Apis Occupatus

Musings:

Sometimes, you can be trucking along on a project, fully confident in your skills and abilities, and still find that you miscalculated. When that happens, you have a few choices: keep on trucking and hope for the best, undo whatever’s not working and redo it, or get frustrated or upset and put the project into time-out for a length of time.

To be honest, I’ve done all three things in the past. I’ve never really been satisfied with my results when I just keep trucking. Even if the mistakes are hidden from the casual observer, *I* know that they’re there, and it’s going to bug me for eternity. Likewise, putting a project into time-out only ended up making me feel guilty for not following through, and it certainly didn’t get the project finished! The more experience I gain as an artisan, the more I find that the worthy path is the one where I undo my mistakes and redo it. I am far less likely to be upset about it, I’m happier with the final result, and I learn far more about my practice in the process.

If something is worth doing, it’s worth taking the time to do it right. You owe it to the art, to yourself, and to the final recipient of your work - even if that’s you. Good work is worth the doing, and there is a very specific joy that I derive from that. It has really enriched my life as an artisan, and makes me so much more appreciative of the time and talents of others.

Bighorn stormtrooper?

What on earth is she up to now?

Hard at work designing something new! Once it’s given to the recipient, I can share the whole thing 🤫

Here are the tools and supplies that I used to paint my device onto the champion’s belt.

Army Painter paints in Matt White, Daemonic Yellow, Royal Blue, Greenskin, Matt Black, and Gloss Varnish. Escutcheon shape from the template that Wulfstan 3D printed, and his brushes: a 4 round, a 00 round, and a 00000 round. And finally, my trusty light-up magnifier glasses for close work.

I laid down a base of white in the escutcheon shape, then using first the blue and then the green, I marked out the edges of the bend. Filled in the blue and green, and painted the threaded needle. Once that was dry, I laid down the shape of the bees first in black, then in yellow. A coat of gloss varnish finished it off nicely.

I’m quite pleased with how it turned out.