HiowBeorht

27/07/2026

29/06/2026

A bit of a photo dump from last week's Chalke History Festival
I was there for 8 days, but only managed to take a few photographs.

In summary:

It was HOT!

All the workshops we ran were great fun and everyone was amazing!

Had the fabulous company all week of Thimblerig games and even went to one of his workshops (highly recommended!!!)

Eternally grateful to Peter, Tracey , Lexi and Nick The Copper Pot & Jane's Historical Kitchen for the WiFi, drinks, snacks and good company.

Nice to see the puppeteers James and Dave (and Mel) from Rattlebox Theatre - see you guys in Valhalla!

Best talk of the week was undoubtedly 500 years of art in one sentence, by - it was hilarious

We also enjoyed On Cue Theatre Company 🎭
- Dr Charlotte Gauthier - Michael Wood and Stephen Pollington - Eleanor Janega - Melanie Giles - Tony Robinson - Al Murray and probably a few more! But not as many as I would have liked to see!

Had fun meeting, chatting to or hanging out with the following excellent people:
Mike Mike | Carpentry and Craft
Alex The Time Travellers Kitchen
Jen and her friend (who knew a lot about dinosaurs)
Jen and Lil Lil
Penny Jane and Dominic Shaftesbury Abbey


The war memorial stone carvery who let me have a go.
The History Maker
Charlie Bingham - Author & Historian
And many many more that I can't recall right now as the sun melted my brain! Did I say it was HOT?

Finally thanks to Mark Griffin for organising the Reenactors end and Laura - Laura Bailey for inviting us in the first place and sorting out all the workshops!

20/06/2026

27/04/2026

Some random photos from the this weekend.
It was a really busy weekend, so thanks to the organisers, the Reenactors, the traders, the Abbey, and all the visitors that made it a fantastic way to start the season!

22/04/2026

Dance like no one is watching.
There are a few depictions of people performing like this in medieval manuscripts and I think they're a marvellous window into the entertainment people back then thought wonderful enough to capture in their paintings.
Can't recall what manuscript this is from. I have it written down somewhere in my studio so I will add it in the comments when I get round to it.

11/04/2026

Finished one of the panels for my Pangur Bán book. It is supposed to be the author, Sedulius Scottus, but is actually a copy of a depiction of Bede.

31/03/2026

In my last post I showed the modern English text of Pangur Bán written and decorated in a 14th century gothic style. This is the old Irish (I think) text, written in an Insular Minuscule style (ish). The finished piece will be a concertina book with the different versions on each side.

29/03/2026

I'm creating a Pangur Bán book with modern English in a blackletter script on one side and the original Irish (?) in insular minuscule on the other. It's something I have wanted to do for a long time. Currently adding flourishes with hidden mice in them!