Quetzalcoatl-inspired shaving brush.

Those who know me are aware that I have a weakness for handmade artisan shaving brushes. And those who know me even more know that when I cannot sleep, I start to draw handles or schematize color combinations for my next brush, whether it would be possible or not.

At the beginning of last year I started to see featured in some SOTD pics a couple of brushes inspired by characters of Game of Thrones, especially in Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons, which coincidentally is also the name of my daughter ... plus the name of her maternal grandmother ... plus the paternal and maternal surnames.



Those shaving brushes were made with the Juma material from the German company Elforyn, resin blocks with appearance similar to snakeskin or, in this case, "dragonskin", with a Targaryen family coin set on the bottom of the handle. Each one of those brushes enabled me and inspired me.



I thought to myself: "How cool it would be to commission the making of a brush using the Juma blanks, but inspired by my own culture and the mythology of my ancestors... We've our very own Dragon!"




The concept of the brush would be Quetzalcoatl, one of the deities of the mexica culture, the feathered Serpent...  Basically a Dragon with the feathers of the Quetzal bird. So I started making some sketches of handles that could had certain "dragonesque" traits, because I wanted something original or at least not seen as frequently. Several nights of insomnia led me to a couple of designs that didn't displease me so much.



Okay, now what? It was time to contact the artisan/craftsman, Leo Frilot, and present him my idea with the hope that he would not reject it. To my fortune I found one of the most accessible guys in the wet shaving community, of great talent and without fear of challenges (as many of his previous works prove it), who enthused about my sketches told me: "it's doable".

Every time i revealed something more about the project, his enthusiasm (and mine) grew ... What if instead of the Targaryen coin in the base we set a hand-painted glass eye?



This is how we were joined by a second talented artisan: the craftswoman Lady Pirotessa from Blue Rose Creations. More than two weeks after i had contact her through Etsy, tell her what i had in mind, share with her the sketches and photographs of the material that would be used, Leo receives two dragon eyes, one for each of the handles...




Did I forget to mention that the eyes were UV/Blacklight reactive and that they glow brightly in the dark?

That's right gentlemen! What initially would be an "one time only" purchase of a Quetzalcoatl-themed shaving brush became a project of two dragons-inspired brushes, thanks in part to the impressive work done by Lady Pirotessa. With two passionate and talented artisans and a guy (at your service) with hoarding problems, insomnia and a credit card, what could you have been expected? In the end I bought three brushes... sigh.

With all the necessary material at hand and after i proposed a second sketch that was more to my liking and  few small changes in the design were made, Leo was set out to work.




The amazing craftsman in charge of giving life to my brushes shared photographs of every step of the process, and I... simply could not stop smiling each time i see them. Now I share with you, with permission from Leo Frilot, the pictures of that process, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

I can not thank Leo Frilot and Lady Pirotessa enough for turning my crazy ideas into reality. And to all of you, fellow wet shavers & friends, for allowing me to share this experience on DFS!

THE MATERIAL.




LOOKING FOR TH RIGHT "FEATHERS".



YOU CAN'T ESCAPE FROM MATHS.



STRENGTHENING THE STRUCTURE.



TIME TO GLUE ALL!



HOW DO IT LOOKS?



QUETZALCOATL'S EYE.



READY FOR BUFFING & POLISHING.



SETTING TH KNOT.



A BEAUTIFUL SHAVING BRUSH!






Thanks for reading!!!

Wow man, absolutely incredible! Thanks for sharing. I loved seeing the whole process from brainstorming and design all the way through its creation. Although it's not my style, the brush is truly a work of art and the craftsmanship is beautiful. I would love to see the other two brushes!

Stunning! I’ve never seen anything like this in the shaving world. Thanks for sharing this work of art!

Sure thing Jeff! I'm gonna make a second post with the other Dragon brush, i'll throw in pics of the 3rd brush. DFS only allow me to include 20 pics. And thank you so much for your kind words.

Wow man, absolutely incredible! Thanks for sharing. I loved seeing the whole process from brainstorming and design all the way through its creation. Although it's not my style, the brush is truly a work of art and the craftsmanship is beautiful. I would love to see the other two brushes!

+1

WOW. Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to seeing the other two

I like your style of patterning and use of the depth you get with the surface and their colors.

Wow. Just amazing. Loved every second of that read.

Stunning!  I’ve never seen anything like this in the shaving world. Thanks for sharing this work of art!

WOW.  Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to seeing the other two

I like your style of patterning and use of the depth you get with the surface and their colors.

Wow. Just amazing. Loved every second of that read.

Thanks guys!

Absolutely beautiful!!