It is not only fine feathers that makes fine birds. ~Aesop Hey friends, come on in for your weekly welcome to the weekend on The Art of Caesura! Wow, my first post as a married man! It feels strange saying it, especially because I'm preparing this a few weeks in advance so that you still have some content while my new wife and I are hiking the Almafi coast, and island-hopping in Croatia! This week marks the last of   the Gaunt Summoner's 4 familiars : Tweak. With his robes and avian form, he looks like a mini-Lord of Change. From his evil, plotting posture, to his sandals, how many times can I emphasize how much I love the character of the Gaunt Summoners Familiars?!   I kind of broke the rules with these guys, I painted their feathers the same colours as their robes avoiding any real contrasting colours. This was intentional though to make it something of a study of texture.  For the feathers of the blue one, I painted him S...

Dear friends, Tomorrow my fiance, Jules, and I are getting married...and I can't wait! I'll Be There  ~ Louise Cuddon  I'll be there, my darling, through thick and through thin When your mind’s in a mess and your head’s in a spin When your plane’s been delayed, and you’ve missed the last train. When life is just threatening to drive you insane When your thrilling whodunit has lost its last page When somebody tells you, you’re looking your age When your coffee’s too cool, and your wine is too warm When the forecast said, “Fine,” but you’re out in a storm When your quick break hotel, turns into a slum And your holiday photos show only your thumb When you park for five minutes in a resident’s bay And return to discover you’ve been towed away When the jeans that you bought in hope or in haste Just stick on your hips and don’t reach round your waist When the food you most like brings you out in red rashes When as soon as you boot up...

With snarled invocations the Thaumaturge hurls roiling blasts of energy into the enemy ranks, before stampeding into the midst of his reeling foes to gore and pummel the survivors to bloody ruin. Games Workshop It's an exciting Friday on The Art of Caesura Okay guys, I have an important shout-out today...Me! I'm actually on my stag (bachelor) party today, and I better not be getting my eyebrows shaved off because the wedding is NEXT SATURDAY! Man, the model I have for you today is a BEAST! He's Silver Tower's Ogroid Thaumaturge. "Where does his name come from", I pondered when I first heard it. Ogroid is ogre-like I guess (even though he's clearly more Minotaur). Thaumaturge is in reference to thaumaturgy (the capability of a mage to work magic). I think they could have riffed off the Minotaur (taurus = bull) part more, maybe Tauric Thaumaurge. Anyway, I digress... Unlike much of my painting, where I spend a while before picki...

Beer is not the answer.  Beer is the question. Yes is the answer. Welcome back to The Art of Caesura! Today I'm going to write about one of the beers that we'll be drinking in a few weeks at our wedding - in fact it's one that I'm brewing specially for the occasion, and the only beer that I've brewed more than once! Of the five beers I've brewed up till now, I chose Great Redeemer Old Ale not only because it was my personal favourite, but (outside a lager) I also thought it would be the most accessible for those who enjoy a beer, but aren't beer-snobs. As a note, the other beer that was in the running, was the first one I made: Lord Finnster. I love IPAs but I know not everyone does so I decided to go for a nice Old Ale instead.  Brewing went along smoothly, and I specifically gave this beer about 6 weeks to bottle-condition to improve the clarity and head. I'd noticed that some of my bottles were losing their fizz, and realize ...

Beer doesn't make you FAT , it makes you lean... against tables and walls. Welcome fellow beer sommeliers to The Art of Caesura! Just a quick diversion from our 5 weeks of Silver Tower content... Long time readers may remember that around this time last year I regaled you all with the great craic I had at the 2nd ever Killarney Beer Festival. In my closing I even uttered the prophetic words: "I'll definately be going again next year!" Well little did I know that this year on the weekend of the festival, I would be working 24 hours, and have an exam...but as if that would stop me! It was another great year for the Irish beer fans (I guess I can just say "the Irish"). The sun peaked out, there was great music, food stalls, entertaining and informative talks, and of course, beer! The first talk we went to was with the Beer Messiah Dean McGuinness who is a regular on the Moncrieff radio show "Movies & Booze". He ...