clay that's baked so that it becomes almost ceramic in appearance?

These are each individually beautiful and you are a very gifted artist!

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I did probably spend about an hour a night every day since signing up to get them all done, but I really wanted to, so I enjoyed every minute and learned so much. The beaded one was definitely the most time consuming. I learned the most doing that one and intend to use what I learned on my Halloween costume this year.

The clay one was, by far, the easiest and the most satisfying. It is layered. I used silver sculpy, which is a brand of bake-able polymer (exactly as you say--it is soft forever until you bake it and then it's like ceramic). I rolled it very flat (like a tortilla) using a pasta maker that I don't use for food anymore. Then I cut out the eagle shape with an exacto knife as a base. Then I cut out feather pieces and layered them on. And I rolled some clay into thicker pieces to make some of the weightier parts of the wings and the tail. Then I used the exacto knife to put some texture on it. I baked it in my regular kitchen oven on a cookie sheet. Then I painted it with silver acrylic paints, did a black wash on it to bring out the feather texture a bit and sealed it (with Future floor wax, which is what I seal all my acrylic paintings with. It will yellow just a little, but not for years and years and only if you put a really thick coat on).

I'd post 'in progress' pics, but the clay one actually went so quickly, there weren't any. It was that easy. I totally recommend polymer clay. It is fun and easy to work with. The only tricks, I found, are: don't make anything too thick. If you want something thick, use aluminum foil to make the basic shape and then overlay it with clay. It bakes better when thin. Also, when baking, go ahead and do it in a regular oven (it's more even) and make a little tent with aluminum foil over the piece to protect it.

That's the long winded answer. :-) I am so wordy. Sorry. :-)

ETA: Very sorry. Of course I most wanted to say: thank you very much for your comment. :-)

[tanis2014.livejournal.com]

Oh no! Please don't apologize, this is exactly what I wanted to know! I don't have the *vision* necessary to make something like this, let alone the ability to create it even if I could envision it.

Hearing about the process made seeing the finished product that much more enjoyable for me! Thanks for sharing this extra!

[primula-baggins.livejournal.com]

Oh, beautiful! Lovely work.

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I enjoyed learning while doing these.

[binkaslibrary.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's absolutely wonderful! I'm very impressed.

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I had too much fun doing it too. :-)

[hhimring]

They are all lovely and I'm most impressed. The clay one perhaps looks most like it might have the powers that are attributed it.

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you. And I agree. It was the last I made and therefore the one best thought out. :-) Plus, it was the one I made after my husband commented: "A man is supposed to wear this thing, right?" ;-)

[with-rainfall.livejournal.com]

My favourite is the rightmost one, I think. The eagle has a fierce, nearly cruel majesty about it, and the stone is subdued but looks as if it might blaze.

I also really love the detail and the little thready bits on the rightmost one; the spirals are lovely and the little head is adorable. I can just imagine some young prince, perhaps one of Aragorn's descendants, receiving it as a child and keeping it all his life. Or perhaps, far in the future, the Elessar went to some smith who made it into a bird for one of his family.

[elliska.livejournal.com]

I agree. That one is the clay one. It is my favourite too. I was able to do exactly what I wanted with the clay. I found it amazingly easy to work with and something I'll definitely play more with.

The wire one was by fat the hardest. I wanted to learn to do those spirals, though, because I am making a wire-wrapped elven circlet for a Halloween costume they'll come in handy for (beaded leaves for the dress, too, so that's why the beaded eagle). I learned tons of 'avoid this' things, which was really good. I was also most pleased with the little head. I love your thoughts about it. Honestly, they have inspired a story in my head. I'll try to write and post it for B2MEM. Thanks!

[with-rainfall.livejournal.com]

You're most welcome. :) I might try writing a drabble or two about the wire one myself, if that's all right with you. With credit and links to your pieces, of course!

[elliska.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see anything you wrote! It is your plot bunny, after all. :-) And it is an excellent one, the more I think about it. :-) Please let me know where you post, if not here.

[ladyelleth.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous! I love how different from one another all three look - but the clay one is probably my favourite (the detail on the feathers, wow!) - and very close to how I had imagined it, myself, so that was an added pleasant surprise! :)

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I also enjoyed how the different materials made such different looks. The clay definitely let me get the closest to the way I actually pictured it too. I'm so glad you enjoyed.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Wow! Very impressive work!

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was pleased by how they turned out for first efforts. I learned a lot that I plan to use in future projects.

[adlanth.livejournal.com]

Wow, these are all brilliant. Amazing work.

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I really enjoyed playing with the different materials.

[kittotter.livejournal.com]

All three are so elegant and gorgeous. The third especially takes my breath away -- it looks ready to fly off the table!

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! The third one was my favourite too. It was the most fun to make.

[paranoidangel]

They are amazing. I like how they're all different, but still fit the description.

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I agree It was fun to see how I could use the different materials and come up with such completely different results because of their different natures.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

The polymer clay one really looks the part, I can see the heir apparent wearing it, a family heirloom that came down out of the mists of legend. It's wonderfully executed and I enjoyed reading what you had to say about the process to Tanis further up. But - I love the little wire one. Something in its very bareness just speaks to me.

Really lovely work, all of it.

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Yes, the clay one definitely looks regal, for a nobleman. It was absolutely fun to make. The wire one was by far the biggest learning curve, but I also like its simplicity. I have found a lot of designs for wire wrapped jewelry that I'm going to try. Pinterest is a trouble making site. :-)

[independence1776]

Wow! They're all gorgeous. My favorite's the polymer one; the detail on it is fantastic.

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That clay really lends itself to all sorts of detail because it is just so easy. You can do exactly what is in your mind. I'll be doing a lot more projects with it. My current one is a Tolkien inspired nature journal cover. The clay is just so much fun to work with.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

How wonderful! And how very talented. To achieve one would have been more than I could ever hope to do - to create all three, and each to be so beautiful in its own, and different, way is amazing.

I keep looking and trying to see if I have a favourite, but I really don't. Do you have a favourite amongst them yourself?

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I did spend a fair amount of time on them, but it was so much fun. The clay one came out closest to what I'd envisioned and was far and away the easiest. I think it's my favourite. That said, the one I'm actually proudest of, I think, is the beaded one. It was hard to photograph because it is shiny, so the picture isn't that good. And it has lots of errors. But, I learned so much from it, it was by far the most time consuming and it turned out better than I expected it would. So I really like it. And the wire one was the hardest. I really didn't expect it to be so hard, but it is tricky holding and manipulating those wires. So I was fairly pleased with it. So, short answer: it's hard for me to name a real favourite. :-)

[tehta.livejournal.com]

OMG yes, the polymer one! I have used it, and I don't find it easy. You did a great job.

[elliska.livejournal.com]

LOL! I was definitely most satisfied with that one too. :-) I learned some tricks while I was playing with it that made it easier. But I've always enjoyed 3D art, so I think it is more natural for me. Thanks so much!

[astris-eldalie.livejournal.com]

These are beautiful! The polymer clay one is very impressive, but I also love the delicacy of the wire-wrapped one. (And the intricacy of the embroidered one, wow.)

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! The polymer one is probably my favourite, but you hit exactly what I personally like about the other two also.

[greatandgrey]

These are spectacular! The bead embroidery especially is my favorite, but I love the intricate designs of all of them. :)

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I am most proud of the bead embroidery one, because it was by far the most challenging.

[ysilme]

What a fitting answer to the prompt and choice of a theme for such crafting work, and what gorgeous results! Even more so as they are your first attempts - I'm completely in awe. Each single one works so well in itself, and together they form a splendid trio just the thing you expect to find in an elf's jewel-box, leaving her - as I would be - with the painful task of which one to choose for any given occasion.

[elliska.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. I was so happy when I thought of this as a response for the prompt because I so wanted to try projects like these anyway. I had so much fun. :-)

[blslarner.livejournal.com]

Three lovely designs for it!

[pandemonium-213.livejournal.com]

I'd be hard pressed to select which of these three is my favorite. Each design is lovely in own right. Really beautiful work, Elliska, and a creative response to the prompt!