By Brambleberry
The following are the ramblings of Shane "Brambleberry" Odom, one of the vendors at faire, as taken from various posts to the message boards. You can find Shane's wares (Masks By Miscellaneous Oddiments, Flying Rainbow Bubblewands) at MDRF.
Lonely
The Marching of the Green Men!
Guest Vendor Tents at MDRF
Decorative Arts at MDRF
Lonely
I am still reading here every couple of days. Just to busy to post. Oh, well, life of a vendor....
I have actually been on site quite a bit these days.
Loooooooonnnnneeeeeeelllllllllllyyyyyy.
Been working on my booth. I am often one of the last folks out there. Living so close, I don't feel pressed, and I am always busy till after Halloween. This year, well, I have been rather sick, and so has little Ellawyn, so work is taking forever. Not to mention, that this is really my first full booth review and overview since purchasing it a couple of years ago. I have bee going over it with a fine eye. Checking for rot and potentional future problems. Had to finish out my new back area, as a couple of you know, I had a new back room added on this year. Caulking and painting. And you know when you buy paint at the store and it looks one way on the color chip, but altogether brighter when you put it on the wall? Well the same thing can happen to artists...would think our professional abilities with color would count for something. So if driving by faire site, and the road is Clear! look as you are going by, and glance in the B Gate. That is the gate just next to the front gate. The BRIGHT OMGOD HALLUEJAH YELLOW is mine. ....I think I am giving the faire owners a headache with it..
A few other folks left around. The people from Sozra Jewelery were there last week sawing and hammer inside. Alvine from the Royalty Foods, they own most of the food booths and several games, inc. the maze. He is staying in the area for a couple of months and doing some work around site, before he heads back to Colorado. Kate from the Game booth has been on and off site a few times. She is local. Of course the Smiths, (faire owners) are working like bees. They always are. I have heard rumors of one major rebuild for next year of the reviewing stands at the joust. I will try to pick them for rumors of others. hmmm.....who else?...oh yeah, Dan, the owner of the Climbing wall, is one of the contract carpenters on site. He has been doing some work around, mostly back scenes. We all have behind areas that require lots of maint. Gutter, roofing and such. So Dan did alot of work on Larry Wood's stuff, (the other mask maker) which was nice, as each day we spoke and I didn't have such a feeling of desolation. I was enjoying the lonelness somewhat. I had Gordon Lightfoot cranked up for days, and working by myself. Listen to the entire 5 CD boxed set back to back for days. I discovered that I have a secret pocket garden between my booth and my neighbors the Hair Braiders. Going to be a really awesome little area and I look forward to showing it off, I will have two secret doors next year into it! The empty site was easier to bear before James Casy's death. That has been really hard. Each tiime I walk by his booth, (and even right now, just talking about him.) I get teary. I will really miss Jim. Ya'll might be interested to learn that his sister and buisness partner is trying to keep the booth open.
I will be out there this week, trying to finish the last bits. Still left to do is some final caulking/gap filling. And then i will put the Bubble Cart in the booth for the year. Yep, In the Booth. If you know, that seems impossible, but the top comes off the cart, and I have stored it in various places over the years. I just did a bunch of measuring and found I could just squeeze it in. So put the plywood up and I am done. Well, thats about all of Bramble's little ramble for now. I will try to get on site and take pictures after the first snow fall and pass them on to here. If ya'll need a faire fix, if ya'll ask nicely I can tell some stories....
peace,
Shane the Bramble King.
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The Marching of the Green Men!
The Beloved Order of the Green Man (B.O.G.),
A brief history.
The Order has not always been an Service Order, nor even serving the purpose it does now. It's humble beginnings were in nothing more than a birthday pubcrawl.
During the Maryland Renaissance Festival of 2000, Shane Odom, a Sculptural Leather Mask Maker and Bubble Wand crafter found that his 29th birthday of October 8th was falling on a Faire Day. Being a slightly overworked business owner and feeling the need for a break, Shane got together with a number of friends and planned a little pubcrawl with a twist. Much of Shane and Leah Odom's mask making revolves around mythology and specifically the image of the Green Man. An ancient image and idea, the Green Man's roots as a symbol of the Harvest and Spiritual Guardianship of Nature are so firm that most folks, even without a mythological education, will recognize the face of leaves for what it immediately. (For more on the Green Man, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Man )The idea of the ancient Morris Man troops setting out to drink up a town and cause a bit of rowdiness was fresh in Shane's mind from researching some history behind the Green Man. So four friends set out to put together costumes of leaves and green, tie racks of deer antlers to there heads, and go for a little walk. Just before setting out, the idea sprang upon them to make a bit of an entrance, by issuing forth from the Mouth of the Great Tree. Ye Dragon and Unicorn Leather Mugs Booth has for years been a distinctive landmark at MDRF, located near the front gate and being modeled in insulated foam, concrete, and rebar to appear as a giant tree, winking at the crowd and containing a doorway in it's mouth. Out we popped, surprising a few loan mug shoppers and off we set. Very quickly after that, while visiting a friends booth, a jostle and a slosh spilled a bit of libation upon the wooden deck of the floor. The friend, anonymous still as we cannot remember whom it was, laughed and said the Green Men had blessed their booth. What a lovely idea, so as we processed through the village we stopped at friend's shops, sprinkling them with drink, tapping with staves and demanding a refill, as the ancient tradition goes, sort of a "trick or treat" without the trick. So much fun was had and the response to our little troop so great that as we returned into the Tree, we four decided that absolutely we must come together next year and do this again.
Now the next year there were many more Marching Green Men, and the next even more. Until the troop grew to a great size and the blessing became quite the focus, throwing acorns and flowers at booths and visitors, tapping them with our staves and chanting and drumming as we went. However the pubcrawl was still quite prevalent and the consumption of drink prolific. One year we grew a bit to big and disruptive and some of the spirit of the idea was fading under the drinking, although many of us remember that as really one of our favorite years. The management of the faire had made some justly called comments on our behavior and we knew that the future existence of the March was threatened if our purpose did not shift. Inspiration for this shift came when Shane and Leah made a guest vendor appearance at Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival in Texas. There, Shane learned about the Benevolent Order of the Scurrilous Monks. A interesting Order founded by the quite infamous storyteller, Brother Donald, the purpose of which was served by the production of a wienie roast and cookout for participant campers at fairs where Brothers were present. Inspiration par excellence. So the Greenman March was reformed. Shane had long said that the March was not a democracy but a dictatorship, due to the fact that as the organizer he was responsible for the March's behavior. So now we would recreate ourselves as a Theocracy. Shane dubbed himself Abbot of the Order and began the task of writing the Rules of Order and Purpose. Three years later we are still making it up as we go along. With various levels of membership, Marching, Standing, and Honorary, and new ideas coming from the Brotherhood at large. Including the reference to "Beloved" Order, giving us B.O.G. The love for the purpose has grown, as has the numbers of Marches. Green Men have paraded at The Spoutwood Fairy Festival in PA, and Maryland Fairy Festival as well as a few others. The Founding of new chapters is being worked out and perhaps one day, many of the Renaissance Festivals and Fantasy events will sprout a Grove, and then the Blessings of the Wood will flow through out the lands and the Green will rule once again.
Much Peace and Green Blessings,
Shane "Brambleberry Woodwose" Odom,
Master Abbot of the Order of the Green Man
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Guest Vendor Tents at MDRF
The tents located near the Boar's Head, are the "Guest Vendor" Tents. The faire developed this program to introduce new craft talent to the show. This is one of the best programs in the faire scene. (At one of the best craft faires around for those not familar with other faires, MDRF is really astounding level of art.) So when ya'll see a new face there, go by and say hello, and if the mood takes ya and the pocketbook allows, buy as well. Often the guest vendors are just starting out or trying to break in, travelled long distances and not under alot of expense. It is something of a myth that being in MD means making good money. My friend and GreenMan Brother, Joshua was there with his kalidascopes this weekend, and travlled in from Florida, and didn't not make profit this weekend. He lost money on the gamble of doing the show and will drag him self home by the bootstraps. One of the things you get in this buisness, but just wanted to share this.
The wood burner was Tigger. He was there for two weekends only. Tigger is also a Greenman Brother, is on the Rogues pass list for making then pins and can often be found around the Whitehart. His website is at http://www.artofthewood.com/
And just on an aside, I will back up that the best way to make a positive impact on the faire will be by filling out the info sheets. The worst way to make an impression would be calling the office. And, as far as I know, and I am pretty sure I know, the decision for Sinnius not being there was purely a buisness decision, despite the rumor mill....
Peace,
Shane "Brambleberry" Odom
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Decorative Arts at MDRF
Hello all,
I have started this thread in an attempt to pass on some interesting and my favorite things about our little village.
Many of you have admired our buildings and booths, but I thought I might share some of the background as to how it all got that way.
This year, you might of noticed the new Jezzard Jewelry booth, located where our dear Ciel the Coppersmith, used to be. The Jezzards are old faire vendors returning to the village after years away. You might have noticed a change in the booth between 1st and 2nd weekend. The decorative flourishes along all the beams and trim that went up. These were added by Ann of Masquerade life casting. Ann is one of our more talented decorative painters. She is one of the principle sign painters on faire as well, but that will be another topic. Ann went to Germany this year and took many lovely pictures of traditional building painting. This lead to a conversation about such and Ann did the work on the Jezzards booth. I am a researcher on renaissance decorative arts, Leah and I are orginally trained in faux finishing, and told Ann that I had always wanted to find the time to paint my booth as such. So, we will introduce you to some of the painted flourishes that we work so hard at, and due to the nature of the faire, they fade into the background, creating a pleasing pallet to the eye. Among booth owners it is often said, "We Build the Village".
So we have already seen the Jezzard's booth near the front. Lovely Renaissance flourishs done in the acanthus leaf style, Ann outdid herself and if you look they have 3 colors layered into each one. It took over 2 days to do and now their booth looks properly period.
Then there is Sozra Jewelry, just down the row. They have a bit of secretive vine painting just inside the shop on the left. The lady of the shop began the painting of clematis vine and flowers and liked where she stopped.
Further down, you will find the just lovely decor on the BubbleCart...wait, I did that. The side panels of the Cart were created to enclose paintings, however the year it was built, I had a bad case of lyme disease and was unable to finish them. For 3 years they drove me mad with there empty faces until finally a couple of years ago, I finally was able to finish out the vines and flowers. You will also note on the cart, our Rainbow striped roof, the only full rainbow in the shire as we are Flying Rainbow Bubblewands. Full rainbow as all 7 colors, most folks tend to only paint 6, leaving out indigo. I, however and an indigo advocate. While there, also note the emegency spare wheel mounted on the inside back door....
Now, enough tooting my own horn, on down the lane. We are at Rosie's Posies. The Garland shop. Surely you have noticed the beauty of this booth. It's really lived in look. That is because it is occupied through out the year by one of the faire's grounds keepers and he maintains the gardens around it. Posies's has to be one of the most beautiful booths in the faire scene. On the back side of it, down hill, facing Q-heart clothing, (note Q's gold colored interior while there, they were very proud of it when it went in. A expensive paint additive and the only gold booth I have every scene.) So on the wall of Posies there, you will find one of the lovelest little bits of painting on site. A fairy and traditional floral designs hidden away. These have been carefully preserved through power washings of the booth and cleanings over the years. They are well over 10 years old.
Then we are across the lane to House of Musical traditions. Look closely...step back.....look up. Just on the trim boards above, where the roof peaks, is a excellent little flourish of vines.
Around the corner there, at Noblese Oblige, you will find there excellent bit of interlaced celtic style with grapeleaves. Really pretty, especially due to the lovely products and shopkeepers. Unseelies everyone of them...
There are many more gems to come back to and I will give you a tour of the signs and then architecture at some point. However, feel free to add comments on the subject, perhaps you have noticed one that I have not...but probablly not..and if I can add any info I will.
Much peace to all.
Shane "Brambleberry Woodwose" Odom
I was out on site tonight working on our booth, (just structural, not decorative) and was hanging out with Rowena of the Whispering Winds Bamboo Flutes. Rowena was sewing flutes bags and Zenobia, our gypsy reader was turning the bags right side out while we chatted. The subject of the Jezzard's new paint job came up, (I think many of us are abit envious,) and I mentioned this thread that I started. Zenobia promptly stairaghtened me out and reminded me of her beloved Vardo, (thats a Gypsy wagon) Very well decorated with stenciled lines. Not as bright as some traditional vardos, but lovely all the same. You will note the copper roof and trim. She, (the wagon, not Zenobia,) doesn't actually roll from the grounds, but I have been assured that she could if necessary. And yes, Zenobia, actually lives in her little wagon during the season.
Peace,
Shane
Hey,
Two more little bits of flouris worth your notice. These are carts. One is the Cheese Cake on a stick cart that tends to be parked next to the Bubble Cart. Not much, but little floral flourishes under the handle and on the front. Good stuff and years old. While buying your cheesecake and admiring, note the woven wicker roof. Only one on a cart I have every seen in 20 years of faires. The other cart is the Snoballs located next to the fountain near the Boarshead. Yellow and red, with Italian style faces and flourish painted on the sides. Worth a look if you have never noticed before.
Cart painting tends to be done by the sign painters at faires. Even I do a little painting on site some time, other than my own booths. More on that next week.
Peace,
Bramble.
Another bit of decor you might not have noticed before. It's not a paint flourish, but now we will start on sculptural. Hidden bits of architecture or such worthy of note. So here is a little one, while you are at Sozra, checking out the paint there, (and while inside, please look around. Sozra is one of the more interesting historical styled buildings on faire. Big floor boards in the back and the space for the Master to demo his craft on small anvils.) Take a look next door at the Flute Booth. Buy a Flute. They are some of the best bamboo flute known to man. Yes, the flute player of Jethro Tull does own one, and they are a small buisness and could use the patronage. Now that you made your purchase, have a seat on the only marble bench at faire. Really beautiful. And look in Rowena's garden. You will find a hidden green man there. It is a ceramic peice, created by Rowena year's ago and really tucked down into the leaves and such. Really nice and unknown.
Peace,
Bramble
Here is another real amazing gem I discovered this weekend. Wow what a gem it is.
The watercolor print booth located on the board walk, "The Mad Queen's Fool". They have a fablous Italian style mural painted in their backroom! What? you say. How can I see it in the backroom. Well, the door jam is in a faux marble, the door stays open, so that she can have the space available, so to pretty it up, they had the faux mural painted. Possiblly the best piece of painting at faire.
Peace,
Shane
Well, in continuing my theme of decorative arts, I am starting a harder one to do. This is on the sign painting of the faire. Now I know that much of this falls in to the last thread, but it is such a huge subject that I felt it needed its on list.
MDRF is filled with very high quality sign painting. I am trying to educate myself on the best ones and whom has done them. They are varied and vast, but once you learn to recognize a certain style and line then you will be able to tell them apart. It is really one of the unknown arts fo the RenFair scene. The art of the hand painted sign, once so vital to all of the world, is dying out in the age of large scale printers and computers. At faires it is really taken to a high art. I will start with some of the best signs that come to mind and the painters I am familar with.
First of all a sign I wish to draw your attention to is the Catskill Moccasins. Their sign board is really lovely, and detailed. Different scenery on both sides. I don't know of another sign quite like it on site. I am unsure of the painter. Now the Bubblecart. Strangly enough, I didn't paint our Bubblewands sign there. This is the only sign work on site by Nick the Wizard, (known to frequent the Whitehart in his fab cloaks and staves). Nick is a good family friend and when my Lyme disease was giving me the shakes and the emotional problems he painted this for me. Nothing really special about this simple bit of lettering, but I wanted to acknowledge Nick.
Now one of the best painters on site. Ann of the Life Casting Masquerade booth. Ann is a well rounded and talented artist. She is a skilled portrait painter as well as caster/sculptur and is in high demand for signs. You can start familarizing yourself with her style at her own booth. And then through out the faire. I don't know all of hers, but here is a few.
Two new ones at waxed hands. (This booth was recently purchased, hence the changeover to include silks, Molly the new owner is now at 21, our youngest buisness owner.)The dragon sign about hand painted suncatchers and the Ann trademark pointing hand.
Across the lane is the Jezzards booth fromt he other thread. Ann did the flourish and there banner sign.
Further down on Kenwood lane, one of my favorite Ann Signs, is Perchance to Dream, the quilt booth. There dragonfly sign is really exquisite.
There is also Tessem(sp?) Pottery. Located down the hill from the Whitehart. I remember Ann doing all those little cutouts of pots and goblets spread around her booth, drying in the sun.
I will come back to Ann later.
I wouldn't want to be remiss and not comment on my own little contribution to the signs of the faire. I am a very amatuer painter. Not nearly the level of Ann or the other. However, I can letter a good lay out when necessary. When I was painting, (way to busy these days) I was the guy folks came to at the last minute, when they needed quick work done on scrap plywood the night before opening. I was cheap, basic and fast. So you wills see one I am rather proud of at the Henna Tattoos. Ann did the tree banner, but I did the actually booth signs on each end with the blue lotus flowers. Then there is the Blowguns. I didn't do the big Ace of Spades sign, thats from another faire. I did the simple little banner flourish with letter on the poles. Really basic but I did them in just a couple of hours one evening. And then, of course, there is my booth sign. Masks by Miscellaneous Oddiments, our big red weighs a ton but I am proud of the lettering job.
Now that I have gotten my own out of the way, I will return to this thread through out the rest of the faire to add on good examples as I learn more. I know there are lots of good examples and if you wish to comment on any you appreciate, I will try to identify the painter. You will find that most are either the work of the booth, as most booths are well rounded artist, or the work of just a few painters. Folks tend to go to the best. You see, even if you have never really noticed the signs, you have noticed them. Folks read them a thousand times a day, and it really counts in the end.
Peace,
Shane "Brambleberry" Odom
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