Off to the Beach

So I'll be at the beach for a couple days. Expect lots of pictures! Also I bought some shoes to customize, so expect updates on that.

Pic from devArt

A Quick, but Extremly Random, History Lesson

So last year for history and english I took British Studies We covered from the time Britain was inhabited to the end of the reign of the Plantagenet kings and the beginning of the Tudor reign, in history. In English we read the Canterbury Tales and Beowulf in the first two quarters. In the last two quarters we read Shakespeare's history plays (Henry V, Richard III, ect). Our final project for English was to write a research paper and create a website on the king or queen of our choosing. I chose Mary I aka Bloody Mary for no reason other than her nickname. But as I researched her, I realized there was much more to the queen than meets our eye.

 

I decided that I would share my research paper and website just incase anyone would like to read it.

 

THESIS STATEMENT

Due to abuse in childhood and a pre-existing mental condition, Mary I’s phantom pregnancy triggered a depressive and fragile mental state that allowed a genocidal rampage influenced by her strong Catholic sympathies.

PURPOSE STATEMENT

Using various historical references, it will be proved that Mary I had pre-existing conditions, that skewed her judgment, in religious matters. 

INTRODUCTION

 When Mary was a teenager, her mother, Katherine of Aragon was discarded in favor of Anne Boleyn, Mary was broken hearted. Her new stepmother threatened her with death and heaped other abuses on her. Mary also had a disorder called amenorrhea, which symptoms include depression. In order to marry Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII had to break away from the Catholic Church. This religion was the religion Mary I grew up with and loved. She was devastated when the break happened, and longed to return the country to the true religion.

HER TROUBLED CHILDHOOD

In the years after Mary I was born, she was doted upon by Katherine of Aragon, “[r]oyal children were traditionally given their own establishments, but as a precious only child Mary was rarely too far away from the court, so that Katherine could visit her frequently. In this way, she forged a close bond with her daughter”(Waller 18). She was also doted upon by Henry VIII to a lesser degree. Henry VIII had less contact with his daughter but still found it necessary to show her love when the moment suited him. During particular days in the court, Henry VIII would bring out his daughter for all to admire. She was beautiful, talented, and that reflected well on Henry (19).

When Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn, Mary’s life was forever changed. She was declared illegitimate and downgraded to the title of Lady Mary, “[p]rincess and pronounced illegitimate…her stepmother only eight years her senior” (Ross 20). Mary was forced to be subservient to a woman who was only eight years older than her, but she refused to accept this lot in life. Anne Boleyn’s tactics to get Mary to cooperate were to starve her and box her ears if she used the title princess. (Whitelock 57) Anne always resented Mary, and she “always treated Mary with calculated cruelty, heaping humiliations on her and urging the king to have her put to death” (Weir 2). On top of that “[h]er ‘wicked’ stepmother ordered her to wait on the sibling who had supplanted her [Elizabeth I] as heir to England, and threatened to force her into a base marriage or poison her” (Waller 15).

However, it was not only Anne who heaped cruelties on Mary. Her father Henry VIII resented the fact that not only did she still practice as a Catholic, she seemed to embrace the religion fully when Henry VIII started his religious reforms. To remedy this he sent a delegation of men to change her views. When she refused, they turned nasty, one said “that if she were his daughter, he would beat her to death. He would knock her head against a wall until it was as soft as a boiled apple…Then they left, telling her she had four days to think it over”(36). Naturally she feared for her life, and gave in, believing that God would forgive her (36).

HER PYSCOLOGICAL STATE BEFORE AND AFTER THE PHANTOM PREGANCY

Mary I suffered from a disease called amenorrhea, the symptoms of amenorrhea, which is the irregularity of menstrual periods, include depression, headaches, vomiting, palpations, difficulty in breathing, and abdominal swelling (27). She also suffered from a “profound melancholy” like her grandmother Isabella and her cousin Charles (27). Her depression increased after her phantom pregnancy.

Anne Boleyn’s abuse also affected Mary’s mental state. This abuse made her more likely to break under stress, “[e]xposure to complex and chronic trauma [caused by abuse in childhood or adolescence] can result in persistent psychological problems. Complex trauma affects the developing brain and may interfere with a child's capacity to integrate sensory, emotional and cognitive information, which may lead to over-reactive responses to subsequent stress” (Lamont). As a queen she was under the pressure to have a male heir and when her first pregnancy proved to be false, she started cracking and the burnings of heretics increased. This is most prominently shown at the execution of Bishop Cranmer.

When Mary I announced her pregnancy the court was overjoyed but as the months went by it became apparent that she was not pregnant. She probably “suffered from pseudocyesis, a rare psychological condition commonly known as phantom pregnancy…The woman believes she is pregnant and the resultant trauma, when she finds that this is not the case, can be very damaging to her mental health” (Weir 314). She longed to be with child, as she was getting well into middle age, and her chances to have a child decreased. After this phantom pregnancy, the burnings of heretics increased, because “the queen was preoccupied with her phantom pregnancy and depressed in its aftermath…The burnings took on a momentum of their own and Mary was too lethargic to stop it” (Waller 100). The depression had increased, and she was unable to care enough to think about the ramifications the increase of burnings brought.

THE BURNINGS

Mary I, almost from birth, had been immersed in the Catholic theology. She was heartbroken when England turned away from her beloved Church. She even refused to change her religion, “[t]hings grew difficult [during Edward VI’s reign]…because she refused to change her religion” (Ross 22). When she took power, she intended to return the country to the Catholic Church. However, she was cautioned to not take the conversion to quickly. That advice was countermanded by Cardinal Pole, who was the papal legate to England. He played a huge role in convincing Mary to bring England back into the Catholic fold almost immediately. He claimed that it was sacrilegious to do otherwise (Whitelock 268-271). She listened and started the reforms immediately,“[t]he secular authorities were empowered once more to deal ruthlessly with religious opponents: seditious word and activities would be punished” (281). Mary I’s policy of punishment was burning heretics at the stake. (Ross 104)

Her careful composure during this time belied a brittle sanity liable to break under more stress (Erikson 462). Bishop Cranmer was the man in Mary’s eyes who caused all her troubles with her brother and father.  He had been kept in the Tower and asked to recant, to save his soul, and he did. She momentarily broke and Mary went ahead with the execution (Waller 104-105). This over reaction was caused by her personal grudge Mary held against this man. In the same way Mary held a grudge against the Protestants who had supplanted the Catholic Church in England, which was the rightful church in Mary’s mind.

CONCLUSION

Mary I’s abusive childhood and underlying mental condition can be blamed for her overreaction that was the persecution of Protestants. Anne Boleyn heaped abuse on Mary and she had a condition that caused depression. She also was a very zealous Catholic who was devastated when England broke from the Church.

 

The full website

 

She has become my favorite queen of England. Thank you for reading(or skimming) this post!

 

 

 

 

 

 

   



 

 

Updates

Ack! Sorry about the radio silence! Between BreyerFest, a wedding, and a camp I attend, my past two weeks have been tied up! In other news happy August! For some of you (including me) that means school is starting in a couple weeks (bleh)! Surprisingly, my schedule was actually correct this year, save for one class which turns out it wasn't offered this year :-).
My first accessory this year is a bag --->

Next I have an WIP planner

I have a couple more things to make so when they're close to being done, I'll post them.

because he's adorable 

Before We Leave for BreyerFest

So tomorrow I'm leaving for BreyerFest. Hopefully I'll be able to get some shopping done at the CHIN, after we get there, if not definitely Friday. On Friday most of my day will be tied up by the Open Show. It's my first time and I can't wait! Hopefully I'll have a boatload of pictures to upload. Saturday I'll be wandering around, stopping at the C/Y show and hopefully Leslie Kathman's horse color seminar.

See ya there!

The Feather Fund

So on Friday I shipped out a model as a donation to the Feather Fund auction. Each year they gift a Chincoteague Pony foal to a deserving child, or children. Here's their story - 

GOD'S PLAN   by Lois Syzmanski 

"God works in mysterious ways.  He brought together a wonderful woman, a pony  foal and two young girls and everything fell into place on that fateful day, as if directed by God.  But the story didn't stop with just my two girls.  Read on, to learn more.  You will find that Carollynn Suplee is the reason we have the Feather Fund. We operate using the lessons she shared through her generosity, in Carollynn’s honor. 

 In 1995, I traveled with my husband and two young daughters to Chincoteague Island, Virginia for the Wild Pony Swim & Round-up, an event made famous by the Newbery Award winning book, Misty of Chincoteague.  We’d been going to the round up and swim for several years, but 1995 was different for two reasons.  This was the first time my eleven year old, Ashley would be singing at the Misty Museum in town.  There was another thing, too… my daughters, Shannon and Ashley wanted to buy a pony.  They sprung it on the drive down.   “We’ve saved all our money from working at carnivals this summer.  We have $500. Can we buy a pony?” Shannon asked.  
For years we had talked about buying a pony, but they went for high prices and we were a struggling medium income family.  A pony could teach them things that we could not.  My husband, Dan and I knew they wouldn’t get a pony for $500.  Still, we thought it would be a good lesson in perseverance.  If they didn’t get a pony, they would learn to save another year.  So we went to the auction with two children who had high hopes and $500 in their pockets. 
When we arrived at the Chincoteague Carnival grounds and took our seats, we realized something was wrong.  The firemen were scurrying around as if upset.  Then we heard that their public address system was not working.  My husband stood up.  “I have Ashley’s cordless microphone, amps, speakers, anything they need in the car,” he said.  “Maybe we can help.”  When he went to talk to the fireman Ashley tagged along.  Ashley is not one bit shy, and in no time at all she had struck up a conversation with fireman, David Savage.  “We came to buy a pony,” she told him proudly.  “Do you think we can get one for $500?”  David Savage shook his head.  “They usually go much higher,” he said, “but you never know.”  Dan hooked up Ashley’s cordless microphone and amp for the firemen, and the auction was ready to go.   
Ashley stood up to yell, “$500!” each time a foal came into the auction ring. The auctioneer would laugh at her and say, “There’s that gal starting us off at $500, who will bid six?” and someone always did.  By pony # 40 both of my girls were in tears.  “We’re not going to get a pony,” Shannon, my shy one, said.  
“Maybe next year,” I reassured her. 
Then we saw David Savage walking toward us.  He was pointing and making his way through the crowd with a young woman and her husband.  The woman was smiling.   When they reached us, the fireman introduced Carollynn and Ed Suplee. Carolynn’s enthusiasm was infectious.  She practically bubbled when she said, “We want to help your girls buy a pony!”  She nodded and the brim of the floppy hat on her head bobbed. 
My husband shook his head.  “No. Thank you, but we can’t let you do that.”  How could we take money from a stranger?   Carollynn persisted.  “We came to Pony Penning to buy a pony to donate back to the island, but we arrived too late.  The firemen told us all the ones to be donated back had been sold.”  She smiled.  “We came because I have to give something back.  Then, Mr. Savage told us about you.”  She smiled again.  “We want to help buy your pony.” 
We continued to shake our heads and say, Thanks, but no thanks.  By now the crowd was listening.  
“I have to do this,” Carollynn insisted.  “I know God wants me to do this.” 
My husband and I were confused.  Carollynn took off her hat.  Her hair was thin, just growing back in.  “You don’t understand.  I had cancer, a brain tumor.  I didn’t think I would live through surgery.   But God sent me a sign that I would be okay.  During those weeks before surgery, I started finding feathers.  Everywhere I went I found feathers, even in odd places.  I began thinking that He was trying to tell me something.  One day, we were visiting the Grotto of the Lourdes in Thurmont, MD.  I stepped up to read the bible in the garden.  It was open to Psalm 91 and marked at verse 4.  It told me that the Lord would cover me with feathers and protect me.  Then, I understood what he was telling me.  I was safe in his care.” 
The crowd around us was quiet, still listening.  
“When you get something in life, you have to give something back,” she said.  “I want to give back to you.”    “I don’t know.”  My husband was practically speechless.  People around us wre reaching for tissues.  I wiped tears from my eyes.   
“When Mr. Savage pointed you out, a seagull feather drifted down right in front of me," she said.  "Then I saw your daughter’s shirt, and I knew.  I am supposed to do this.”  I looked at Shannon’s shirt.  It was an Indian design with feathers on the front. 
The crowd started to shout, “Let her buy it.  Let her buy it!”  
My husband relented, and suddenly this lady who I was hugging, and her husband, and my children were bidding on a tiny brown pony foal with four white stockings!  
After it was over, we hugged.  We’d purchased foal # 42.  We walked over to the pens to see the colt.  Ashley said, “Can we name him Ocean Feather, or Sea Feather?” 
We were all smiling and crying at the pony pens.  Then we saw the colt.  He turned, and Ed put his arm around Carollynn.  “He has a feather on his neck,” he said.  
We all looked, stunned.  The colt we thought was solid brown had one white body marking on his neck, shaped like a jagged feather! 
Everything had fallen into place as if planned by God: The microphone not working, so Ashley could talk to the fireman; Carolynn and Ed arriving too late to purchase a turn-back pony; Carollynn talking to the same fireman that Ashley spoke to; and the feathers…. the feathers.  It was meant to be.    But the story doesn’t stop there.  Carollynn and Ed returned each summer to the island to buy turn back ponies or ponies for children.  Carollynn would pray for direction, and somehow she always chose a child who had a need… a child who would learn so much from a pony, like my children did.  On those years that Carollynn didn’t feel directed, she and Ed purchased a turn-back pony for the fire department.   In 2002, Carollynn did not feel directed toward any child in need, so they did not purchase a pony for a child.  After the auction, she headed to the car to get carrots for the ponies.  She ran into a young girl, crying, her arms around her mother.  Carollynn stopped to talk. 
“Did you want a pony?” she asked the little girl.   
“The child, Alissa Swenson, nodded.  “We came here to get a pony.  My dad and mom and I planned the trip, but…”  
Alissa was sobbing.  Her mother, Lexy broke in.  “Ron, her dad, got cancer and died before we could get here.  I promised her we would still come.  I found Chincoteague on the map, flew in to Norfolk and rented a car and got us here, but  we live in Wisconsin and I can’t afford to ship a pony home.” 
“I guess you learned about Chincoteague from reading the Misty books?” Carollynn asked. 
“No,” Alissa said.  “I read a book you probably never heard of, called Sea Feather.”  It was the book I'd written about Carollynn and Ed and Sea Feather and my children. What are the odds? Carollynn’s face lit up.  “You know Carollynn in the book?” she asked.  Alissa nodded.  “That’s me,” Carollynn said.  "I’ve been praying for you. I'm your pony fairy,” she said.  Carollynn told Alissa she would get a pony foal the following year.  She said to go home and prepare a place for it and they would meet again at the 2003 auction.  What are the odds that Carollynn would run into Alissa?  50,000 people attend Pony Penning, yet Carollynn ran into the one child who had come from Wisconsin after reading a story with Carollynn in it!  
Carollynn’s cancer came back in March of 2003.  By then, Animal Planet had heard about the story.  They decided to come to Pony Penning and film Alissa getting her pony.  Carolynn was in a wheelchair and not doing well at all, but she was there at Alissa’s side as she purchased the pony she named Chincoteague Miracle.  She nicknamed him Lucky. 
My dear friend, Carollynn died in October of 2003.  Before she passed, her husband, Ed and I talked to her about starting The Feather Fund, a nonprofit organization to carry on her work.  She was a true angel, one I just had to tell you about. 
Since 2004, the Feather Fund has placed more than two dozen ponies with children. If the child parts with their pony they must offer it back to us at a reasonable cost so we can place them in loving homes. 
The Feather Fund has become a very large family. Every year pony recipients make the journey back for Pony Penning, to welcome new award recipients to the family and celebrate together. The reunion picnic continues to grow, like the love and lessons that Carollynn Suplee offered." 

After finding out about this organization, and their annual auction, I decided to pick up on of my stablemates waiting for color and paint a model for their auction. I email the organization, and asked for ref pics of any unusual colored ponies on the island.

Surfer Dude's Riptide - a very pretty silver bay

My rendering of him

I definitely hope to contribute to this auction again next year! Hopefully a larger scale model too.

Here is their website

My Journey into Resculpting - Sculpting the Mane

So today I did the mane. Just like the tail I used the snake method to map out the direction and length of the mane.

Next I began sculpting in the hairs, first I would do some deep grooves, splitting the snakes in two or sometimes three. Next I would do some lighter grooves to add more texture.

My sculpting tool is the end of a paint brush

        

Every so often, I'll brush some rubbing alcohol up the mane to get rid of little balls of clay that will inevitably show up.

It is finished!

The way I do the forelock is the same way I do the manes only with thinner and shorter snakes.

  

My Journey into Resculpting - Finishing the Tail

So when I last left you I was letting the tail firm up before sculpting the other sides. But even as it was drying, I started disliking it more and more. The tail bone was too thick for my taste, and I didn't like how the tail was flagged. So I decided to redo the tail with a different set.

I let that sit over night to fully cure and started sculpting the hair of the tail.

Almost done with the front side

Done!

Then I noticed that one of the hooves was raised off the ground. I did a couple tests, setting the horse on the table tail and all, that had the hoof raised, and then set it on the table with the tail hanging off the table. That test revealed the problem - the tail was to long! So I took my trusty Dremel and cut about an inch and a half of the tail off. I fixed some of the hairs that had been distorted and finally the tail was done! Phew!

Next, I'm moving on to the mane, and fixing the feathers that were damaged when I cut off part of the tail.