In the SCA - if you're lucky - you take a favorite persona the first time you try. If it doesn't fit your expectations, there's no reason you can't take a different one. There are a few things to know before you change.
As you may know, I broke my ankle Christmas eve. It was a beautiful sunny day. I was walking my dog before running my last holiday errands. Then I fell on some black ice. So much for the errands. I’ve been on crutches for five weeks now. But I got some good news at the doctor this week. I can ditch the crutches. Annoyingly, I have to keep the walking boot for three more weeks. Process I’ve read a few other broken ankle blog posts and it seems the average no walking time is around 6-8 weeks. I’m lucky the break wasn’t bad and my no walking time has only been five weeks. It’s still a broken ankle and that takes time to heal. But it’s nice to see the healing progress. No matter the severity the healing process goes like this Phase 1: no walking Phase 2: walking with assistance (the stage I’m in now) Phase 3: walking without mobility aids Phase 4: back to “normal” The severity of your break and your healing progress determines how long each phase lasts. They also determine the procedures and aids you need. So the healing timeline is flexible, even if you weren’t. Blessings Walking in a boot without crutches is a blessing. I can now carry light things. I wouldn’t have to ask for help to carry my plate like I did at the A & S Revel. It’s blessing to […]
There should be a written manual for ankle breaks and crutches but there isn't. So everything you do daily becomes an experiment. Here I give you an inkling on what that's like.
Oops. I couldn't keep up with my Inktober project challenge. Here's what I did accomplish.
Inktober is an artist challenge dreamed up by illustrator Jakes Parker. Its original purpose was to improve his personal inking skills. But the challenge has been taken on by others. It's an excellent scribal experiment and personal challenge. A way you can play with new scripts, different papers, unique inks.
What are the most helpful scribal books? The ones that strengthen most your scribal skills and knowledge. I have favorites to share.
Scribal skill improvement comes with experience over time. There are ways to gain experience without a deadline.
I got a new camera. I’m over-the-moon excited. I’ll be able to take awesome, crisp friends and family pictures, fur-baby portraits and dreamy hued travel shots. You’ll see better blog photos too. A&S projects, events, garb, scenery, and action fighting pics. The possibilities are endless. Right now I have no idea what all its buttons are or what the dials […]
Entries Showing Documentation The Barony of the Lonely Tower will be having their Arts and Sciences Championship competition this coming February. In this competition, the current champion sets the challenge for those interested in earning the honor. This year, Honorable Lady Cristina la Ambeler challenged each entrant to submit two entries for judging -something you excel at, and another of something you […]
Again my internet surfing snared websites too good to keep from you. These turn up as I sleuth out information for blog posts. I’ve been saving them to post in one place. These popped up relating to life-long e-learning. And learning about Medieval history, its people and its things are what we do in the SCA. The Medieval History section of Thought Company. This is a life-long learning website with 20 years creating educational content. Each section has its own ‘guide’ editor highlighting interesting topics and commentary articles. There’s a helpful Section Guide with their interests and an email newsletter for you to keep learning something daily. Khan Academy is a non-profit organization offering you personalized learning videos and an individualized dashboard so you can study at your own pace. Its intriguing Introduction to the Middle Ages is a perfect starting place for Medieval private study. Academia.edu is for more scholarly research. It a way academics share research papers with masses of people for free. The company’s mission is to accelerate the world’s research. But it also allows them to monitor analytics impacting their research, and tracking the research they follow. Academia.edu is widely read attracting over 37 million visitors a month. Related Prior Post: Internet Round-Up 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Creating your own paints is not just fun but an adventure to do. A lesson in art process and materials' safety. It's also a part of history. My class "Playing With Powdered Pigments" lets you experience making paint by hand using eight natural earth colors.
At Lonely Tower’s scribes gathering recently Ly. Kristin asked what the basic illumination skills were that she should learn. Kristin is an accomplished preprint painter with wonderful skills, but she wants to take it a step further. How does she know what skills she should learn? Where would you look? A great starting place is this archived article “A Guide For The […]
My binder-portfolio with the early stuff I made. Nobody tells this to you who are beginners. Beginners in any creative craft. I wish someone told me. If you do creative work, you get into it because you have good taste built within you. But there’s a gap between starting to create and being good. it’s the just not that good […]
Bardic Bedlam is here, in the Barony of the Lonely Tower. It’s a bardic sharing event named after the book series with a similar name. This year I had a different job for it. My friend Lady Zafara Baabur asked me to be the crash-space coordinator, a new-to-me task. So I did my usual and winged it. Common On Site Sleeper […]
See the details? Have you been asking yourself when painting a preprint or charter why experienced scribes put the shadows where they do? Why the whitework goes where it does? Or how you transform what you see to the page? Here’s an idea for you to try. Before the huge number of illuminations on the internet, I would hunt down books that had enlarged the small pictures of illuminations. Today it’s easy to do the same thing yourself with online images. Find a high-resolution digital illumination picture you like and zoom-in. Enlarge and expand them dramatically. Save them or print them out. Then take your time and study their strokes and details. Try to recreate them. On Pinterest, I have a few boards that may help you with this. Illumination: Drapery Illumination: Shading Illumination: Strokes Illumination: Whitework I have confidence you’ll figure things out. The more illuminations you peruse and pore over the strokes the easier it becomes. It’s all about you recreating tiny details. Related Prior Post: 5 Tips To Train Your Artist Eye Related External Page: Advanced Illumination by Mistress Nerissa de Saye
A Hair-raising Learning Experience From the recent scrolls I’ve done, I decided each scroll’s an experiment. It’s an options’ string from its inception to beyond the scroll’s completion. A learning experience all the way. When you receive the text you choose from the different calligraphy scripts and illumination styles. Once you pick the inspirational manuscripts suited to the recipient’s persona you select […]
I read recently that learning calligraphy refines one’s temperament. Well, mine certainly needs refining. But why should you learn calligraphy besides you feel it in your “bones” you want to do it? These are a few reasons I have. Calligraphy is not expensive to learn. It’s a silly reason if it’s your only one. It’s an important factor if you already are […]
“Is what I’m doing good enough to be accepted?” I hear this question often. Sometimes more than once from the same person. I’ve even asked it about my own work. It is one reason some scribes stick to AoA or baronial level scrolls. The scrolls are needed, but they’re also less intimidating because the designs are usually done by […]
Have you thought about becoming a C and I artist? I have. Calligraphy and illumination arts aren’t dusty ancient skills Medieval monks used to make religious tomes. They are used by many today to create art. Here are ten people who modernly use calligraphy and illumination to create art and make a living. People who prove it is possible to do something you love and be paid for it. Marie Angel was a calligrapher, illuminator and book illustrator. My first how-to book was her Painting For Calligraphers, although she has others. Check out this Pinterest board of her work. Randy Asplund recreates medieval books and illustrates science fiction and fantasy books. In the SCA he is known as Sir RanthulfR AsparlundR. Kathryn Finter studies and reproduces 15th-century panel and illuminated works from the National Gallery of Canada and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nancy Hulan sells her award winning book arts at Renaissance Faires and her Etsy shop. Her work inspires me and give me courage to expand my interests. Donald Jackson‘s modern handwritten St. John’s Bible team project. Jackson has authored several related books. Patricia Lovett creates, teaches and lectures on subjects and topics related to calligraphy and manuscripts. She has several related books. Marie Lynskey is an English traditional scribe, heraldic artist, and author. Her excellent book, Illumination For Calligraphers, was the second how-to book I bought. Timothy Noad is an English calligrapher, illuminator, heraldic artist and author. Although he’s written several books, I particularly like his Illuminated Alphabet how-to-book. Illumination […]
I was asked by a scribal friend last week how I would critique another scribe’s scroll. In Calontir we often talk about this and how to do it. Critiquing another person’s work is tricky because of the personal pride held by the sharer and the hearer. Some encourage gentleness. Others recommend a quick comment like my Mom ripped off a band-aid. […]
Ignorantly flailing through historical clothing
Discovering the joy of art
Traveling Fashion Designers 🌼
Photography
historical clothing, cosplay, and beautiful acts of whimsy
Cooking, Crafting, and Bad Ideas....
Shorts, Novels, and Other Things
History is Beautiful
Women's Lives in the European Middle Ages
Going Medieval At a Scholars Pace
ἀνθρώποισι πᾶσι μέτεστι γινώσκειν ἑωυτοὺς καὶ σωφρονεῖν.
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
Allergy warning: contains young-earth creationism and form poetry. Made in a place which processes Tolkien and Chesterton.
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
The thoughts and deeds of a writer, fighter and re-enactor
Learning the arts and sciences of the Middle Ages through research and practice
A tiny obsessive perfectionist sewing her way through history
Mostly costuming and project updates with some philosophy and autobiography for color.
A trip back in time to learn about all sorts of interesting things.
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
Join Me In The Adventure!
Sewing, Embroidery, and a Bit of SF/F Geekery
Marya Kargashina's Medieval Research
Musings on Daily Life in the Ancient and Early Medieval Mediterranean By Sarah E. Bond
SCA: Addressing Authenticity for a Gaulish Persona
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
Exploring the 16th Century and Beyond
Make All The Things!
Weaving, Recruitment and Other A&S Projects
Balancing the SCA and the Mundane
Where the Middle Ages Begin
a blog about medieval manuscripts, by Kate Thomas
Erik Kwakkel blogging about medieval manuscripts
News from Calontir
SCA Adventures in A&S
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
Eulalia Piebakere's adventures in recreational medievalism
My Life and Times, Here and There
Illuminating pastime pursuits.
A diary of A&S projects
An Itinerant Scribe 