It's a perfect day for dreams come true

Reliquaries aren't expensive (5-10£ each, or fancy ones are more like £20) but trying to buy a dozen (or more) of them obviously adds up fast.

So, if you can afford to buy your own reliquary, please do! This kind of thing, the kind that can be hung on a nail:

(If you can't afford a reliquary, just use a little plastic baggie or a bit of folded paper. I found these ones at HolyArts, there is also a shop called Eden, both online and reasonably priced, but anything between about 2cm and 12cm diameter can work)

MOST IMPORTANTLY: YOUR FIRST CLASS RELIC - YOUR GREY HAIRS (Head, eyebrow, beard, body, anything is welcome!)

Optional to Include:

- A name if you want to have a name included, or an attribute if you want an attribute instead (eg "The tall" "the poor" "the Czech" etc).

- A second class relic (a scrap of fabric, a bead, a bit of lipstick on a napkin) and the explanation of the second-class relic (eg "This is smudge of glitter from the eyeshadow I wore at Pride in 2011")

My first reliquaries (empty) have arrived, ranging from about 3cm to 11cm... Now to get a ribbon in my typewriter to make the labels.

They're going to end up looking something like this:

I don't plan on "antiquing" any of the theca, but some of them might end up using empty pocketwatch cases, so will be possibly a bit grubby to start with. They're going to look as much like "real" relics as possible, and they'll be hung around a central certificate explaining them.

It is on the way to me now and I just got a notification that it's at my PO box and will be on the way to me at the next dispatch!!!!!!!!

I know who, but don't want to out them on here without their consent but, I am SO EXCITED.

I also have 2 relics already in their theca (Me and my partner), 1 in a paper wrap awaiting enshrinement (My son's best friend), and two more promised (My son and her wife). Bringing us to 6 so far!

(Test theca- This is just the first attempt at making them look "right", there will probably be a dozen more tries before I settle on them. I have been delighted to notice that when I'm working with the relics, I immediately treat them like real relics- Even knowing they're mine and my partner's grey hairs, which are a renewable resource, as I was cutting and arranging them I found myself being impossibly careful, feeling like dropping even a single strand would be a tremendous loss.)

I'm going to extend the offer again - If anyone wants to be part of this, make up your reliquary and get in touch with me by the FIRST OF AUGUST and I'll give you the address to send it to.

Other FAQ:

-It will not be sold, this is a piece that will stay in my possession: If you ever want your relic back, ask me and I'll send you it back. You can also give me other instructions, like how to respectfully dispose of your relic if you ever want it to be (in the absence of instructions, I'd release them into water, in the same way as I do with my own hair and nails).

-When not on display, the theca will stay in a flat rack along with other paintings not currently on display, in my office. If there are eventually enough theca that they can't all be displayed at once, they will go in a dedicated storage crate and will be rotated on and off display as the piece travels.

-I will not be making any money off the planned display of this piece, and if I ever am offered money for the future display of this piece, or for prints of it etc, I will donate that money to charitable causes for the good of trans people, with the priority for donation going to trans-led and queer-community-ran organisations, not to ones that are "for" us but not "by" us.

Smashing up some old furniture in the Masonic Hall today, and it had EXACTLY the kind of heavily-scarred old timber that I wanted for the backplate of the shrine.

The other day I was surfing the internet and I found this specialized painting colour wheel, it shows how real paint colours relate to each other. 

Outside: the purest/brightest colours.

Inside: naturally muted or earthy colors, like browns and ochres.

The Center: dark neutral tones used for mixing shadows.

The Lines: the lines connect colors that are opposites, if you mix them you neutralize the tone creating clean grays or browns instead of muddy puddles.

I want to share this with you because I think it is really illustrative!

This icon has been written on dried flounder. Sacred images on dried fish are extremely rare. They began to be painted in the 19th century by Ukrainian fish and salt merchants, called “chumaks”. They brought their goods from the Black and Azov Seas using carts pulled by oxen, and then sold them at street markets.

Chumaks spent a lot of time on the road. They attached such images to their carts, probably as travel icons, in the same way as some modern Christians place icons in their cars