Ok so this is just a quick update on my site in the Mission Rings section. I know I only have three rings so far and soon I will post one for Mexico. So I hope to come up with more designs, but it’s a slow process. I am not able to make a sample ring for every mission out there so I have found a way that hopefully works. Now when you order a mission ring you will be able to select your finger size and then once you add it to your cart a pop up window will come up and ask what mission you were in. Just add the mission name to the field and add it to your cart. This way I can change out the text before I cast it and you will have you mission ring that looks like the sample photo, but with your mission name on it. It’s an exciting update that I feel will help to easily make your mission ring personalized. If you wanted a date or something like that, I am thinking of having that option too. Just like this post if you would like this and I’ll add if with enough support. Thanks.
Always a little progress is good
Things are moving along slowly, but to me any progress is good. I was able to figure out where some of the electricity is going. I got electricity working in the shed I want to tare down and possibly rebuild. I also got a telephone pole that has a light on it working. It had extra wires I disconnected that I have no idea where they go and are not live. I also would like to redo some wiring because it all looks so old and falling apart. Probably not very safe. There is one light near the shop that I tore down and need new wiring and a new light. That will be done soon.
The guy I’m going to hire to use machinery to help clean up the land has cancelled our scheduled date. It should be happening again next weekend. Until then I’ll continue working at it one day at a time cleaning up as much as I can. For now I’ve included an image to show you the vision I have for the property.
This is my vision for the Garden House
I haven’t had any sales this past month so I’m taking advantage of the time to polish up some designs I had cast months ago. This gives me the time to work in other areas of my business that need work on. So expect to see some new designs come out soon. That is always good. :) It’s been hard to find all the little miscellaneous things I need to work smoothly. For example I want to take pictures of some new designs and I can’t find my white box that I made to do that. My lighting is also not easily accessed. I now have to find a new way or make and find a new spot to do my jewelry photography. It’s those little things that sometimes can be big and make a difference. It’s a lot like life in general sometimes. My new goals are to do as I’m doing along with trying to find new ways to promote my designs. Not sure how yet, but as I try and figure it out, my hopes are that my mind will be enlightened with ideas as to how I should proceed. I see it all the time that people quit their jobs and start their own businesses and manage to survive. I’ve been doing this for well over 20 years and I still can’t manage to survive (good thing I’m not surviving off it). I think the one main difference is not product or design, but promotion. I can design and make beautiful things, but I don’t know how to promote myself. That is the main issue. Once I push my boundaries in that area and find a way to put myself out there, I will probably then find a way to survive. Let’s hope I can do that sooner than later. I don’t want to be a huge business, just one that I can make a living from. Anyway, I am thankful for all of those people that have supported my over the years by buying my art. Each sale is so important to me and I am thankful for each and every one of you. Thank you!
My new DA shop is up and running and Progress at the Garden House
So I finally got the shed bug proofed as best I could without rebuilding it. I also moved all my equipment in. I have electricity and water (no sink). I’m so excited to have my shop all set up and working. A place to go and work. It will be there for a while till we are able to build something new years down the road.
I also have been cleaning up the yard on weekends. I’m slowly moving brick, cutting weeds, etc. Last weekend I had a friend come and help with taring down the roof of the carport as you can see in some of the images. This weekend I plan to tare down the carport rafters, walls and the shed next to it that’s falling apart. By the end of the month I will be hiring someone to do a lot of work with machines to help clean up the land. It will take me too long to do it all by myself. This will speed things up so I can concentrate on taring down the walls on the property. I will have a lot of brick to stack for projects or to sell. I have already sold some random things from the property. I can’t wait to get it clean enough to start with my vision which I will share at another time.
For now I just hope to keep moving forward. With interest rates going up so fast, by the time we have plans made and ready to go, who knows what the prices will be to build. If it’s out of our reach, that would not be cool, but I’m optimistic and will always be trying to make things work out no matter how hard it is. No one said this journey would be an easy one. We will enjoy the journey because that is where all the memories of this place will bring. We will remember all the progress we did, difficulties along, the fun times and beautiful times. I will keep my blog posts going to keep you up to date on our journey at the Garden House. Over time I hope it becomes just that.
Keep watch as you slowly see the progress at the Garden House. :)
So the Adventure begins.
So the Adventure begins! It’s official. We just sold our house and in exchange bought 2.5 acres of land with no home on it. We are excited and a little scared at what comes next. There is a lot of change that will go on in our lives for many years to come. My family and I will grow together through this new and exciting times for us. I hope we can make it happen, meaning that we can build a house that we are happy with. Last night (3/28/22) I dropped the 1967 VW bug off onto the property. I will keep it there. That was day one. Today is day two is today as I write this. Not much happening besides some planning. My plan so far is to get rid of a tree that is going through our electrical line. Once that is gone I hope to get the electricity on so I can then move my shop onto the property. Dana Arts will live in a new home. Cramped, but with lots of room to expand as I am able. After shop is set up we will start making plans to clear the lot a bit, find the leach field, grade the land in some areas, and start to look at plans for a house. My days will be full from here on out. I will do my best to share here on my blog my progress with the land and hopefully my Dana Arts expansion over time. Thank you for supporting me and lets keep Dana Arts alive and growing.
Now to explain these images. lol. So the property use to have a manufactured home on it that burned down. This shed and the backyard walls were still remaining. There is a lot of cleanup to do all over the whole property and to save some time and money I will get this shed up to speed for Dana Arts shop. At a later time down the road I will hopefully build a bigger better shop, but this little thing will get me going for now. I hope to post pictures as I progress through this growing/transition period.
Future site for Dana Arts
For the ruins I already have plans to save money. I plan on keeping them to save money and time so I don’t have to do all the work myself or pay someone a lot to get rid of it. I’ll clean the area up and then I plan on turning this into a garden. I can envision a garden within the ruin walls. I’ll modify it a little bit, but once cleaned up it should come out beautiful.
The Ruins
I love the dream. I hope that my family and I can make it happen. The first step is complete and now to do the hard work. Stay tuned for more progress at “The Garden House”. (what my family and I decided to call the property).
Moving off Silversmith Trail????
Well ever since I lived in this area I’ve always wanted to live on Silversmith trail because I though it would be so cool to live on a street that fits me and my business. I mean silversmith trail, how could it be better than that? A silversmith living on silversmith. Well it has been fun and I have enjoyed this home on silversmith trail. It has served me well and has been a great place to grow my business. I have been able to start casting here and I have turned the 3rd car garage space into a workshop. It has a sink in the garage too where it has been very handy to have. I do wish it was bigger, but all in all it has done it’s purpose. I will miss this place greatly. This is my second home and have raised my kids here in a memorable way. We have created a garden here that has finally started to produce for us. A grape vine that has finally grown to be very large. An apricot tree that yielded a lot of fruit this past year. We have lots of good memories here.
It’s time to move on. We have always known this would not be our final home. I’ve always wanted some land where I could expand and create a lasting home with more memories. I have been trying to find and get some land for maybe six years now. We even at one point sold our first house and tried to get an acre lot that didn’t work out in the end and so we were guided to this silversmith house. I’m glad we are here. Now the adventure continues as we go for another piece of land. This time it’s 2.5 irrigated acres that already has water, electricity and a 2000 gallon septic tank on it. There is no home on it and I don’t know when or what we can afford to build on the land. I do know that this is our next adventure and we will figure something out even though it’s probably a bad time to build with the prices so high right now. I’m excited. We have done lots of praying and figuring out our next phase in life. We all, as a family, feel good about this decision. Some people might think we are crazy for trading a house for land, but that is what we are doing. I will hopefully start sharing this new adventure as we try and develop the land and create new memories. Even though it will take time, I will start out by having my business there in a shed that I can work out of. I’ll keep you all posted of how that goes. Definitely will not be as nice as here for a long time. I’m going backwards to start moving forwards.
My unfinished backyard
Sorry for the lineage mistake
So to find out I just wanted to apply for the associate membership to the Patawomeck tribe. It seams from what their historian says there is one mistake in my line. They say that quote:”
Here is an excerpt from William Deyo's book about Monteith "updates and revisions" section:
There needs to be some clarification in regard to another child that so many people have claimed was a daughter of Henry Meese, namely Grace, the wife of John Ashton. It is important that this is NOT a family tradition but was inferred by a deed of gift (a cow) of Henry Meese to Mary, the daughter John and Grace Ashton. Many believed that this meant that Grace was a daughter of Henry Meese, which was impossible. First of all, Henry Meese, who was indeed very close to the Ashton family (including Col. Peter Ashton, who is strongly believed to have married another daughter of Chief Wahanganoche because of the gift recorded in the Virginia Council minutes that the Chief gave to Peter Ashton), only made a deed of gift to ONE child of John and Grace Ashton, named “Mary”, and made no gifts to any of Mary’s siblings. This appears to have been a frequent gesture made when a person was a godparent of a child. Henry Meese was likely the godfather of Mary Ashton, who was very likely named after Henry’s Indian wife, which is why his wife has been called “Mary”, as well. We now have proof that Grace could not have been a daughter of Henry Meese. Meese was born in 1628, which is inferred by the baptismal records of the English Overwarton Parish in Oxfordshire. Even though his own baptismal record is lacking, he is listed in the English Visitation of Oxfordshire between the baptismal records of other siblings and his place as a numbered son is given. Grace, wife of John Ashton, was married to her husband before 21 June 1651, when she made an oath, as the wife of John Ashton, and relict of William Best, deceased, that Best’s inventory was a true account. Best’s inventory was made on 4 May 1650 in Warwick County, Virginia. Grace was a widow of William Best by that date and may have been married to him for a number of years. Even if she had only married William Best in 1649, the year in which John Ashton appeared in the records of Warwick County, and was only 16 years old when she married him, her birth would have been in 1633, when Henry Meese was only 5 years old! Grace was more likely to have been the wife of William Best for a few years and was probably older than Henry Meese, who was called her father by many! Grace was apparently the daughter or very close relative of Dr. William Frizer, who made her the executor of his estate and gave large tracts of land to her children.”
So if true that breaks my blood line to the Native American lineage. It was a cool though and at heart I still have some Native American in me. Unfortunately my bloodline can not be recognized by the Patawomeck tribe. I’ll continue to do some more research to see what I can find. History is hard when so many records are lost and some things are inaccurate.
Who do we come from? or What lineage do we have?
I am only going to discuss my lineage and not anything about religion and God. That would be a topic for another day. I love both topics, but want to share with you some interesting things I have found about my lineage. I feel like a mutt with so many ancestors from so many places., mainly from Europe. Today I’d like to go over one lineage line that I never knew about.
I just recently was told of this information about me, that I have direct lineage to Pocahontas and the Sister of Pocahontas. This stuck with me and made me think about it a lot it and then do the research to see how true or not this is. I found out that yes it’s true because of some very interesting events. First off, I really do feel so sad about the tragic event of war and all that happened during that time period. The true story of Pocahontas is very sad and awful of which I will not get into today. I do however think it’s just so very, very cool that I have some Native American blood in me, even if a small amount. I love Native American crafts and way of life. I have learned how to make coil pots, arrowheads, bow and arrows, and to even start fires with sticks. If you have known me over the years, you’ll have seen me wear my leather clothing out in the deserts of Arizona or when I was young in California. I’ve been learning and taking part in as much as I can about Native American culture. Now I can proudly say I actually have some ties to this great land.
Me when i was much younger blowing on a fire. (Photographer - I don’t know, but I added the filter)
So here is my line and I won’t put dates, etc just names to make this easy and no living names.
Pocahontas direct line
Me - My dad - Florence Bertha Burgess - Sarah Bertha Rynearson - Sarah Elizabeth Alexander - Randolph Alexander - Angus Alexander - Randolph Alexander - Jesse Alexander - Anguish Alexander - Priscilla Frances Ashton - Grace Meese - Mary Wahanganoche - Unknown Pettus - Ka Okee Powhatan - Pocahontas Matoaka Rebecca Powhatan
Sister of Pocahontas direct line
Me - My dad - Florence Bertha Burgess - Sarah Bertha Rynearson - Sarah Elizabeth Alexander - Randolph Alexander - Angus Alexander - Randolph Alexander - Jesse Alexander - Anguish Alexander - Priscilla Frances Ashton - Grace Meese - Mary Wahanganoche - Chief Wahanganoche - Sister of Pocahontas
So from what I have found out through some research (and correct me if I’m wrong) Chief Wahanganoche was married to Unknown Pettus who was the daughter of Ka Okee who was the daughter of Pocahontas. Yes he married his cousins daughter.
So Chief Wahanganoche also was the son of I-Oppasus, commonly called Japasaw by the English, who was married to the Sister of Pocahontas. You can read about it from the Patawomeck tribal geneology or another article here.
This is how I’m related to both of them. Very interesting. I never knew I had any Native American blood in me. I live in Arizona and have studied different Native American crafts from around here, but now I’d like to see if I can start making some crafts geared towards my family line that if I am right would be part of the Patawomech tribe. I do not live in Virginia and do not qualify for Tribal status, but I know at heart I’m just as much part of the tribe as any other direct lineage member there. I’m just excited to find all this out. It touches me because I like having Native American blood in me even if it’s a very small amount. Also that it’s coming from the line of Pocahontas and her Sister is a bonus. The history, although tragic, is now part of my story. I don’t know why, but I feel this has changed me is a special way. Knowledge and knowing who you are is so very important. I hope we can all do some digging into genealogy and find out something interesting about your own family history. I know you’d be surprised about what you can find. I know there is so much more to discover. It can be hard at times to do the research, but it can be very rewarding to read about the stories of our decedents.
So there you have it. Can I now claim some of my art as Native American? I don’t know, but I feel to some degree I can.
Me when I was young teaching how to make coil pots
I don’t know who the photographer was, but I added the filter.
Lao shoulder bag in cotton and linen
So when I lived in Laos many years ago I had bought this shoulder bag made from cotton and old textiles that were cut up and reused to make the bag. I loved the fabrics and textiles in that country. I love how they are handmade and the old rough feel, yet beautifully crafted bags are just so unique and represent what I love in a product. Well my bag wore out and I made a video of me repairing it (found here). I still love it and tried to at least create something similar to what I had by using interesting fabrics. I bought some khadi cotton fabric from India, and some hemp from Ukraine, and some other fabrics like linen that go with the feel of what I’m after. So I’ve recreated the idea the best I could for now. I hope to improve them with time. I did make a slight change to the overall design in that I added a 7” inch zipper pocket on the inside. Other than that the overall dimensions are the same as my original bag. It is very large and can hold a lot. Things might get lost in it, but I guess just don’t put so much in it. ::).
I didn’t realize how much work goes into making these. I think all the measuring and cutting is what takes the longest because there is so much fabric involved in making them. I’ll need to come up with a template if I continue making a lot more of these. I really like the Khadi cotton (handwoven cotton from India) and the natural colors and patterns it gives to the bags. This mixed with the linen and cotton fabrics are what I envisioned for these bags.
I really hope you like them too. Each one is unique and made one at a time. I do my best to create the best quality products. I am not a pro at sewing yet so you should be able to see the small flaws that go along with that. For me that just makes them that much better showing that they are not made by a machine. :)
I do plan on making some other sizes in the future. You can view what I have available at any given time in the craft section here on my site.
Cloth Bags
So I have been making these cloth makeup bags for a while and with every new one I make brings me joy. I get excited to make bags. I haven’t made tons of bags over the years like I’ve always wanted to, but when I get a chance I do. Although this makeup bag pattern is not my own, I still love coming up with the right color combinations. It’s just fun. I have designed many leather bags over the years. I use to make these leather back packs a lot when I lived over in Lao P.D.R. I still like making them, but don’t have much time to hand make them like I once did. I hope to eventually get a nice heavy duty sewing machine for leather work and make cool leather bags, but that is another subject for different day. I would like to create a few new ideas I have in mind. First off I need more materials. To me the cloth is important and I don’t like most of the fabrics at local stores. I try and look for fabrics from other countries that have unique qualities to them such as being handwoven or unique colors and patterns. As I slowly gather a collection of unique fabrics I will start building some new products with them. It sounds so fun to create new ideas with new colors and patterns. So Stay tuned for future cloth bags and other products that I can think of.
Zippers. I am using 7” nice quality zippers for my bags. They are metal zippers and I like incorporating them into my work. On larger bags I like to make side pouches and other easy to access areas. This way the little things don’t get lost in the larger more spacious bags. This is also a learning process. I love learning new things and this is not exception. I learn pretty fast so hopefully you’ll start to see some nice quality bags appearing on my site. If you have any cool ideas that you’d like me to build then run it by me and I’ll see what I can do for you. Art and crafts are what I love doing so don’t be afraid to ask. I just might be able to make it for you.
I know this is a short blog post. I’ll try to keep more coming more often just so you can see what I’m up to. Just updates and ideas for now. If you ever would like me to talk about a specific topic that is realated to what I do then feel free to let me know and I’ll share. Until next time this is Justin Thorup signing off. :)
Propagating and Grafting
So I love gardening and I know this has nothing to do with my art, but just a fun thing to do that I’ve recently started experimenting with propagating and grafting. How did this idea get started? Well I had a Modesto ash tree that had a disease. Over the summer all the upper branches died except for one and all the upper branches had very small leaves. It had no growth that season. At the base of the tree I allowed some new growth to start up above the graph. The leaves were three times bigger and they looked like how the tree should be. So I have since replaced the tree with a fan west ash. I took the Modesto ash and cut it down. I then took that new growth branches or scions and stuck some in the ground and some in a jar with water. I also took one and grafted it to the root stalk of the same tree. that is now in a pot.
To not get this confusing I’ll just list my other experiments.
Put into jar with water - bonito ash, modesto ash, apricot, nectorine
stuck into the ground or in pots - bonito ash, modesto ash, nectorine, grape vine, apricot
grafted - a branch of apricot to nectorine, a branch from the nectorine to the apricot, a branch from the bonito ash to the fan west ash.
as I explained about the Modesto ash I grafted into the original rood stalk it came from
I did not use any root hormones. I just used honey on the ones I shoved into the ground. I’ll have to do a follow up, but after over a month now looks like there is grown on the majority of the sticks. The grape vines and the Modesto ash are the two with the most growth. I notice in the jars that the upper growth is coming along just fine, but still no roots. I’m sure it’s concentrating it’s energy to new growth and not the roots, so I’ll wait it out and see if the roots will start at some point.
I’m so excited to see how all this works out. I’ll do a follow up in a few months.
Propagating in jars
images of my grafting and propagating