I have recently completed this piece and apologize for the poor photography (click for an oversized view). This is "Muscogee Creek Lord's Prayer," which is 22"x30". I stained the paper with walnut ink, letting it set just minutes before I dabbed the wetness with wadded-up tissues to create an aged leather look. The lettering, based on an alphabet by calligrapher Frederich Neugebauer, was hand-lettered after having lightly drawn chalk lines on the background. For the lettering, I used the walnut ink and a Speedball B-3 nib, completing the base lettering in one sitting. This was followed by the "fine-tuning" and squaring of the corners of each letter with the EF66 nib in three sittings (requiring magnification). Because including a traditional image of the stomp dance, green corn, or shell shakers with a Christian prayer would be considered a cultural faux pas, I designed an illustration based on the basic natural elements of earth, wind, fire, and water, and included the moon and the sun, with the green shapes in the lower portion representing the mounds that the Creeks built. I also included the biblically based Christian plow, which the Creek nation accepted as the sign for their traditional seal. The illustration was completed with gouache. The gold is 24K patent gold. To the left of the illustration, written in tiny yellow lettering, is the literal translation based on the Creek language of the prayer. This was completed May 31, 2007.