My first exhibition!
And look! I’m on the BBC!
My stand. I realised later that it was a weird mix of artists alley and actual stand. This was on the first day; I still had prints!
Jay Johnstone setting up his stand. Now THAT is a stand. I was taking mental notes on how to present myself properly.
Simo, alias Lathron, in his Elven armour that he forged himself. I wish I’d badgered him into doing another somersault that I could take a picture of. But be assured, he did do one; that armour’s very flexible.
Anke Eißmann, who shared a table with me, in the process of sketching Sherlock fanart. ;)
These two had a beautiful stand doing Elven calligraphy.
It was wonderful to see even older fans of Tolkien dressed up and generally sharing all the same enthusiasm.
Before Saruman went to subjugate the Shire under the name of Sharkey, he seems to have tried out Rugby at Lufbra Uni. Judging by the amount of trophies he gathered, it’s surprising he didn’t stick to it. Maybe it was because they always misspelt his name on the jersey.
Malcolm, winner of my purely personal Funniest T-shirt Contest. And generally a wonderful bloke.
Shaun Gunner, deputy chairman of the Tolkien Society and in charge of organising the Return of the Ring event. And yes Shaun, you’re everyone’s favourite! Deservedly.
Nancy Martsch, Ruth Lacon, Ted Nasmith, me, and Anke Eißmann at the “Illustrating Tolkien” panel.
Ted answering questions.
Ted looking at my portfolio. We had a lot of fun discussing lack of backgrounds and lack of characters. It was something I mentioned at the artists panel – that men seem to be focussing on the landscapes and women on the characters.
Me at the watercolour workshop.
Getting ready for the Traditional Knitted Dwarf Toss.
Close-up of the Knitted Dwarf.
A huge Smaug cake that was presented on Saturday night. It was delicious, too.
Ted Nasmith, Alex Lewis, and Lynn Whitaker singing Tolkien-inspired songs. One of my absolute highlights.
Breakfast time with the Dragon Vert Tolkien-reenactment company.
A seamstress from Le Dragon Vert working on a Bayeux- inspired tapestry depicting Éomer.
A setup at camp that just caught my eye.
Farewell to Lufbra. These are the student accommodations, and all in all, they’re about twice as big as the village I live in. I’d never seen such an incredibly large University.
Here are some of the quick watercolour portraits I did over the weekend:
Treebeard
Fingon
Rosie Cotton
Guess who. :D
Another Fingon.
A hobbit I did for Shaun. He said that people seem to draw hobbit feet far too large, and also told me that he had very large feet. So there.
Éowyn.
Jenny Dolfen Art 
Hi! I’ve been following your blog for about half a year now, and I have to say, you’re an amazing artist.
Since you wrote you liked the tolkien inspired songs, here is another beautiful ballad for you:
Aw, sorry, but I don’t like Blind Guardian at all.
How about that melody at the end though. ;) (3:08) I play that bit on the harp. How can you not love that?
Okay, sorry, you don’t like Blind Guardian, it’s understandable.
Great pictures!
Even ballads, who aren’t really metal? I’ve seen your comments in a few places talking about metal music, but BG is not always noisy power metal, they do have acoustic ballads, too. When I’ve heard “Curse of Feanor” for the first time I pushed next song button right away ;) Later I got to like even these noisy songs, but I think I understand what you mean. Unless it’s not the speedy, noisy power metal style that is repulsive for you, but their music in general.
For example “Bard’s song (In the forest)” and “Past and future secret” are ballads in mood of early music, at least for me. “Harvest of sorrow” above is a ballad, too, though different in style. And in the “Nightfall in Middle-earth” album there are short interruptions in form of dialogue or acoustic songs, like “Battle of a sudden flame” – some flute and voices:
http://dayana8907.wrzuta.pl/audio/5Ca3e4VZ1R1/blind_guardian_-_battle_of_sudden_flame
(Press play button, had to link from thre for it’s not accessible at YT from Poland and I’ve heard music at YT is blocked a lot in Germany). I love those small pieces. If you liked it, here are the two old music mood songs:
http://dayana8907.wrzuta.pl/audio/5OdDuWuU2xt/blind_guardian_-_a_past_and_future_secret
http://turkut.wrzuta.pl/audio/6uim7Gw2KVl/blind_guardian_-_the_bard_s_song_-_in_the_forest
Is there any way to listen to Ted’s songs on-line?
Thanks for the links, but I really have a very strong (and very subjective) dislike for BG and pretty much everything they’ve done. I owned the Nightfall in Middle-earth album, listened to it once and actually trashed it.
There are a few examples of Ted’s music at his website here: http://www.tednasmith.com/music.html
Thanks for posting your stories and pics; the exhibition looks like it was fantastic. Hopefully there’ll be a similar event in the not-too-distant future.
Thanks! And I was able to use “Here’s one I did earlier” to great effect. :D
snert. You’ll be out-quipping Charles Ross soon…..
And the cutest Tolkein artist is … Jenny. :-)
^________^
Ted Nasmith! Anke Eissmann! And you! What an exciting gathering of geeky Tolkien-art celebrities (at least from my point of view)! All you need now are Alan Lee, John Howe, and the Hildebrandt brothers.
Congrats on your first exhibition! I hope there are many more for you in the future.
And I can’t *possibly* imagine who that striking red-headed fellow might be :)
I was rather cross with a few people who looked at “there will be blood”, took in the red hair, the Star of Feanor, and Feanor’s heraldic device, and said, “Ah, one hand, must be Beren!”
*slap*
Ouch. Somebody needs to re-read the Silmarillion.
Those were very few at Loughborough, but those few really stood out…
Thanks for the pix and blog posts, Igot the link from a friend who recognised me playing ventrilioquist with Gimli. Sorry I was too shy to talk to you but you always seemed to be doing something wonderful on the desk in front of you, or talking to someone else. Apologies also for fanning you and send art flying ;-)
This is a great set of write-ups and I look forward to seeing your official illustrated calendar, or TH, or LotR, or Sil in the future!
Oh, that’s great of you to drop by! See, I’d forgotten that that was you who sent paper flying. ;) And I’m sure we’ll get another chance to talk in the future – this was my first Tolkien event I attended but I’m sure it won’t have been the last. It was so good to connect with so many people all sharing the same passion!
Let’s all keep our fingers crossed for that calendar!
Seems to be a lovely event, I would really like to have been present :)
It wasn’t until after I’d talked to you and asked you to sketch in my book – a drawing that I love and that has been very much admired by everyone to whom I showed it, thank you! – that I realized that you live in Germany, as I do! I can’t imagine why I haven’t seen anything about you and your wonderful paintings before, but now I have found yet another artist whose Tolkien works are beautiful and inspiring.
Also, your thought on women concentrating more on drawing the characters, men the landscapes is an interesting one. At any rate, I usually prefer the portraits of female artists – yours and Anke Eismann’s especially.
I hope to see you at future Tolkien events, whether German or international!
Whoops, misspelled Anke’s name – please insert the extra *s* mentally!
Oh, it’s so hot here today I could sure do with an Eismann. :D
Definitely! I’m more than considering going to Ring*Con this October.
I’m glad you found me and I’m glad to have met you!
Thank you for the pictures, it’s great to see also what you were describing :) The first Fingon is my fav among the sketches. More people would recognized Maedhros if his red hair weren’t missing in the Silmarillion.
I’d agree with you if I wasn’t sure that some of the people I was so cross about hadn’t read The Book properly. :P
Wow i wish i could have been there-but I was stranded in Cornwall…would really love to see your art on a calander in the near future so I can match my Auntie’s still in use from 1995 John Howe one!
Absolutely wonderful to have you join us, Jenny! Such exceptional work should be shown more often! If you are thinking about Ring*Con, send me a message and I’ll pass along what I’ve learned about saving money and time in the 10 years I’ve been going. ;) Including Vendor Space, if you are interested.
Oh, yes please, Becky! Dirk wasn’t all that forthcoming when I sent him a mail and asked how to proceed.
Good evening Jenny :) Do you sell prints without being in events? If positive, is there any place I could have more information like price ranges and shipping distances? I would be very happy having one of those you sold in the event too. :) Regards
Jenny, your photos bring me back at once to a very eventful five days! Your work, and that of Jay Johnstone’s, was for me one of the highlights of both the art show and of the convention; and I was very glad to witness one of your paintings selling for the same amount at the auction as the DVD set signed by Peter Jackson.
I liked your illustrations of Maedhros very much, although I have to keep reminding myself that he was the head (after his father’s death) of the most dysfunctional family in Arda.
I wish you all the best for the future!
Thank you so much!
Hello Fernanda,
I’m in the process of setting myself up with very handsome prints in a range of sizes and extras. I hope to be able to update my website with prints in a week or two! :)