EEWL

02/22/2026

One of the things I enjoy most about running EEWL is its focus on art, history, and human connection. That said, I won't turn down an opportunity to let my inner geek come out to play. This article walks through the steps of setting up a virtual server to run Akaunting, a free and open source accounting software.

System76, Freecodecamp

I finally cut the cord on my old accounting software subscription. I can't take full credit: I got locked out of their web portal, and the company's IT support can't figure out how to reinstate my privileges.

10/03/2025

Opening reception tonight!

Join us this coming Friday, October 3 for an art reception featuring these 2 artists. This is a free event!

09/21/2025

I'm excited to share that I'll be participating in a pop-up art show with The Pointe Coupée Historical Society at the Poydras Center in New Roads, LA. Many thanks to this organization for including my work in their program.

Please join us for the opening reception at 6 PM on Friday, October 3!

Come join us Friday Oct. 3 at 6:00 pm

05/04/2025

Scarves are my preferred medium for celebrating Ancient Egyptian art – the shape echoes the registers you see on tomb walls and papyrus scrolls. Every now and again, though, there’s an image compelling enough to convince me to pull out my big needles and make a sweater. One such image was this portrait of the goddess statues protecting King Tutankhamun’s canopic chest.

Canopic jars are an artifact of the mummification process. The point of mummification is to dry out the body to preserve it. The Ancient Egyptians learned that the body was less likely to decompose if they removed fluid-filled organs and mummified them separately. Each of these key organs was mummified and placed in its own jar to be reunited with the body in the afterlife. Each jar was protected by one of the sons of Horus. The most common associations were Hapy for the lungs, Duamutef for the stomach, Qebehsenuef for the intestines, and Imsety for the liver. These four jars were then placed in a box and buried with the mummy.

In King Tutankhamun’s case, those jars were then placed in a shrine protected by four goddesses. Four gold statues of women dressed in linen and wearing bag headdresses stand guard with their arms outstretched around the chest. Hieroglyphs on their heads name them as the goddesses Isis, Nepthys, Neith, and Serket.

These statues are some of my favorite pieces of Ancient Egyptian art. I’ve always found something timeless about their expressions. I couldn’t do these ladies justice on a scarf, so I decided to give them pride of place on a sweater instead.

You can contact me through my web site with questions about ordering a sweater for yourself.

A portion of the proceeds from each sale benefits the Theban Mapping Project Library, which provides books and literacy programs to the locals of Luxor, Egypt.

References: Wikipedia , Egypt Museum

Images © 2025 EEWL

02/02/2025

Water and shore birds feature prominently in Ancient Egyptian mythology and religion, likely due to their prominence along the Nile River. This scarf depicts the deity Bennu (𓅣 or 𓅤), depicted as a gray heron.

Bennu was considered to be the ba, or soul, of the sun god Ra 𓁛, whom you’ve seen depicted in other scarves, and to have enabled the creative act of Atum, the Ancient Egyptian’s primordial god. In one story, he flies over Nun, the primordial waters before creation, landed on a rock, and called out. That call determined the nature of creation.

Bennu also experienced a cycle of rebirth, associating him with Osiris, god of the underworld, and possibly inspiring the tales of the phoenix in later Greek and Roman myths.

I encourage you to read more about Ancient Egyptian philosophy, as a social media post can’t do justice to the nuances of an ancient religion.

Bennu Bird scarves are available made-to-order in my Etsy shop.

A portion of the proceeds from each sale benefits the Theban Mapping Project Library, which provides books and literacy programs to the locals of Luxor, Egypt.

References: Wikipedia

Images © 2025 EEWL

01/06/2025

Horus was one of the key gods of the Egyptian pantheon. You’ll recognize him in art and carvings as the human with the falcon head. (More to come on Horus in a later post.)

The story of Horus’ eye 𓂀 – also known as the wedjat or the udjat – comes from the myths surrounding Horus’ parents, Osiris and Isis, and his aunt and uncle Nephthys and Set.

Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, and Set all were the children of Geb and Nut, the deities of the earth and sky, respectively. According to one legend Osiris ruled as an earthly king until his brother Set killed him to usurp the throne. Isis briefly resurrected Osiris and conceived their son Horus. As an adult Horus returned to the kingdom to avenge his father and to reclaim his throne. He loses an eye in the struggle, and the goddess Hathor or the god Thoth (depending on your source) restores it.

After a series of conflicts, Horus defeats Set and reclaims his father’s throne. He also provides offerings to sustain Osiris in the afterlife. Horus gives Osiris his eye, thus restoring Osiris who goes on to rule the Underworld.

The Eye of Horus 𓂀 represented this restorative life-force for Ancient Egyptians, and they wore and portrayed the image as a protection against evil.

I encourage you to read more about these myths, as a social media post can’t do justice to the nuances of an ancient religion. A few original sources include the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts and the New Kingdom Book of the Dead and The Contendings of Horus and Set. A good book on Ancient Egyptian mythology and the Wikipedia posts on Horus, Eye of Horus, and Osiris are also good places to get started.

Eye of Horus scarves are available made-to-order in my Etsy shop. See more at
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1337555193/ancient-egyptian-eye-of-horus-hand-made

A portion of the proceeds from each sale benefits the Theban Mapping Project Library, which provides books and literacy programs to the locals of Luxor, Egypt.

Images © 2024 EEWL

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12/23/2024

Queen Nefertiti, also known as Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti, (𓏏𓈖𓇳𓇋𓄤𓄤𓄤𓄤 𓄤𓇍𓏏𓏭𓁐) is probably one of the most recognizable Egyptian queens. The inspiration for this scarf is her portrait bust on display in the Neues Museum in Berlin, Germany.

Nefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of the Pharaoh Akhenaten. Ahkenaten and Nefertiti are remembered for their revolution in Ancient Egypt’s religion, politics, and art.

Ancient Egyptian culture had maintained its polytheistic religion for generations before Nefertiti and her husband, then known as Amenhotep IV, took the throne. Perhaps in response to the growing power of the priests of the god Amun or perhaps in an act of devotion, the pharaoh and his wife took Ancient Egypt in a drastically different direction. The king changed his name to Akhenaten and introduced what is sometimes called the first monotheistic religion. Rather than worshiping many gods and goddesses, Ancient Egyptians would now worship the sun disk known as the Aten. Akhenaten and Nefertiti moved the capital city to Akhetaten, known today as Amarna, and built temples to the sun disk.

Their revolution also influenced the art of their time. Nefertiti’s portrait bust is just one example. Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti presented themselves and their children with different facial features and a much more voluptuous style than other royal families. In the background of their portraiture you often see the Aten sun disk with its rays reaching through the sky.

Egyptologists have debated several theories about Queen Nefertiti. Some say she may have succeeded Ahkenaten after his death as the pharaoh Smenkhkare. Others theorize that the pharaoh Tutankhamun, Akhenaten’s son, may have been buried in a chamber of Queen Nefertiti’s tomb. Part of the challenge of investigating this period in Egyptian history was the contemporary backlash to Akhenaten’s and Nefertiti’s political and religious revolution: after they died, people damaged or destroyed much of the Amarna era monuments and statuary. King Tutankhamun and his regents restored Ancient Egypt’s polytheism and moved the capital city back to Thebes (modern day Luxor).

I encourage you to read more about Ancient Egyptian philosophy, as a social media post can’t do justice to the nuances of an ancient religion.

Nefertiti scarves are available made-to-order in my Etsy shop. See more at
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1573468415/ancient-egyptian-nefertiti-hand-made

A portion of the proceeds from each sale benefits the Theban Mapping Project Library, which provides books and literacy programs to the locals of Luxor, Egypt.

References: Wikipedia, Brittanica, Neues Museum

Images © 2024 EEWL

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12/09/2024

Ushabti 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾 figures are a common sight in Ancient Egyptian museum exhibits. The Ancient Egyptians referred to their afterlife as the Aaru or the Field of Reeds, and tomb paintings often depict the deceased working at the plow. Ushabti (also known as shabti or shawabti) were buried alongside the mummy to assist with such otherworldly manual tasks, often in large numbers.

You can recognize a Ushabti figure by the farming implements he carries, along with the inscription of his owner’s name and a spell testifying to his readiness to work for the deceased. The figures are usually amulet-sized or slightly larger, and sometimes they carry the likeness of the deceased.

I’ve chosen to depict the blue faience style of the Ushabti figure, but you can find these figures ranging from simple wax shapes to elaborately carved and painted images.

I haven’t posted this pattern test in my shop; please contact me for more information:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/eewl/

A portion of the proceeds from each sale benefits the Theban Mapping Project Library, which provides books and literacy programs to the locals of Luxor, Egypt.

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Reference: ,

Images © 2024 EEWL

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11/25/2024

If you’ve been following my posts so far, you’ve learned about a few Ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses: Osiris, the god of the underworld and symbolized by the Djed Pillar 𓊽; Isis, the wife of Osiris and a powerful goddess in her own right symbolized by the Knot of Isis 𓎬; and Horus 𓅃, the falcon-headed son of Osiris and Isis associated with the udjat eye 𓂀.

Today I’m continuing a series on the Ancient Egyptian sun god Ra 𓁛. Ra, like Horus, appears as a man with a falcon’s head. The key for Ra is to look for the sun disk 𓇳 or the sun disk circled by the uraeus cobra 𓇴 above his head.

Ra 𓁛 is one of three manifestations of the Ancient Egyptian sun god as he travels on his solar barque 𓊞, or boat, during the day. At sunrise the sun god takes on the form of the scarab beetle Khepri 𓆣 and rolls the sun up from the horizon. At midday the sun god travels as Ra 𓁛 across the sky. At sunset he transforms again into the ram-headed god Khnum 𓁠 and navigates his barque 𓊞 through the underworld.

This post’s scarf includes an image of how the Ancient Egyptians portrayed the solar barque 𓊞. It looks much like the boats in which people would have navigated the Nile. Early boats were bundles of reeds lashed together with rope. Later watercraft were made of wood.

The best preserved example of these barques 𓊞 belonged to the Pharaoh Khufu, who ruled Egypt from roughly 2,589 BC to 2,566 BC and was buried in the Great Pyramid at Giza. The boat was discovered at the pyramid complex. You can view the reconstructed vessel at its new home in the in Cairo.

I encourage you to read more about Ancient Egyptian philosophy, as a social media post can’t do justice to the nuances of an ancient religion.

Ra in Solar Barque scarves are available made-to-order in my Etsy shop. See more at
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1468089605/ancient-egyptian-sun-god-ra-traveling-in

A portion of the proceeds from each sale benefits the Theban Mapping Project Library, which provides books and literacy programs to the locals of Luxor, Egypt.

Reference: , “In pictures: Egypt pharaoh's 'solar boat' moved to Giza museum”

Images © 2024 EEWL

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11/11/2024

This week’s scarf is a little different: it’s a take on the 1920s art deco styles that paralleled the time when Howard Carter and his team discovered King Tutankamun’s tomb.

The sun disk 𓇳, the lotus flower 𓆸, and the papyrus reed 𓇅 all feature in this design. You’ve heard a little about the sun and the lotus flower if you’ve been following my posts.

You can think of the sun disk in terms of Ra 𓁛, the sun god who traversed the sky during the day and the Underworld at night in his solar barque. You also might think of the pharaoh Akhenaten 𓈌, who moved Ancient Egypt’s capital city to Amarna and instructed his people to worship the Aten sun disk. You can read more about both of these practices in some of my other posts.

The Ancient Egyptians frequently depict the water lily, better known as the lotus flower 𓆸, in tomb paintings, column capitals, jewelry, and other art. The flower closes at night and opens in the morning to reveal a yellow central flower, reflecting their philosophies of rebirth and the cycle of the sun.

Finally, the papyrus reed 𓇅 grew (and still grows) along the banks of the Nile River. The Ancient Egyptians learned how to make paper by processing and pressing this plant. Whenever you look at an Ancient Egyptian scroll, odds are good you’re looking at something written on papyrus.

I haven’t posted this pattern test in my shop; please contact me for more information:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/eewl/

A portion of the proceeds from each sale benefits the Theban Mapping Project Library, which provides books and literacy programs to the locals of Luxor, Egypt.

Reference: Wikipedia,

Images © 2024 EEWL

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10/28/2024

If you’ve been following my posts so far, you’ve learned about a few Ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses: Osiris, the god of the underworld and symbolized by the Djed Pillar 𓊽; Isis, the wife of Osiris and a powerful goddess in her own right symbolized by the Knot of Isis 𓎬; and Horus 𓅃, the falcon-headed son of Osiris and Isis associated with the udjat Eye of Horus 𓂀.

Today I’m introducing a new god in the pantheon: the sun god Ra 𓁛. It can be hard to distinguish Ra from Horus at times, as both are depicted as men with falcon’s heads. The key for Ra is to look for the sun disk 𓇳 or the sun disk circled by the uraeus cobra 𓇴 above his head.

In some cases, The Ancient Egyptians actually merged Ra and Horus into another deity: Re-Horakhty: The Horus of the Two Horizons.

Ra 𓁛 is one of three manifestations of the Ancient Egyptian sun god as he travels on his solar barque, or boat, during the day. At sunrise the sun god takes on the form of the scarab beetle Khepri 𓆣 and rolls the sun up from the horizon. At midday the sun god travels as Ra 𓁛 across the sky. At sunset he transforms again into the ram-headed god Khnum 𓁠 and navigates his barque through the underworld. I’ll share more about this iconography in future posts.

I also drew inspiration for this pattern from depictions in the Book of the Dead. This book is often buried with mummies and provides instructions and spells a person will need to navigate the underworld, survive the Weighing of the Heart, and pass on to an afterlife in the Field of Reeds. Several gods and goddesses often bear witness to the weighing of the heart, and you’ll see them seated with their knees drawn up before them, just like Ra 𓁛 is in this pattern.

To see a few examples of this scene, you can look up the Book of the Dead of the Priest of Horus, Imhotep (Imuthes), Early Ptolemaic, (ca. 332-200 BCE) housed at the . You also can also look up the Judgement Scene from Book of the Dead of Hunefer, New Kingdom, 19th dynasty, (ca 1290-80 BCE), housed at the .

I encourage you to read more about Ancient Egyptian philosophy, as a social media post can’t do justice to the nuances of an ancient religion.

Ra Seated scarves are available made-to-order in my Etsy shop. See more at
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1389409261/ancient-egyptian-sun-god-ra-seated-hand

A portion of the proceeds from each sale benefits the Theban Mapping Project Library, which provides books and literacy programs to the locals of Luxor, Egypt.

Reference: Wikipedia, Daily Art Magazine, Met Museum

Images © 2024 EEWL

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