I finished this calligraphy piece several months ago but forgot to blog it-- it's J.R.R. Tolkien's beautiful poem Namárië from The Lord of the Rings. It is written in Quenya (the High Elvish language). On the left, the poem is written in our alphabet, and on the write, it is written in the Tengwar (Elvish) script.

The poem is a beautiful piece which the Lady Galadriel sings to Frodo when the Fellowship leaves Lothlorien to destroy the Ring. 

I didn't have space to fit the entire poem on my little sheet of paper board, so I just used the first stanza and stuck the final two lines (about farewells and finding Valinor) on at the end. 

The border was done entirely freehand using india ink and watercolors. I am pretty proud of it-- this was my first time making an Art Nouveau border, and I'm getting better at making celtic knots with decorative tips.

The heraldic device at the top is the symbol for Feanor, as designed by Tolkien himself. I thought this device would be fitting because not only is Feanor Galadriel's anscestor (if I have my genealogy straight), but it was mostly because of his family that the Elves were banished from Valinor-- and this poem is all about Galadriel's longing for Valinor when she thought she could not return, but nonetheless wished that Frodo may make it there one day. (Valinor is sort of like an Elvish heaven-- sort of, not really, but it's the best description I can come up with off the top of my head).

Here's the English version of the poem:

Ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind,
long years numberless as the wings of trees!
The years have passed like swift draughts
of the sweet mead in lofty halls beyond the West,
beneath the blue vaults of Varda
wherein the stars tremble in the song of her voice, holy and queenly.

Who now shall refill the cup for me?

For now the Kindler, Varda, the Queen of the Stars,
from Mount Everwhite has uplifted her hands like clouds,
and all paths are drowned deep in shadow;
and out of a grey country darkness lies on the foaming waves between us,
and mist covers the jewels of Calacirya for ever.
Now lost, lost to those from the East is Valimar!
Farewell! Maybe thou shalt find Valimar.
Maybe even thou shalt find it. Farewell!

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For those of you complete Tolkienites, the title of this blog post ("Farewell") is not about me saying farewell to blogging or anything. I have one more crazy busy week of school left, and after that I will be taking a couple of days to just do nothing and not feel guilty about it (in other words, I will curl up on the hammock for two days and do nothing but devour some novels and drink lots of iced tea and catch up on TV shows before bed). After that, however, I will be working on some of the hundreds of creative projects that have been clanking around in my brain. :) 

It's so incredibly strange to think that I am almost done with high school. It's been a beautiful four years and I've learned and grown so much! For all of you still in school, when does your summer vacation begin?

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We intended to release this at the same time as The Hobbit premiere but my internet connection was doing funny things. I'm sorry that the quality is really fuzzy and has the strange extra several seconds of black; if anyone has tips on getting videos to upload to YouTube properly, please let me know!

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A few months ago, I sent my friend Julie an email: "So, this is probably going to sound crazy, but what do you think of trying to do a music video in Elvish?"

Most people, I think, would have either backed away slowly or rolled their eyes. Not so my geeky and talented friend.


She spent a while translating Into the West, the song sung by Annie Lennox in the credits of The Return of the King, into Quenya. She began with a version on the website Quenya 101, but took some creative liberties with the lyrics and pronunciation in order to fit the words to the music. Kelsey very kindly offered to accompany the song on the piano.

None of us really knew what we were doing. I was the techie; I used an old keyboard, a Guitar Hero mic, and GarageBand to record the song. We had to do three or four takes before making a recording that did not have any coughs, sniffles, or missed notes. By the end of the final recording that afternoon, Kelsey's hands were shaking and Julie kept taking deep breaths. It was rather funny in a not-funny sort of way, because they were uptight and nervous for a solid two hours of recording-- but I got to relax on my bed and listen to beautiful piano and singing all afternoon.

We got some very interesting background noises that I couldn't totally eliminate-- but it was an experiment! Experiments are allowed to go badly in the hopes that they actually go quite wonderfully.
Julie says that next time we're recording a song that is actually in her range.

The video was a TON of fun to shoot, even though I now know many things that one should never do with a camera. The shakiness... yeah... it's really bad... Hey, this was my first time making a video that doesn't consist of simply pointing the camera at my hands as I demonstrate an arts and crafts technique!

My favorite part of this project? (Besides hanging out with friends, learning to use awesome software, and being unabashedly geeky?) Listening to the song over and over as I edited the video. :)

By the way, the lovely red-and-blue dress was made by Laura Cook, whose blog Sew Many Seams is definitely worth checking out! This was the dress she made me in exchange for the Entwife jewelry.

Here's a little photoshoot we did:











Leave a comment if you think that Jules' singing rocks and that Kelsey's piano is awesome-- I'd love to show them your feedback!

From the Dragon's Hoard by Shaylynn Rackers. Winner of Weapons category.

Most people use the phrase "bouncing off walls" in an entirely figurative manner, but I honestly did bounce off walls the day I got the news. Specifically, I couldn't stop jumping up and down and squealing with my siblings, and while lifting my five year old brother into the air to spin and jump with him, I promptly banged my shoulder into the wall!

I am... speechless, honored, overwhelmed, blessed, exuberant, proud, humbled, excited, surprised, and any number of other things.

I'm going to say this with an attempt to not sound boastful or anything, but my parents and I were joking that instead of doing all the dubious things that you are legally allowed to do when you turn 18 (such as buying cigarettes, legally eloping, getting a permit to own a monkey, and bungee jumping-- okay, the bungee jumping sounds really cool--) I won an honest-to-goodness art contest.

The judges were Alan Lee and John Howe and Richard Taylor, you know? Artists and creative geniuses I really admire... It's weird to think that they judged my art, ohmygoodnessgracious!!! Geeking out here!

And yes, there are some epic prizes and when they arrive I'll have some epic photoshoots up here on my blog. :)

I think my brothers and Dad are much more excited about prop weapon replicas than the artwork (Okay, Dad was more excited about the artwork but with my brothers it's a full out tie between "Shaylynn won a LotR art contest!" and "OMG we are getting weapons!). They keep calling dibs on who gets to keep which sword in which bedroom when I leave for college!

If you want to see behind-the-scenes for "From the Dragon's Hoard"that blog post is here.

I also wanted to share some of what I personally consider the coolest pieces in the entire contest:




Without a doubt, this is my favorite entry in the entire contest... THE DETAIL. THE COLOR. THE AWESOME.

Also, the artist's name looked google-able, so I searched her and found her website and blog, which have some seriously impressive pieces.

And a sketch and a larger version of the digital painting!


This is just so beautiful... I especially love the colors and layout and shadows... I just can't think of a word to describe it except for beautiful, even though beautiful isn't a word you'd normally use to describe Trolls...


Again, beautiful stunning colors and obsessive detail! I've only ever thought of Durin's Hall as a gloomy, mammoth relic of older years, filled with musty air and echoes of memories. But "The world was fair in Durin's day..."

Be sure that you are clicking on the pictures to see them full size on the contest website.


There were so many good entries that I'm sure the judges had a very hard time picking the winners, but I imagine the choice between this and "Durin's Hall" was very tough. Personally I would have tied them. :) This is just such a lovely imagining of Laketown and I aspire to be able to paint like this some day.

Wait, this one is bigger, too! (The contest called for a square picture, guess most of the artwork was not drawn specifically for the contest.) I love Google Image search. Lookie lookie lookie at the brilliance!

This is my interpretation of Bag End, how I pictured it as a child. It focuses more on imagination and less on detail, similar to how I felt the first time I read the story.

I really like this one because it's so creative and different.


This one is really clever!

What is that Lamp Which Lights up Men, But Flame Engulfs it, And Wargs Grasp after is Always? My idea of Wargs has always been inspired by the Norse mythological wolves of the same name.

Creepy Wargs are creepy but also hauntingly beautiful...

When one of Smaug's treasures is pilfered by the invisible hobbit burglar, the ancient dragon erupts in a jealous fury, exits the Lonely Mountain, and alights upon its summit.

I love this part in the book. Bilbo and the dwarves come to rely on Gandalf so much, yet when they're entering the most sinister and dangerous place so far, he abandons the group.

Several of the drawings are very purple-and-yellow, which is interesting because the colors I primarily think of when I consider The Hobbit are cheerful gold and green and a creepy dark brown. But I'm really loving these pieces... And this cartoony style is really neat.



I could go on and on sharing the amazing artwork that was entered but I'm running out of time here. Go visit Treasures of Middle Earth Design Contest and feast your eyes. :)

I'm so blessed to have friends who do not think that my crazy ideas are too crazy to be considered. :) They jumped in full-heartedly!


Anyway, I'm being the techie person and doing the final parts of the project, and because of my busy schedule it will be around a fortnight or even longer before we are finished.

These pictures are just too much fun, however, and I can't resist teasing the Tolkienites who read my blog. YOU WILL LOVE THIS, GUYS.

Cuio nin mellyn!