of Styx + Stone

Mother nature can be so very therapeutic and a welcome relief from the stresses of daily life. Taking advantage of 58-degree weather beneath a canopy of cloudless blue sky, I went hiking yesterday. My destination: Raven Rock State Park, a 4,500+ acre woodland that surrounds the Cape Fear River in the piedmont area of North Carolina. If you want to walk along with me, my photos (like the one above) are in a Flickr gallery (hope I did the setting correctly for public view).

Medieval Beasties

Recent machine embroidery test of a design I had digitized. The original was an image of a 13th century Italian tapestry that I manipulated in Photoshop, first isolating one figure, contrasting it to black and white, editing some foliate elements so that it can be mirror-imaged. Here was my first test on black velvet. I'm thrilled with it so far.

Warriors: Part II

Website and trailer here.

Cecilia and Arn

Watched Arn: The Knight Templar the other night, cautiously optimistic as most online reviews negatively referred to it as the truncated/choppy version of a mini-series produced for Swedish viewers. I found it flowed quite well, given that we follow the hero from boyhood to man. Many of the lead actors are unfamiliar to me, but Stellan Skarsgärd and Vincent Perez (as Brother Guilbert) nicely round out the cast. The ending credits revealed some of it was shot in my beloved Scotland.

As the title implies, part of the movie takes place during the Crusades and graphically shows the horror of war in the name of religion and the needless suffering that caused (past, present and future) yet the underlying theme is one of a man bound by love and honor.

Stuart Interiors

Medieval Style Dining Hall - Sussex, UK, Stuart Interiors

Lovely oak and textile designs - incredible workmanship.

Of Warriors and Heroes

I admit to being a bit reclusive and a homebody, something amplified by the winter months, but makes for great movie watching nights. My dvd "hoard" contains a much-loved and familiar list of titles, often with winter themes to match my own outdoor world. One such title is King Arthur with Tristan (Mads Mikkelsen) and his hawk taking the lead as favorite characters! He was also mesmerizing in Vahalla Rising which I watched a few months ago.

Tristan prepares for battle.

Needless to say, I'm excited about Starz Network's release of Camelot coming in April, with a preview February 25th!!! Also on my viewing list: Beowulf & Grendel, Attila, Lion in Winter, Name of the Rose, my annual rewatch of LOTR, BBC's Ivanhoe miniseries. Should keep me busy and inspired for a few weeks to come.

Dawning of the new

At the end of each year, I try to think of a theme or affirmation to apply to the new one. Last year was not one of my best – punctuated with almost a year of cat health issues, poor productivity and even worse mindset. There were, of course, shining moments to keep me sane and hopeful.
For this year:

I wish each of you a wonderful, productive and happy year.