New batch of handmade leather wallets

A new set of leather wallets is now available for sale by Atelierul de istorie. As its best selling model, they are decorated with the ancient war standard of the Dacians, the so-called Draco (dragon in Latin), a mythical half wolf half serpent creature that the feared Dacians carried in battle to frighten the conquering Romans.

The differences reside solely in the colors of these wallets, some monochrome (black), some with mixed colors (red) and two block-dyed according to our previously described technique (black and brown). The inside pockets are either black or dark brown, assorted with the outside.

Draco leather wallets by Atelierul de istorie

Tooled leather handmade wallets by Atelierul de istorie

Leather dyeing variants by Atelierul de istorie

Wallets insides by Atelierul de istorie

See the description of the block-dyeing technique HERE.

See the Mjolnir-decorated wallets also created by Atelierul de istorie HERE.

And the collection of skull leather wallets available internationally by the same team on Etsy, at the Proper Leather Studio HERE.

History-inspired block-dye leather wallet

The Proper Leather Studio and Atelierul de Istorie present their latest block-dye leather wallet inspired by history. The decorative motif is the ancient half wolf - half snake of the ancient Dacians, the so-called Draco (dragon), while the method has already been described before HERE: the motif is three times blocked with Tandy Leather Resolene (acting as both sealer and blocker), carefully applied with a brush; after properly drying the entire outer cover is dyed with black Eco Flo Gel Antique; and then the background is sponge-dyed with leather dye, leaving a nice gel halo around the wolf. I particularly like this latter detail as it renders the image more artistic and discretely stresses the main decorative motif.

Black block-dyed draco wallet by Atelierul de istorie

Detail of hand sewing and edge finish

Handmade leather bracelets/cuffs

The Proper Leather Studio of Cluj-Napoca, Romania (selling via Etsy) produces fully handmade leather goods such as wallets and bracelets/cuffs. Among the latter, one successful type consists of such fashion accessories with tooled and hand-dyed decoration depicting the Draco. The ancient war standard, an iconic symbol of the Dacian civilization, is very popular in Romania and among Romanians all over the world.

Here are couple of variants of the cuff type and the season greetings from the proper Leather Studio. Merry Christmas! 
Do not forget about the 10% Etsy discount coupon that applies until the end of this year!

Block-dye leather wallet

The Proper Leather Studio is working on a new series of block-dye handmade leather wallets. The new project employs a decorative symbol inspired by the ancient Dacian Civilization from the territory of present-day Romania, i.e. the mythical half wolf half snake war standard of the feared Dacians. This so-called draco (dragon as the Roman put it) was initially blocked with three careful brush applications of leather Resolene, then the entire outer piece of the wallet was covered in Gel Antique and burnished, while the final step consisting of sponge painting with brown dye the surface and corners around the main motif. See more about the block technique HERE.

 

finished wallet

Linocut for car stickers

The latest product, available online, of Atelierul de Istorie is again targeted for those interested in the ancient Dacian civilization. An original linocut depiction of the Dacian wolf (draco) has been turned into a monochrome car sticker. Though an online survey has indicated demand for large stickers as well, up to one meter long, we have decided to test the small variant first, measuring 15 cm in length.

Dacian war standard as car sticker

Draco auto stickers

original linocut draco by Ana Maria Gruia

The same design has been used for outdoor flags as well, rather successfully! One variant has also been transformed for the logo of the company. See that story HERE.

 

Lino project II

New afternoon at the studio to finish the latest lino project. The task at hand was to cut the lino prints, to glue them onto the canvas, ass the "mixtion" and then apply the gold leaf. I made two variants - a lazy one, with the goal applied directly to the canvas and the proper one, with a background of reddish acrylic. The second variant presents certain advantages, in that the red beneath confers a brighter glow to the gold foil and possible cracks in the foil look better when revealing red not white.

Collage with linocut prints

Waiting for the special glue to dry, in order to apply the gold foil

Applying the gold leaf

Two draco versions

Variant I - contours with red acrylic added subsequently

Variant II - gold foil against red painted background

New draco linocut project

Today's work has been dedicated to yet another linocut project, again inspired by the ancient Dacian civilization, i.e. their war standard the mythical dragon - half wolf, half dragon or serpent. On Trajan's Column the draco is seen as a wind sleeve, so I have attempted to render it similarly, though a bit more ferocious.

This is an approximation of the final composition. The work should be a collage, with three linocut prints onto canvas, the background with gold leaf. Canvas size 20x20cm.

The tricky part naturally consisted of the left-right flip and the details (teeth). My solution was to break off the drawing into smaller geometric shapes and straight lines, doing the same with the contours (aka the lino board). As the canvas is square, I thought to balance the general composition with two vertical decorative strips.

See my previous draco linocuts and collages for Atelierul de istorie HERE.For the golden background effect, see this painting HERE.

From linocut to flags

I've had another special order, of a flag imprinted with the "draco", the ancient war standard of the Dacians. I had made a larger linocut series with the motif, but did not dare use lino print on textile, as they were meant to be used outside, maybe in harsh weather. I have thus made a compromise, with a specialized company printing the model on special flag material. The flags are avaible on my company's site HERE and the original linos HERE.

DRACO head lincout project

The war standard of the feared ancient Dacians, inhabiting generally speaking the territory of present-day Romania, was a mythical hybrid creature, half wolf, half snake (or dragon, hence the name DRACO). One of my recent linocut projects envisaged the creation of prints inspired by this motif (previously discussed on the blog HERE).

Lino block for the DRACO

I made several variants, changing the color of the typographic ink, the color of the paper, and a couple of texture effects (whipping out part of the ink for example) - that have been eventually excluded from the final selection of prints to be framed.

See more color combinations and prices HERE and more about the Dacian draco and its ancient depictions HERE.

Logo and marketing

Establishing a handmade company proved quite a challenge for me as an artist as a historian. Atelierul de istorie clearly needed a logo, so I started making a linocut with the ancient Dacian war standard - the Draco, that is available as a framed printwork. The linoprint is rather large, as I wanted to have all the details in good quality. It ended up in two pieces, as my standard linos were smaller than that :) I was able to find the good in the situation and the Draco head is also available, as a smaller framed print.

Still, it looked too arty and too little as a logo, so I turned to a designer for help. He worked the image and generated the logo, as I though it should be: stylized, colorful, comprehensive.

The final step was to have to logo on several products, besides the handmade ones. We chose cotton shopping bags in natural color and T-shirts with the Draco imprinted through serigraphic transfer.

 

Leather earrings

Leather is a very friendly medium for artists. Unlike printmaking, ceramics and other "dirty" mediums, leather-working is clean and fun. There is no need for special tools, scissors, awls, and punchers will do - and all you have to think about is design! Here are some of my own attempts at scrap-leather items:

Handmade leather car mirror decoration - draco, the ancient  Dacian wolf standard

Handmade leather "octopus" earrings - intentionally asymmetrical and 3D

Bird-shaped handmade leather earrings

Conceptual leather earrings - "conception"

Handmade leather "helix" earrings - intentionally asymmetrical and 3D

Ancient Dacian interest

There is a raise in interest towards the mysterious ancient civilization of the Dacians and there is are a number of items on Etsy inspired by such an interest. Romanians living abroad in particular are striving to rediscover one of their less-known ancestors.

 Such artifacts are made in a various of techniques and mediums: small cast figurines, silver jewelry, wood carving, leather dying and tooling, and linocut prints.

Atelierul de istorie

Our online shop is almost two-years old and its doing good for such a young age :))

In 2008 apARTe and VIRTVS ANTIQVA NGOs have started collaborating for an online shop that presents original artworks and handmade products inspired by the civilizations of Antiquity, mainly Dacian and Roman, employing as much as possible natural materials such as leather, textile, ceramics, metal, and glass. The "History Studio" / aka Atelierul de istorie, has been present at several reenactment festivals and events in Romania and is very active online.