A map of The Holy Land

MAPS AND OTHER STUFF

I like fantasy maps, historical maps, and that zone right in between the two.
For me, nothing sets the stage for a good story than a lay of the land.
If you need one for your story or game or epic quest themed scavenger hunt, I’d enjoy the challenge.

I also do art based off of Insular art styles and traditions—one of my favorite ideas to run with is the thought of what it would look like (and what lost stories would have been preserved) if the Viking sagas and stories were recorded by the great illuminators of the Irish monasteries. Ironic, as we don’t know what countless manuscripts were lost as a result of the initial Viking invasion, but also a fascinating idea to think of recovering lost books of the Norse and Celtic world. It’s fun to think of a world where instead of raiding these monastic sites the Vikings saw the beauty of these manuscripts (like The Book of Kells) and wanted in on it. It makes you wonder what cultural stories the northmen would have had the monks record in their richly ornamented, wheeling manuscripts, as they loved the countess stories of their people, had an excellent eye for interlace and zoomorphic knotwork, and...to put it simply, couldn’t seem to resist the chance to have more gold, precious stones, and riotous color in their lives.

So all that to say I sometimes take existing sagas and try to tell them visually in an Insular style to make it look like a byproduct of the two cultures meeting. I still have a lot to learn about making this style work, but I enjoy it so much I expect I’ll be at it for years to come.

A folio depicting many of the main themes in Egil’s Saga, including my favorite part where Skallagrim dives for his anvil.