Gulf Wars 22: A&S and Other Adventures
Furnace to Flame: A Journey In Glass
I was asked to represent the Kingdom of Meridies in an Inter Kingdom Arts and Science Competition at the annual event, Gulf Wars. This meant rushing to finish the work I was doing and cleaning up the working document detailing my process and research, while also including what I had learned from my visit to CMOG and from Rodi.
I also had to build out a display while condensing almost 200 pages of research into a 3 page paper. I failed at that, with the paper ending up being about 10 pages long. I had to get all of this done in three months.
I tried to tell a narrative with the presentation that took one from glass production in mass to it coloring and working in a furnace before being worked again by flameworking. The point being that the flame workers using stoves like furnaces were the end point of glass that had been worked and modified as it traveled geographically and through time.
The final items presented were strands made of Ribe beads, including one strand made with glass that had been worked and colored in my hot shop and then flameworked.
There were many wonderful projects that I was competing aginst and while I did not win, which was of course a disappointment, I am proud of the work I did and impressed by those other exhibits. I did not agree with my score but whoever does? I do have some critiques of my own work I would share. I struggled with telling the story concisely. I don’t think that it was clear that I was not focused on the flameworking side of things but on the journey of glass that ended up at Ribe. I wish I had more pictures of me doing the work in garb. Lastly, I did not make it clear where I was using period methods and tools. These are all things I hope to address in the future.
Our little play war came at a time when there was a real war happening in Ukraine. I felt helpless and wanted to do something so my partner and I have been donating a portion of the sale price of our new line of Ukraine themed items. It’s not much, but I have continued to run the program.
I was at war for a week and spent much of my time in the merchant area selling my glass out of the Bad Baroness Booth.
I wish had taken more pictures from around the site.
In preparation for the war, I made these green themed strands. It was a way of recognizing my new role as Apprentice to Ximena Yannez de Talavera in the SCA.
The war ended with a court and there were activities celebrating participants’ achievements and growth.
I brought home some throwing spears and have been playing with them when I can.
