With this second clock I followed the same inspiration as with the first one (look at my recent post) however I chose a kind of different way of expression than with my usual works. I went completely without my normal viking/celtic paterns this time. Anyhow there is the same spirit of antiquity which I always aspire.
As you may realize when you look at my works I have a very deep connection to Wolves and indeed my view on this very special animal is almost religious.
So in the beginning this work was more for my own pleasure, furthermore to enter a rather naturalistic and traditional style of leather tooling, thought as a singular attempt. But I think that this turned out so fine that there will certainly be follow-ups.
A while ago I had the idea of crafting a clock. I think in our modern times we have a certain view on time that is rather invalid. Sayings like "Time is Money" are quite symptomatic of this view and so we often have somehow negative associations like stress and pressure when we think about time. And we have a quite linear conception concerning time. However, in the olden times there was a rather circular understanding of the topic. And here we come close to my own approach with my crafted clocks. I think, there is actually no better symbol for the circles of nature as the good old round clock. I wanted to bring a bit of this ancient time-concept back into our awareness and give the grandeur back to time!
For this clock I used my own designed patterns. The pattern in the middle section is a typical circular ornament in viking style, the dragon around it bites it's own tail and so both patterns refer straight to the above mentioned ancient understanding of time.
Here's the latest Drinking Horn I carved. This time I used my Dremel Tool only for the rough part and put much more effort into the refining work with my good old Mora Knives. The patterns I used are my own designs. I also made a holder for the customer which you can see below:
The Horn is 44 cm long and holds 0,5 l of fluid. It was sold for 340 $ (including the holder).
This medium sized drinking horn is a unique tribute to the immortal old norse customs of celebration. No matter if in the quiet family circle or with friends at some kind of pagan/medieval event - this horn will be an eyecatcher!
The self-designed ornamental main pattern on this individual item is inspired by the Oseberg-style, the Aegishjalmur symbol in the front grants power and strength to the drinking round.
length: 560 mm / 22 inches possible filling quantity: 1 Litre weight: 323 g
I consider this belt bag to be one of my best works so far - even more astonishing that I always forgot to post it here... The design of the bag itself goes back to the time when we made stuff for reenactment, so it is a classical "Viking" belt bag. But the belt bags we made at this time were much easier and less decorated.
The main-pattern on this pouch is an own one, it is displaying the fettered Fenrir. Also the knotworks and tri-weave are drawn and tooled free-hand - I never use these ready-made stamps.
This was a commissioned work for a friend of mine - though I had a lot of artistic freedom.
The Sax-blade is made from some carbon steel (nothing special) and is the only thing I could not manufacture myself so I got it from a friend. So do not ask me questions about the blade - my answers will be quite unsatisfying ;)
The handle is made from some very interesting materials. The first part is some usual deer antler. But the way I used it shall remind a bit on the shape of bronze age swords. Then there are the intermediate pieces of leather. The next part is oak - moor oak to be precise. This means, this piece of wood could easily be around 5000 years old... After the next piece of leather, there is a piece of oak again. But a special one again! Some of you may know the story about the Donar-Oak (Donareiche) which was a sacred place for the Chatti and other ancient germanic tribes of central Germany. In the year 723 Bonifatius had the oak felled in an attempt to convey the superiority of the Christian God over Thor and the native Germanic religion. However, and this part is not told by common history pages, the germanic people did not renunciate directly after christianisation and planted a new oak which stood there until the mid of the last century. Only few people know about the place where the remains of this ancient tree can be found. And this handle is made of it's wood! If you don't believe this (I swear that I do it!) it may just be a piece of a very very old common german oak...
The sheath is made from veg tanned leather as all my leather works - the viking design is an own one and the Wolfangel is part of the family crest of my friend who will get this wonderful piece...
This piece was a commissioned work, look here for the original design: [link] I tried to be close to the original and to restrict my artistic freedom to the parts that left no other possibilities. It was really fun to do this piece though it was kinda tricky, too - just send me more challenges like that!
I already began with this work almost one year ago and then completely forgot about it. When it came back to my consiousness a few days ago, I decided to finally finish it and I think it turned out quite good. It is not the most inventive design of all times - this Gotland pattern is used by many (leather-)artists. However I like it's vintage and even a bit battered look. It looks as antique as possible, I would say.
I put a bunch of older wristbands with original norse or celtic patterns into my Etsy-store today. I found them while cleaning my workshop and thought they would be to be forgotten. Even if they are not what I would do today, they are still very nice...
After the snow has melted away, many many forgotten cow bones occured - something that happens if you have dogs and a big garden... Instead of throwing them away, I started to create some nice new pieces of art: Some pendants made of cow bone - just now my favourite kind of work...
The first pendant is inspired by an old carving in Urnes style, but slightly changed. The second one is one of my own designs - a typical viking-style beast I used a few times on leather so far - this one actually gave me the idea to start again with a bit of bone-carving, simply because I wanted to see this pattern in another medium. This one is my own and won't be sold - sorry! The Mjölnir-pendant is also self designed - actually while doing it - but I am pretty satisfied with all 3...
New design: A few weeks ago I just thought about these boring usual wristbands you can get everywhere, tied together with a simple whang (leather-straps) - I guess you get the point. Of course these more simple braclets can be nice, too. But I wanted to try something different and these pieces are the first results - and I am quite satisfied with them! The buckle enclosure is far more practical than leather strings. The patterns on the 3 wristbands displayed here are self-designed, two of them inspired by viking-animal ornaments and one goes more into a celtic direction with it's typical knotwork.
This collar is the consequent continuation of what I tried out before with the "Skadi"-collar. I improved the points that weren't perfect, so this time it is hand-sewn AND riveted. Apart from this it's quite the same construction.
This collar is a kind of prototype. Though it is not the first dog collar I have ever made, it is still a new design I thought out over a longer period. This collar itself contains some minor optical imperfections - I wasn't that accurate while working on it, not knowing if it would turn out to fulfil my demands - just wanted to avoid wasting time. ;) I made it and started trying it with my Saarlooswolfdog bitch Skadi directly. It showed that this design works pretty well and combines functionality with noble appearance - just like it should. This piece is only riveted instead of sewn - in the future I will prefer a combination of both for the ultimate safety of the dog. The inner side is padded which results in a better wearing comfort for the dog. When looking at the picture, please mind that the collar was already in a somewhat used condition when the photo was taken.
I was thinking about this since a very long time now, but somehow I never had the time to actually put my plan into practice. I have done belts before, but this one for myself should be more than a simple leather strap holding my pants up. Of course one of my aims with creating this belt was simply to show my skills on an item used on a daily basis. Something that I can always have with me, where ever I go. I often got into situations speaking about my arts but having nothing to show in real life. This belt should sovle this problem. A second task this item should be able to fullfil: When wandering through the woods with my dogs, I often wished to be able to keep my hands free, even if the dogs have to stay on the leaches. Therefore I added the two D-rings and a snap-hook to this belt which will make this wish come true. The patterns I used on this piece are all self-designed and have been inspired by viking-age Jelling style. It took me something more than 2 days to finish this work.
With this second clock I followed the same inspiration as with the first one (look at my recent post) however I chose a kind of different way of expression than with my usual works.
As you may realize when you look at my works I have a very deep connection to Wolves and indeed my view on this very special animal is almost religious.
So in the beginning this work was more for my own pleasure, furthermore to enter a rather naturalistic and traditional style of leather tooling, thought as a singular attempt.
This clock is also for sale in my shop:
