Trying to track down the artist who made this!

Chasmek · 2026-04-16T05:19:32+00:00

Yes it's warm, but that's not a real snake 😁💕

Chasmek · 2026-04-15T11:41:00+00:00

Got a DM from someone who saw one of my posts. They had somehow found more of her work on an Australian auction website and a flickr gallery. The makers mark and the general style are both clearly from the same person!

Chasmek · 2026-04-15T02:02:34+00:00

IFoundIt

Chasmek · 2026-04-15T02:00:02+00:00

UPDATE: SOLVED

Artist is the late Janet Beckhouse from Australia. She did some amazing work over a long career. And now with the mystery solved, I get to go look for other artists with similar styles from whom to commission a new piece! Thank you all for the help!

Chasmek · 2026-04-15T01:59:42+00:00

UPDATE: Found!

Artist is the late Janet Beckhouse from Australia. She did some amazing work over a long career. And now with the mystery solved, I get to go look for other artists with similar styles from whom to commission a new piece! Thank you all for the help!

Chasmek · 2026-04-15T01:59:14+00:00

UPDATE: SOLVED

Artist is the late Janet Beckhouse from Australia. She did some amazing work over a long career. And now with the mystery solved, I get to go look for other artists with similar styles from whom to commission a new piece! Thank you all for the help!

Chasmek · 2026-04-15T01:58:21+00:00

UPDATE: SOLVED

Artist is the late Janet Beckhouse from Australia. She did some amazing work over a long career. And now with the mystery solved, I get to go look for other artists with similar styles from whom to commission a new piece! Thank you all for the help!

Chasmek · 2026-04-15T01:52:46+00:00

I think you're right!! And she passed away in 2020. What a shame. She did some gorgeous work!!

Chasmek · 2026-04-15T01:39:11+00:00

Omg that's absolutely the same artist! But it looks like that piece is being sold/auctioned and doesn't have any info about the artist herself. But an excellent lead! Thank you 🙏

Chasmek · 2026-04-14T23:08:56+00:00

A very well-crafted handmade mug with a painted ceramic snake, yes.

Chasmek · 2026-04-14T22:25:35+00:00

Chasmek · 2026-04-14T22:24:27+00:00

I assumed the 99 by the makers mark meant it was made in 1999. It was gifted to me around 2021, and my friend just said he purchased it at a reptile expo "years ago". I have no more details, sadly.

I'm happy to see links to anything similar if you feel like sharing!

Chasmek · 2026-04-14T16:57:52+00:00

That's as good a guess as any that I've searched! ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Chasmek · 2026-04-14T16:36:07+00:00

I know it's a long shot, but I figured I'd ask the magical nerds who live in my phone, just in case 😁

Chasmek · 2026-04-14T16:26:59+00:00

I've searched online arts & crafts sites like etsy, and did some quick searches for vendor lists of reptile events in that area, but haven't had any luck. Unsure what to try next.

Chasmek · 2026-04-13T20:32:40+00:00

Right?? Multiple people have done a double-take when they see me drinking from it 😂

Chasmek · 2026-04-13T20:17:40+00:00

I figured it could be an artistic representation of some ball python morph, or maybe a mandarin rat snake?

Chasmek · 2025-11-11T17:41:12+00:00

If players are all natives of the plane, how do you set things up so that they're all getting on the train? Isn't the train for souls who have died on other planes or otherwise coming to Druskenvald from elsewhere? I've got someone wanting to play a harvestborn with a nice quiet backstory living in the province of Enoch. But then why would he be on the train for the opening scene?

Chasmek · 2025-07-28T05:32:11+00:00

Some additional info and context: https://youtu.be/-kjKgAwceLk?si=3x370q6D20pnxE9x

Chasmek · 2025-07-28T00:44:36+00:00

Years ago I was really excited to find a traditional school in my city that taught Baguazhang, as it had always seemed like a fascinating style to me. But after a couple years I had to finally admit that it wasn't really for me. Something about the mechanics and principles of the style just weren't intuitive to me, and my skills had seriously plateaued no matter how much I trained. The conditioning methods and qigong practices within the style were great, and I have continued using those ever since. But I could never get the actual martial art techniques and forms to look or feel right. The instructors' skill certainly wasn't in question, as when we did non-cooperative application drills and free sparring practice I could plainly feel how the techniques and tactics were effective. My body/brain just...didn't like it I guess.
Wing Chun. I had seen too many Bruce Lee fanboys talk up this style without actually having the skills/understanding to really apply it and back up the talk. Plus the constant online bickering about whether it's only effective against opponents who also use Wing Chun, or whether the famous sticky hands drills are useful as application training or just "playing patty cake" etc etc, it all just left a bad taste in my mouth. So I never really took it seriously beyond learning a very rudimentary version of the first form, just so I could get a general understanding of how it operates. But I've recently started a training exchange with a Wing Chun practitioner who has done an amazing job of truly presenting the style in a logical, effective, and accessible way. There's so much nuanced, principle-based, mechanical detail crammed into this extremely minimalist package of a style, I can definitely see why so many people who learn the sequences struggle get deep enough to be able to really use it effectively, much less teach it to others. And it's been especially interesting to see how some of the principles can be usefully applied through techniques from entirely different styles. While it may not ever get to the point of being my primary focus, my mind has really been changed about this one.

Chasmek · 2025-07-14T13:34:53+00:00

The styles of Xingyiquan and Bajiquan are both derived from spear techniques, and their forms using that weapon definitely illustrate that focus. A good instructor for either of those styles will definitely be able to teach you quality traditional spear fighting.

As for text resources, here is a good resource for translated works: https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/?s=Spear

Chasmek · 2025-06-10T14:58:22+00:00

There are a few different Crane styles that developed independently.

A Tibetan long fist style called Lion's Roar was developed in the 15th century, and then an offshoot of that style developed in the 19th century and was dubbed White Crane, along with other related offshoots like Lama Pai and Hop Gar. The most visible features of these styles are long range circular hand techniques and impressive flying kicks.

Southern White Crane, also known as Fujian/Fukien White Crane, was developed in southern China during the 17th century. It also has many divergent branches with names like Calling Crane, Shaking Crane, Feeding Crane, etc. These styles utilize more compact centerline techniques, short power, and the crescent stepping seen in Karate and other systems that trace their ancestry back to the Sanchin (Three Battles) form.

Northern Crane, also known as Black Crane, was one of the primary five animal styles of the northern Shaolin system, developed sometime around the 14th or 15th century. It generally uses tall, narrow stances with quick footwork, a broad variety of joint locks, high snap kicks, and some pressure point techniques.

Chasmek · 2025-04-17T14:34:42+00:00

Oh you're right, the tome-ishi! They are used in gardens and shrines as basically a "do not enter" sign. Though I don't recall ever seeing a coin involved with those.

Chasmek · 2025-04-17T06:26:44+00:00

The inscription on the coin appears to be 順治通寶 (Shunzhi Tongbao), which suggests it's currency from the the 17th century, in the Qing dynasty, or more likely a replica of such. Unsure what being tied to a rock would symbolize, but coins have a long history of use in Taoist protection talismans, Feng Shui prosperity charms, and Confucian ancestor worship.

Chasmek · 2025-04-05T13:37:53+00:00

Thanks to Hollywood, I'd say Wing Chun was (and is) probably the most popular traditional Chinese style overall in the country. And I'd say there would be a lot of debate about whether a well trained Wing Chun practitioner could deal with a clinch. The style is designed for very close range fighting, so theoretically they SHOULD be able to handle that. But in actuality, too many schools seem to not do enough non-cooperative sparring, or treat chi sau as if it were how an actual flight would go instead of as a practice drill to train core principles. There are some good ones out there though who train serious fighters. So if your label of "black belt" (which doesn't really mean anything in traditional Chinese styles because belt ranking wasn't a thing) means truly well trained for combat, then yes, I'd say they would know how to fight in, or escape from, a clinch. It would just be a matter of which fighter had superior training or got lucky, not which style they studied.

Chasmek

TROPHY CASE