Whats Up There?

 The last few nights I have been awoken from dreams but i take umbridge at being awoken from my rather nice dream last night when it was just getting interesting! I awake to loud and varied noises coming from above me in the attack.
 My friend next door thinks it is a walrus or some sort of clog dancing variety of rat. I am now curious and preparing to either make peace with or do battle with whatever is up there. I am also curious now as to why the loft hatch is so securely screwed shut! If I start hearing moaning and bells then i will have to get intouch with a certain cathedral on the continent because whilst I have nothing against hunchbacks I dont particularly want an infestation of them in my attic.
So I shall peer over the parapet and risk having my facial mask torn off by a rabid loft-dwelling hyena type creature. I did contemplate throwing my jamoffee up there in the hope that whatever is dwelling there will get stuck to it but after second thought i considered this to be a cruel way to die. Starvation due to having ones mouth glued shut with jamoffee would not be pleasant...not to mention the tooth decay.
Wish me luck as I adventure into the Attic.

Out of Love a fighter is proven

 Some things never die, some things move in circles, circles are the way of the world and of life but what of death, does everything really truly die and just end?
 Sometimes we leave ourselves for a little while and never before have i had to consider the consequences of me being down and such an affect on others.
Some things though, some things dont die.
I love.
A true fighter fights out of love
Not fear
Self sacrifice
Not selfishness, self hatred or harm.

 It doesnt mean the fight is easy
or that the warrior wont falter.

Sometimes the battlefield of life removes warriors from one anothers side but ultimately we fight the fight and try to be true fighters.
I dont fight for myself. I just am a fighter.

The loss of Eloquence

Commitment to this blog appears to have been short lived. This begain as a free form of expression, a secret that was honest and true with entries that strived to share some depth and philosophy but alas it has devolved into merely a record of some of my modelling work and even that has not been kept up to date. Rest assured that much has transpired over the years both in my artistic creativity, my wilderness skills and my own personal growth and relationship with the world.
Aside from all that i have not even shared any information on the work i am doing as a viking and crafts person. Perhaps this will return to how it once was over time, perhaps it shall not but i am glad that it was what it was for a while.
If you want to see truth, eloquence and the real Kat then I suggest you read the first entries in this blog though i warn you, you may not like what you learn

More Manipulations: Aino Wallen

 Once again I find myself stuck in the situation yet again that sees me wondering how on earth I can catch up on my blog. The blog that started out with so much potential and depth has been reduced to my modelling work.
 I have however been exceptionally busy of late between my new job and being a member of the Vikings which has seen me travel all over the country doing events, school visits and such. I must admit I am very much enjoying aquiring new skills and sharing what knowledge I allready have of my wilderness skills and viking living. Mostly however I am enjoying being legally allowed to hit people with big lumps of metal :D
 I often philosophise on what it is that draws me towards fighting again and again throughout my life wether it is vikings, martial arts or something more profound involving fighting for a purpose.
 Anyway now is not the time for divergence into philosophical pathways instead it is time to catch up on some digital artists who have kindly collaborated with me, often very much a surprise. Perhaps the depth that i have been unable to type of late and the personality i have surely lacked in displaying will appear through aspects of my art and modelling and it is allways interesting to see what people make of the personality that appears through my work, wether it be acting or whether it involves a part of myself. Look upon these images and see what storys you draw. I am honoured to have inspired such work.
The first art i wish to share with you is the work of Aino Wallen of Deviant art. The work is cleerly progressive and it is obvious that the artist has the imagination required for story telling through photomanipulations. It is really humbeling and an honour to be part of someones creative growth and everytime they kindly send me a new surprise image it is better than the last. Thankyou AinoWallen!

 

"Summoning" by AinoWallen http://ainowallen.deviantart.com/ 

I rather like the concept of this image, the mysticism added not just by the location and the magic I appear to be weilding but also by the tones of dusk. I think the artist has done a good job matching up my expression and look with location and story.

 

"My Fairy" by AinoWallen http://ainowallen.deviantart.com/ 

One of my favourites that the artist has created, i think the lighting is subtle enough to be truly believable and the glittering tones bounce of the rock nicely. I think the angle of the photograph itself lends well to the feel of being drawn into the characters world. Wonderful sense of magical story.

"Restoring" by AinoWallen http://ainowallen.deviantart.com/ 
For some reason I find this peice distantly reminds me of a graphic novel style, perhaps it is the bright colours and I could see it featuring in such a peice well. I adore the greens and the sense of gentle healing power.

"The Triplets" by AinoWallen http://ainowallen.deviantart.com/ 

Once again the artist has done a beautiful job of matching poses and expression to location and story or in this case mythology. A very lush image that is allmost Grecian in nature

"Come Forth my Servant" by AinoWallen http://ainowallen.deviantart.com/ 
Whilst posing for this shot I felt overwhelmed by the power of nature, i tried to channel that power into my posing for some sort of invocation shot despite the waves that kept crashing against me and threatening to sweep me out to see. It is nice to see the image turned into a powerful magical peice.

Digital Manipulation Update :Rosemary Taglialatela

Power of the Moonstones. Photomanipulation: Rosemary Taglialatela, Original Photography: Robert Kerr of IMS Photographics, Location:Aberdeenshire Scotland

I believe it is time for a creativity update:

I am very lucky to have met a variety of creative and talented people over the last few years, some in the real world and some through cyberspace. I have found wonderful artists whose work speeks to me and whose skill is apparent. When i find such an artist i let them know that creatively i see them as some what of a kindred spirit (words that could perhaps get me in trouble but are said with truth). What a wonderous thing that we can meet others who have similar interests and creative passions through places like Model Mayhem and Deviant Art (I must create my account)
  One such individual that I got speeking to recently is a lovely lady called Rosemary Taglialatela. I appreciated the romanticism and gentleness of much of her work and there is a real sense of magic and nature throughout her work.
 I was surprised when she decided to do a quick edit of a small image I had on my facebook but pleasantly surprised.
 What i was very surprised by is that Rosemary decided to change the scene from day to night which aptly suited the fact that the image was shot in a stone circle that was based upon the moons cycle rather than the sun or so I believed at the time based upon the direction of the stones (after later investigation it turns out i was right!) Rosemary did not know that this was shot in a moon stone circle yet she decided night and the glow of the moon was more apt. How wonderfully fitting. I feel the image had a real sense of invocation in it, the magic of nature and the unknown. As you may imagine I really rather like it!
 Isnt it wonderous that we can collaborate with creative creatures from across the globe through these simple little boxes sat on the desks in front of us?
 The result is what you see above you.
More of her work and photography may be found here: 
http://www.2daysphotos.com/

Now for some of my photomanipulations, something I have been reinspired to approach again recently thanks to my friends wonderful kids.

I was lucky enough to have a nice wee photoshoot with Brandon and Rowan, my friends wonderful kids who I love as if they were family. Not only are they awesome in general but they are also brilliant wee posers. Here are some of the results from our brief photosession and I am glad to say they loved it though i am not totally happy with my work on Rowan and think i need to add something extra she did a fab job though.
 I am proud to say both are profile photos :D

I am very proud of my work on this image, you would never guess that this started off as a nice photo of a smiling 12yr old lad! I am proud to say that he loves it too having a liking of werewolves:) The background images were local photos I took and even the fur on his face is from my photo of a wolf i worked with. :)

Rowan told me recently that wolves are her favourite animals, yay just like me!, and so I decided to place her atop a mountain (behind my home) next to Luna a wolf I worked with. She adores this image.

I also recently photoshopped an image of myself by Unhinged Photography (Just a few tonal adjustments)

I am more than aware that this blog is falling into disrepair but I suppose such is life....
I found myself with little time to post anything other than imagery, time has been consuming my written words...
As time eventually consumes all things. I wonder how many people find it reasuring to know that we are but a spec but barely that in the apparent infinity that is time and how many find it disconcerting. Then again is time infinite or is time repetative, does it go round in circles, even if time did pass in circles surely it would still be infinite? Just another little pondering on the majesty that is mystery.
 However time works it has been hard to find any of it spare of late between my new job (seasonal museum attendant), being a Viking (I passed my basic combat in April), my viking, medieval and bushcraft school visits, modelling, birthdays etc these posts are long overdue.

Feeling a Craving for Carving

Just my latest wee attempt. A birch teaspoon (not green and spalded) under 13cm long, the handle thin enough to see through when the light is behind (the spoon alas is not as I was running out of time and need to sharpen my crook knife). The snake design is 3d and curves all the way round the spoon and is Koldroised with paprika for the pattern.

I think I may be improving. :)

Crafty Footsteps

 For a fair few months now, since before Christmas, I have been involved in a Viking reenactment organization and a local medieval/viking craft club. I have managed to bring my knowledge of wilderness skills to the group adding a different dimentsion to the whole topic.
 Recently I have even managed to do a couple of School visits thanks to some friends that do viking and Medieval school visits. The last visit was a whole day spent with a group of 60 kids and I spent about two hours talking and demonstrating fire, foraging, herbal medicine and hygiene which they loved. It was so refreshing seeing such enthusiasm (when i demonstrated bowdrill and got it smoking they wanted me to burn down the school). I am glad the lesson went well and after break I was in my stride.
 I personally would have loved to have a couple of medieval warriors and a medieval lass turn up at my school whilst on the run. They also loved the battle scenes of course, as I did myself, as well as the comedy between blacksmith/ fighter and arrogant night and blacksmiths daughter. I look forward to doing more of this work.
 The viking reenactment also led me to a wonderful visit to York where the Jorvik festival is held. A wonderful and well known Viking festival with viking trading, demonstrations, battles and education for the public. I had to get my Viking outfit together for this with little time and it has to be authentic. I would show photos of the finished outfit, which is not very flattering, but alas I left it in York. I do however have some photos of the leather shoes I made, my first ever!

 

The socks however are not authentic

Cosy sheepskin lining.

 On the outside there is no additional Sole

Steampunk Photoshoot With Unhinged Photography

 Among the many photoshoots that I have not had time to update about my shoot in Autumn with Unhinged Photography.
 I came up with a wonderful steampunk outfit and look and chose a wonderful location that contributed nicely to the atmosphere we were trying to obtain.
 Fairly new to model photography I was impressed when I received the images from the days shoot, however these were only a few of the images promised me, I am still waiting on receiving the others which may not happen for various reasons, and I found them to be technically very good with tones and colours wonderfully portreyed, I would never have thought the photographer was as knew to all this as he said. Impressive.
 Here are some of the images which I have received.

Paul Holroyd

 I have recently received some images from my shoot with Paul Holroyd back in September. I have the fortune to be travelling down to West Sussex to work with him next week. I absolutely loved our two day shooting in September, at the most stunning locations, it feels wonderful to be a part of something so artistic and every image has a story.
All images copyright: Paul Holroyd.

 

Dreams Of Autumn

 

The Bowyer

 Growth

 

Where the Wild Ones Live

 

The Stare

 The Martyr

Angelic Nightmare

Guardian of Folly

The Door and The Dagger

Demonic Dreams

Ophelia

Ophelia

 Ophelia

 I am also dreadfully aware that this has not been updated in many months but such is life, it gets in the way. A combination of being very busy modelling, bushcrafting, painting and making things and generally living life with a nasty computer virus resulted in my abscense but now I am back.

Catch Up

A recently edited photo by myself originally taken by Kelt photo many moons ago.

 This would be one of those enteries in which i realise the sheer volume of things i am to cover in order to catch up. Is it not simply the way of life that when interesting things are happening you never have time to let another know of them? Allways the way it would seem.

 Well since my last entry I have been active in both the artistic and modelling side of my life and also in the nature and wilderness skills side (as allways the land is my passion)

 I was very fortunate to be invited back to help out Woodsmoke again as an apprentice on two of their courses that ran back to back.

 The first of these was Marcus' Woodcarving and whitteling course, a new course that went down extremely well, the students producing a wide range of projects and styles most of which were seriously impressive and i tried to hide my earlier efforts as they were put to shame one by one haha. This was nothing compared to what the instructors Willow and Marcus had brought between them, all manner of spoons and bowls, some replica items and some fashioned using ancient techniques. I was very impressed with the course and very happy for Marcus as he wrote it.

 The second of these courses I was helping out on absolutely fascinated me though at first I was unsure what I would make of it and that was the brain tanning and bucksin course provided by a lovely lady named Willow. She went into the ins and outs of the most ancient of hide tanning techniques and even gave me half a skin to work on. The whole process is fascinating and most definately hard work but the results are wonderful and it was such an old site and night to see everyone surrounding the fire, stretching their buckskin in the lantern light. This is a skill I intend to carry on as it is an art that is rare and dying an honour to learn the skills of the ancients and help to use the whole of the animal (in fact i have two skins arriving tomorrow that would otherwise be thrown away)

 As allways I was very happy to help woodsmoke out and instantly settled in to place, having developed a real love for the area and the company and somewhat of a kinship with the staff, I am seriously impressed by all that work there and I could go on but really I shall refrain.

 With regards to the modelling I have had several different shoots and have also been doing life art modelling.

 My modelling saw me travelling up to Aberdeen to spend the weekend with Robert Kerr shooting semi-nudes amidst and on top of a stone circle in the pouring rain and howling wind, some mystical and medieval shots reminiscent of pre raphealites in the stone circle, an old dutch masters inspired gypsy shoot at an old mill and an ophelia shoot in a nearby mountain stream (quite chilly). I enjoyed working with Robert and he certainly took care of me whilst i was there feeding me the most amazing lasagne. I will post images soon.

 I have also had a steampunk inspired shoot with a photographer from ayrshire that is new to all this, Craig of Unhinged Photography did an excellent job and i was quite suprised with the results this was also something which my boyfriend took part in modelling for the first time and realising how difficult it can be, once again images will follow.

 And lastly I had a shoot with Paul Holyrod from West Sussex in which we shot medieval and art nudes out at an old medieval folly near Langholm/ Longtowm. The photographer is an excellent photoshop wizard and we covered a lot in a short space of time, I was angelic, demonic, stoic, sneaky, a temptress and a sacrifice and all manner of things in between. I very much look forward to the images from that shoot.

 Life art modelling has been going well too and in todays class the students excelled themselves, I was so proud and wish I had taken my camera to share their skills. Whilst posing I was visited by a mouse and reminded of the song "mouse and the model" by Amanda Palmer.

 All in all I have been very busy with all this and of course the autumn will harvest, what a wonderful time of year!

The Wild Stare

An old image revisited.
 The image was created within an inspired moment during a winter walk. The forests had been logged and a tree toppled its roots exposed. The setting sun bouncing off the Scots pine cast a beautifull red light that was so earthly it had to be used. So despite the cold weather i stripped off and allowed the passion and anger i felt towards my home being logged shine through...at least i hope it did.
 "The Wild Stare"

Untitled - A collaboration with Sam Matta

I was very fortunate recently to have the wonderful artist, Sam Matta, collaborate on editing this image by Richard Walker.

 The original image was taken spur of the moment upon a visit to a remote stone circle in South West Scotland. I noticed the lean of a Hawthorn tree and handed Richard the camera (a very abled and promising new photographer), got nude and climbed into the spiky tree.

 I was immersed in the location around me, immersed in deep and personal thoughts but at the same time lost to the sensations of my surroundings.

 I was intrigued to see that this is the image Sam came up with as without mention he put in the sea, the wind and the darkness that was in my mind at the moment the shot was taken. He read from the pose that I portreyed and altered the image to compliment it.

 How interesting that from my pose he was able to deduce the places that my mind went to, surely an individual of incredible artistic talent and intuition.

 I have dabbled in photoshop myself ut could never hope to create a peice of work like this and certainly not in the short time frame that Sam did, I am indebted to him and grateful.

 I sincerely hope that the emotions I was feeling at the time come across, I hope people see an honesty in this image and not just another nude, I hope someone at least sees my intentions in this image.

 I sincerely look forward to collaborating with Sam in the future on location shoots as with his intuition of the mind I am sure we could create some important, meaningfull, deep and truly beautiful art together.

 I am intrigued to know what people read into this image, what story they come up with of their own accord and for that reason this peice has no title.

 Check out Sams work here www.modelmayhem.com/digitalpsam

Working with Woodsmoke

I was very fortunate recently to have been given the opportunity to work with Woodsmoke on one of their courses, the Junior Woodlander, and it was a worthy expreience and one i hope to have again soon.
 It did not take me long before i was seriously impressed with Woodsmoke, the location is stunning and feels wilder than in many bushcraft schools, the staff were friendly and most definately kindred spirits but most of all what struck me was the honesty of the place, company and business.
 I pride myself on being honest, what you see is what you get, I feel its the only fair way to be and i loathe any form of manipulation particularly selfish bullshit.
 The passion the people at Woodsmoke for the land parralells my own and reminds me of how i used to be and how i long to be again and their knowledge runs deep, i was humbled and inspired to learn more and work hard.
 So that is what i did, i worked hard (I was embaressed at how unfit i was) and i opened my eyes and ears to learn what i could from everyone around me, from the students, from the staff and from the land. I did learn, i learnt a lot specifics about various fungi, teaching techniques, knots and so on but also about myself, about how little i know and how passionate i am, what i must do and what i allready have done. The negatives and the positives.
 I know i would dearly love to work with kindred spirits like woodsmoke and that they are a true rarity, if anyone would like to go to a bushcraft school or learn a course i can not recomend them highly enough.

http://www.woodsmoke.uk.com/

 This is not some ploy in the hope that this will be read and that i can persuade them to take me on, i am not like that. I was honest and the staff heard me talk about my passion for the land, they may not know how deep that runs but it does not matter.
 I want to learn, i love the land and i wish to learn as much as i can, then i wish to teach others what i have learnt so that they may create a bond with the land, with things lost to us...there is too much i wish to say and just now i can not find the words

If it isn't raining it aint training!

Raise the Ancients in our land.

 Today I was upon the hills with my dog, Bracken, and to my despair I saw that the logging has advanced.
 There is far too much of it occuring at once here and the effect upon nature and species populations will be catastrophic. Forced into smaller and smaller habitats disease will quickly spread and competition for food, breeding and space will be heightened causing more loss of populations and even some species of flora and fuana to the area. I have allready seen it happen, Golden Eagles, Badger, Red Squirrel, Pine Marten and Wild Cat chased from the hillsides. It is not just species that we are losing but something deeper as well....
 We all have our forms of escapism from reading, movies and games to drugs, alcohol and sex, even sleep and dreaming provides us with escape.
But escapism in nature, in the land offers us something different, unique and all together truly far more healing.
 Many of the other forms of escapism act as distraction allowing us to indulge and the potential to ignore other aspects of ourselves, situations and things we do not like therefor we can use these forms of escapism to run away.
 How many things are solved by running from them?
 Nature however offers us solitude and a non-threatening wat to face the silence and self, a gentle way that gives us the time and space to face ourselves and our problems, to work things out with no pressure, to understand and therefor truly heal.
 Yet this is what we are destroying?
 The harmony of natural land? Why?
 I have not read this from some hippy book or repeating the words of another instead what i am writing comes from my own experiences, my own understanding gained from moments in the wild.
 I merely want to share it with you.
 Many may say it is a nice idea, the thought of wild places, nature and harmony but it can not work like that, they would say that what we are doing can not change.
 But what if it could? What if a happy medium could be found? Are there alternatives to at least change some things?
 Yes for thousands of years mankind has to some degree managed the land surrounding us but when does this become overkill? There is a balance that has been off for some time.
 At some point the government took the wild places for themselves, places that should belong to nobody or to all, and these were given to the forestry commision who decided it would be in our best interests to plant them with fast-growing, non-native timber tree crops which could then be sold. Why not? No people were using them at the time....
 This wood is sold to other placs and well you can see the cycle that develops without me pointing it out.
 Such a shame for a area that is reputed to be underpopulated with which you would associate wild places. Dumfries and Galloway is recorded as the most underpopulated county in mainland UK, this may have made bussiness tricky so many farmed or forested or left.
 Times however change!
 Recently there has been talk of Carlisle Airport opening to the public and major flying destinations meaning a variety of things two things in particular.
 There will be a surge of people moving to the area to live and commuting to the likes of London forwork and business. House prices will go up and a variety of bussiness will be more viable in the area and though i do not personally wich to see more people in my land this could be the opportunity to help save it. Political obsession with money could mean that having unappealing scarred countryside covered in timber machinery that can not even be walked through may put people off moving here that dream of moving to countryside.
 More importyantly however is tourism.
 Tourism to the area will potentially become a larger industry providing funds and we must ask ourselves why people would come here? Certainly not for the nightlife! No. People come here for an ideal of what Scotland is, for the wild and rugged land that is rife with history, stories and nature.
 If we live up to that ideal by protecting our nature, our wild places and encouraging knowledge of our history, and we certainly have huge potential here, then the industry can benefit all financially, culturally, in awareness and naturally. Allowing us our income and our "wild" lands.
 I have many ideas of how to deal with the land itself but simplified why can we not replant these felled hillsides with our native conifers the Scots Pine? Fast growing and indigenous but also able to withstand the acidity of the soil created by the non natve conifers biodiversity within the area would thrive encouraging the idea of the wild land and less clear felling may not be required on such a grand scale and instead represent more the areas that would have traditionally been cleared by large grazers.
 Why can't farm land, most of which is grazing land, be open wood pasture? Spacing out native trees over the fields so animals may graze amidst them will only enrich them, the leaves from the trees providing nutrients to the soil, grass and therefor animals. For these large areas and farms the owner would hold the logging rights to these trees which in turn would increase the value of land.
 I ask you why cant we make a difference? Maybe one voice will be shot down in flames by the officials but a shout from a united population can't be ignored! We tell the government, the officials what WE wish for OUR land and they are meant to represent that utilitarian wish. We give them the means and they are meant to get it done! We advise them! They do NOT command us and if enough are united they can not!
 And if we were to start this political, environmental fight of inspiration and change then the priode and passion of the fight would not just be mine but instead it would belong to everyone, to you. Even if the fight failed the pride, passion, purpose and undesrtanding would still be yours, the tools to handle anything in life.
 When accomplished the sense of achievment would not be mine but that of all those who took action whatever that action be big or small. I can promise you that having fought for something bigger than oneself is selfless and the sense of accomplichment, of having been a part of that is quite simply astounding.
 That action can even just be a word, a click or merely a mindset of being open to this idea of change.
 I am fortunate that I feel a sense of purpose on all this and all i wish to do is help, to help the land heal, to help people help themselves. I just wish to share with you.
 You may laugh, you may abuse, you may get angry or be indiferent but my intentions are good and my words are as honest and passionate as can truly be spoken.
 I want to make a difference....
  and I would like you to share in that.

Photoshop Fun

 I recently acquired the opportunity to have a go of a newer and fuller version of photoshop. This is what i managed to create.

Original photo taken by and copyrighted to : Tom Langley

My musical manipulation using photoshop, not bad for a first attempt I am told.

My First Ever Bow

As part of my bushcraft Instructor course I had to make a bow of a decent quality. Having never made one before this was somewhat of a challenge (especially since my finger got cut off half way through the project) and the stave itself gave me all manner of problems but I endured and the bow evolved. I think i will stain it and do some more work on it for aesthetics....

BOW MAKING

Part 1: Obtaining The Bow Stave

In order to make a bow, a stave to do so must first be acquired from which to make one. A stave may be obtained from the trunk of a large tree and sometimes from some large, thick branches (Yew bows are generally made from the branches of the tree) but before we cut down any tree there are certain factors that must be taken into consideration.

The first consideration is what species of tree the bow is going to be made from and in theory all tree species COULD be used but there are certain species more suited such as Ash Fraxinus excelsior , Rowan Sorbus aucuparia , Yew Taxus baccata , Cherry Prunus avium or indeed any wild fruit/ nut tree species and some that are not so brilliant such as lime and chestnut.

For this bow I used the species Ash Fraxinus excelsior as its straight grain makes it easier to split in making the stave and easier to tiller in the later stages but also has a certain amount of strength and also elasticity, it is also easy to work green.

When locating a tree suitable to take staves from for making a bow the tree should grow straight, with few knots or low branches and will ideally have large rings (particularly in broadleaf species) and the diameter should really be a minimum of 8 inches however the tree which we used was closer to 15 inches in diameter.

The tree was then felled safely as shown below.
The direction in which the tree is likely to fall must first be determined and then an escape route should the tree react unexpectedly, if an escape rote is not possible a different tree must be used.
The undercut, the first cut, is then made. For this cut the bottom part must be flat and the upper area at about 45 degrees and goes through roughly the diameter of the tree but this is dependant upon several other factors such as the lean of the tree and so on.

Felling a large ash in preparation for making bow strings

The back cut is then made to the other side of the trunk slightly higher up (a couple of finger widths in this case) leaving a couple of inches width so that some control may remain over the tree. The tree is then pulled down with the safety rope and the stump smoothed off.

A safety rope was put in place as a guideline and to help the tree fall in the right direction

Once the tree had been felled then the staves could be created fairly simply as follows.
For speed the trunk of the tree after being felled with an axe was split into 6-8ft sections using a chainsaw though this may be done with a band saw.
An axe was then ran along the length of the logs to create a line in which to follow.

An axe drawn across the ash log as a guide for making staves

Following this the axe was then battered in deeper along the line and at the end of the log as shown in the picture splitting the logs slightly.

Stephen and Sean demonstrate beating the axe into the log to split it

Log starting to split showing “gluts”

Where the logs split a “glut” was then placed and battered in increasing and deepening the split along the log until eventual the log is cleft in two.

Gluts used in splitting wood

The axe is lightly ran through the split log

A log split into two staves

The process was then repeated again to quarter the log and in some cases yet one more time to give 8ths where there was a large enough area to do so.

The staves are now available and ready for the next stage

Part 2: Preparing the Bow Stave

The next stage is to prepare the bow stave to make it ready for shaping the basic bow dimensions.

First the outer bark must be removed and this is a stage in which time and care should be taken, as it is the outer ring of wood that gives the bow its strength and any cuts into this outer ring of wood will result in a serious weakness of the bow. So the bark is to be scraped of gently and can be done as follows. This is the stage at which unwanted cracks may be found as was the case in my first stave that then had to be discarded.

Removing the bark from the stave with a knife

The next stage is to start creating and shaping the basic bow dimensions and cutting away excess wood. First it is wise to take a good look at the bow and decide which type of bow style it may wish to be or is most suitable to. There are hundreds of different bow styles out there but I decided I was going to base my bow on the ancient Mere heath design however this was changed later on.

The dimensions for a Mere Heath bow are as follows.

Mere Heath dimensions

The design was the marked out, the front of the bow being the outer ring of wood and outer edge of the stave and following this excess removed as follows.

Drawing on the dimensions of the bow

To remove excess wood stop cuts were put in place using a folding saw and then knocked out using a knife and baton technique.

Sawing stop cuts into the stave

Removing excess wood from the bow using a knife and baton

The side edges of the bow were then shaped and more excess wood removed with an axe and a knife to create the basic mere heath shape.

My bow after breakage was shortened and evened out to this shape

At this point however a crack had appeared in the edge of the bow and the bow was then altered to resemble more a holmeguard. Unfortunately after journeying, arriving home and floor tillering the bow to warm it off an end of the bow snapped off. Not having much luck with the Mere Heath or holmeguard style I then adopted a variation and a style more my own. I made a shorter bow that resembles a mere heath in miniature somewhat. The power behind the bow would not be so great for making the arrow travel long distances but would still have some power in it. I decided to keep going with this bow and the result would resemble an old stalking bow (bows that were used in stalking would not require as much ability to make the arrow travel far as the stalker would get within 30ft of the intended target)
The bow was therefore reshaped using a spoke shave to make this smaller styled bow once the bow began to bend it was then time to tiller.
Nocks were then put in so that string may be attached to the bow for tillering and as bow string later on

A spoke shave tool used in shaping the bow

Shaping the bow on a shaving horse

Part 3. Tillering the Bow.

Tillering the bow using a tillering jig

Tillering is an extremely important stage in making a bow it is really this stage that turns a piece of wood into a working bow and it is a stage in which much care must be taken.

I used a tillering jig to tiller my bow that are quite simple to make and this one attaches to a shaving horse.

First it is important to make sure that the bow is bending evenly on both limbs, if the bow is not bending evenly then parts will be weaker than other and this may cause a break or a twist and a number of problems. To make sure the bow is bending evenly it is attached to the tiller and lightly pulled so that it may be visible the areas not bending, these areas are then worked on lightly with either a cabinet scraper or a wood rasp as I used, care must be taken not to over work these areas or a hinge may occur. The thickness of the bow should be roughly even throughout.

Removing wood as required during tillering with a wood rasp

Once the bow is bending evenly it is then time to tiller to the desired draw length and weight. Due to the shortness of my bow the draw length was only going to be about 26 inches maximum and we managed to get the draw weight to 36 pounds. To do this the bow is lightly worked on until it may be pulled to the desired poundage/ length, tillering also allows the bow to get used to being pulled and should always be done gently at first to warm it up.

Here you can see the areas worked on with the rasp during tillering

Once the limbs are bending equally and enough wood is taken away to get the desired draw length then essentially the bow is done and ready to be finished and fitted with a string.

Part 4. Finishing the Bow

Now that the bow has been shaped as desired and the draw length as desired all that remains to be done is sand the bow to a nice smooth finish, oil it if desired (I recommend Danish oil) and fir the string the shoot.
To make a string I recommend using Dacron and it is made much in the same way as making cordage and is created as follows in the image.
I made the bowstring using the Flemish string technique and the bottom loop tied using the timber hitch. A Flemish bowstring is made of separate strands cut to length and made into two or more plies and the top loop is made by placing in the end of the plies with the main body of the strings using a rope twist method.
The general rule of thumb is that the amount of string used should be about 3 to 4 times the length of your bow. Once you have the right amount of string, the strings should be waxed so that they don’t unravel.
To form the top loop twist the strand clockwise and then cross it anticlockwise over the other and repeat until a corded length is created long enough to form the loop. Wax the loop as well. Lay in the strings so that the ends are slightly stronger.
To make the second string follow this technique except this time it can be trickier as the ends are broken but the technique applies, the ends are laid in to make it stronger and the strings are waxed. The knot that is then used is the timber hitch “bowyers hitch”
Serving string is then wrapped around the area in which the arrow will rest and the string pulled to protect it from wear and tear.
The string should be waxed regularly.