Wednesday, April 5, 2017

A Year of Changes

First things first: I want to apologize for not posting anything in the last ~year or so. There's still a ton I want to get to, but I haven't gotten to it.

I have all sorts of valid excuses of course... In February of 2016 my lady and I started looking for a new home together, and started getting ready to put our old home on the market. In June we closed on a new home, and we moved in in the beginning of July. From July through September we worked on the old house, put it on the market, and sold it. Since July, we've been unpacking, making some improvements to the new home, doing more unpacking, etc.

With the arrival of spring looming, it felt like we were almost done with the improvements and unpacking, and would be just about ready to get working in our new Scriptorium!

Unbeknownst to me, their Majesties, Highnesses, my lady, and my friends were all conspiring on a large surprise for me...

On April 1st, at the event where my scribal apprentice-sister was being crowned Queen, I was sent on vigil and elevated to a Companion of the Order of the Laurel.



Words were written by Mistress Anastasia Guta based on the Common Papers of the Worshipful Company of Scrivners of the City of London.
Calligraphy by Duchess Thyra, using a new formulation of ink by Ian the Green that works a bit better on Pergamenata. Funny story, he sent me a bottle to test. Said bottle was then whisked away to Thyra to use...
Illumination by my lady Adrienne using some of the pigments she made, and my scribal sister Mistress Camille. Camille posted a gallery of process photos.


If you aren't familiar with Peerages in the SCA, I wrote quite a bit about what it means to become a Peer in my post about the making of Master Christian Woolfe's Pelican Scroll.

The question for me now, and that you might be curious about is "what does this change?"

Honestly, it shouldn't change anything. I share tips and tricks and images of what I work on in hopes that they help or inspire others. Whether or not my tips are helpful or good doesn't change because of how I've been recognized. Some people might give my opinion more weight, but I hope most don't. My methods work for me, and I hope they might help others as well. But they aren't the only way of doing things. If they don't work for you, please ignore them.

On the other hand, being a Companion of the Order of the Laurel means I'm now automatically considered to be a role model, someone whose advice is worth listening to. That does put some pressure on me to perhaps be a bit more careful in how I put things. There's also an expectation that I will continue to share my knowledge and help people improve their art. So to that end, I do plan to get back to working on my "lesson" type articles in the hopes that they are useful to others.

For now, thanks again for being patient and for honoring me this way. More calligraphy focused stuff is coming soon.

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