Wow! This has been a year for reconnections and recollections. I recently visited Kansas City to visit long time friends and now Arnoud and Gillian have come to visit me. We were the closest friends before they moved to Texas in 1998. I can’t begin to write about all the many friends’ names’ recalled, and stories shared,…
With digital devices’ development and pervasiveness, educators have long promoted ending handwriting instruction. Something I cannot fathom or condone. Handwriting is not an archaic communication tool to be scrapped for modern keyboarding. Handwriting’s motions creating letters, words and sentences stimulate the brain in a way typing does not. According to Psychology Today’s Dr. William Klemm, Ph.D., learning…
  In the early 1990s the Barony of the Lonely Tower put on a demonstration at Oak View Mall that included a “Walk Through History” fashion show. These photos are from that show. I have attempted to organize them by approximate clothing era, earlier to later.        …
For your viewing pleasure, I give you my 10 most artistically inspiring illuminated manuscripts. Not all are lavish, but all encourage my creativity. I hope they do yours too. Book of Kells created c. 800, is a calligraphy masterwork and pinnacle of Insular illumination. Regarded as Ireland’s finest national treasure, its extravagance and decoration complexity combines traditional Christian motifs with…
Artisan of the Steppes is a body of work competition that’s been held in the SCA Kingdom of Ansteorra for over 28 years. Work diversity is encouraged including endeavors that didn’t click with the maker. All items entered have documentation on their history and creation. Mosaic Entries I took these pictures August 6, 2000, in…
I’ve been a scribe way over 20 years and along the way I have collected materials and tools. Some end up in a bin never to see the light of day again. Other’s become as necessary to me as water. Here’s my 10 favorite scribal materials and tools, except for paint and paper towels. Things…
What’s the difference between script, hand, and font? I’ve heard these terms used almost interchangeably. There is a difference. A script is a handwriting form used as a model, the writing style a calligrapher scribe has in mind to create. In general, they have names like “Uncial”, “Carolingian”, and “Gothic”, to name a few. Researchers…
These were taken at Lonely Tower’s Twelfth Night event, January, 2006. The event was held at Omaha’s Masonic Center which has been outside our budget recently.
Each time I teach a class it’s different I’ll take stock of my handouts and supplies. Then I cajole/invite a few Lonely Tower scribes to take a condensed practice class. this time, you will see and hold my raw mineral rock collection. Ground to powder and added to a binder, these rocks make the paint used in early manuscript illumination . I share photos I snapped from my 2010 class.
I now have a larger, enhanced sewing and painting room by turning a guest room into my craft and cardio space. Before: Closet Studio Before my calligraphy, illumination, and other painting was done in a walk-in closet. I used it as a studio. It had electricity, shelving, and tables but was devoid of inspiration, sun, and space. I had to organize…
A few Lonely Tower revel pictures I took August, 2005. Sadly, we are missing several people in these photos. The Baronial Court of TE Faolin and Tatjana
When Pope Gregory I (540-604 CE) defined the seven deadly sins, he also gave values to adopt, The Seven Virtues. Virtues may be both built-in talents and learned actions. They are both good deeds and their necessary training. Here, I describe the seven virtues relating to scribes. Traits that effuse every scribes’ calligraphy and illumination on…
Wonderful demo! The Barony of the Lonely Tower‘s huge display at the 2005 Nuke Con. Pictures of SCA stuff and participants from 2005. Those were the days, my friend …
I’m getting up to speed on making paint from pigments, again. Preparing to teach my paint making class in a few weeks. I found several on-line tutorials you may like. The first part of making paint is dispersing a powdered colorant in water. The second part is mixing in a binder. The binder in each…
I love the Manesse Codex illuminations! The heraldry and style are so inspiring. I wanted to have these painted so much, they are the reason I learned illumination in the first place. This “Throwback Thursday” I’m sharing my scroll illumination inspired by it. (See the original page by clicking here.) My Illumination From Mathieu Chartrain’s 2004…
Have you ever had this experience? You’re at an SCA event working on a project when someone, out of the blue, tells you, “There’s a better way to do that. You should do it this way. It wasn’t a competition or a class. Just a conversation. I’ve seen this happen more than once. Frustrating. Irritating….
John, Donna, and Teddy Post Pasta
I love books, which is why my favorite bookstore closing was such a big deal. I buy books or borrow them from everywhere. Books and research are part of the SCA‘s attraction to me. Bookstore Search When I first joined the SCA, 26 years ago, I spent hours at the library each week. Then took…
Looking for class handout files on old DVD discs… I stumbled upon more SCA photos! It’s been ten years plus since the Barony of the Lonely Tower held this Spring Fling Event. It was so much fun! Camping, cabins, catapults, classes, cooking and court. Have a look. Do you recognize anyone? Is that you? Maybe it’s…
In my previous article on arts and sciences documentation I responded to a common SCA non-writer’s lament. It presented several ways to show off creations without detailed writing. So what? What can you do if you want to write documentation? How do you learn to do it or improve at it? I won’t re-invent the…