Chieri of Darkover miniatures

Marion Zimmer Bradley made up some native races of sentient beings who lived on Darkover, the world of the Red Sun. The most enchanting was the chieri (pronounced ki-eri), who were very tall, telepathic, graceful, silver-haired mystical folk who wandered around mostly naked, draped only in filmy streams of spider-silk, even in extremely cold weather. Once upon a time, as the lore goes, the chieri were an advanced, starfaring race who left their planet of origin, Darkover, and colonized the galaxy. But over the millennia, due to their low fertility, they died out and the remnant returned to Darkover to wander around the wilderness and act mystical and poetic, sort of like elves. To their romantic advantage, despite the low fertility, they can change from male to female or back again, depending on the gender and/or desire of their partner, and they were able to breed with human colonists, thus giving humans fantastic psychic powers. This was one of the best parts of the Darkover mythos.

I illustrated a number of chieri stories, and made these two miniatures with chieri characters on them. One was a gift for the author Marion, and she may have worn it a couple of times. The other was a commission from a Darkover fan.

Both miniatures are watercolor and ink on Fabriano paper, 3 1/2" x 2 1/4". Top one is fall 1979, bottom one is summer 1979.

Portrait of Rosie

"Rosie" is a Golden Retriever whose family lives down the block from my parents in Massachusetts. I visit Rosie and her people whenever I go up for a family visit. These neighbors knew I did portraits of people and pets so they commissioned me to do a portrait of their dog. Since dogs are unlikely to stay still, like babies and young children, I took a set of photographs and combined the best of them to use as references. I've done a number of human and animal portraits over the years.

"Rosie" is colored pencil on Bristol board, 11" x 14", June 2006.

Celtic Knotwork miniature

Jane Sibley is a real person. I have known her and been her friend for over 30 years. We first got to know each other at DarkoverCon, where she has always had a dealership selling semi-precious stones and specialty food and spice mixes. She has had a life in the Society for Creative Anachronism for all those years as well. She currently markets a wide selection of spice mixes under the name of "Auntie Arwen's Spices" and they are delicious. I have a nice collection of them and they are especially good for meats and vegetables. She is the "Arwen" of the nametag miniature a few posts previous to this. I made this badge for her when she acted as my art nametag agent and sold some pieces for me. The Celtic knotwork is copied from an authentic source and I did it by hand, not a photocopy. In those days I had more time to do intricate stuff like that.

Jane Sibley's nametag is ink and watercolor on Fabriano paper, 3 1/2" x 2 1/4", May 1981.

Ann'dra of Darkover Miniature

This nametag miniature portrait commission makes the character into a powerful magic-user. Isn't that what fantasy is all about? He bought my art back in the days when you could get an original piece for $20 or even less. I made him into a Darkovan "techno-mage," wielding psychic powers which worked like science. I'm still into the techno-mage mythos, but Darkover has faded into ancient history.

Magic-user namebadge is ink and watercolor on Fabriano paper, 3 1/2" x 2 1/4", fall 1981.

Return to Casanel Vineyards

I visited Casanel Vineyards in March of this year, where I was welcomed with family-like hospitality. So for my birthday (June 25) I went back there, to taste wine again including their new sweet white. I got a glass of the new wine and enjoyed it with one of Chef Miriam's excellent "personal size" mushroom pizzas. I also enjoyed talking with fellow wine drinkers at an outdoor table. At wineries, it's OK to talk with strangers. They are there for recreation and are almost always cheerful, having consumed the divine nectar of happiness.

Pitt brown technical pen and colored pencils, sketchbook page about 8" x 10", June 25, 2011.

Arwen Name Badge miniature

This name badge was made for a friend who called herself "Arwen" in the pseudo-medieval "Society for Creative Anachronism" as well as in the Darkover fan community. The "S.C.A" has dominated fantasy fan life for more than 40 years. Even before the Internet, fantasy and science fiction fans had a closely shared culture which was amazingly coherent from one end of the USA to the other. It was a mix of adapted Medieval culture, Tolkien, "Star Wars," and various television programs. It was so consistent that a fan from California could easily finish a sentence started by a fan from Boston. The "Arwen" in this picture is not the character Arwen from Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings," but a very idealized picture of the SCA persona that the client adopted.

I would guess that very few of the originals of these nametag badges have survived, due to the irregularity of the fannish lifestyle. You are seeing something way back in history, at least my history. It brings back many memories for me, of acting out a fantasy persona in the halls of some suburban motel, pretending I had psychic powers, and creating fantasy identities for other players just like me.

"Arwen" name badge miniature is 2 1/4" x 3 1/2," watercolor and acrylic on Fabriano paper, fall 1980.

Americana in Markham

Markham, Virginia is at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's about an hour's drive from suburban Washington, DC. On the drive from Tysons Corner westward, I leave the shopping centers, office buildings, apartment blocks, crammed parking lots, and other features of "civilization" behind and retreat into a place where old buildings still exist and round hay bales sit in green meadows. This old post office, which is a legitimate post office and not a tourist reconstruction, is just off the big highway but is in its own little idyllic pocket. There is a railway a few yards away and I watched with awe as a freight train made its way through. Up the hill from the railway is the "Chateau O'Brien" winery. There are some old hotel and business buildings by the track which have been converted to residences. I love drawing places like this.

Sketch page is Pitt brown ink marker and colored pencils, June 23, 2011. Click on the picture for a somewhat larger version.