Scribal stuff
Maedha sent me a couple of charters to paint--and in the pre-move mode, I need to finish them and forward them on.
So, with it being President's Day--a holiday--I've been painting. I am utterly thrilled to be painting charters, by the way. I love to do it. However, I love it with a caveat.
There are those good folk out there that talk of how some colors would not be used "in period," and how some techniques are not demonstrably authentic. Y'know. Stuff that ostensibly sounds like Laurel-speak.
Mind you, Laurels--bless their heads forever--are mines of information, masses of documentation, and (for the most part) mavins of teaching.
However, there is a part of me that says: The Society for Creative Anachronism is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the equivalent (in any shape or form) the Society for Compulsive Authenticity.
So I guess what I'm saying is, please don't inhibit my imagination. Please show me everything you've learned, please share with me your technique, please let me read your documentation.
But don't expect me to conform to "period" practices, or tell me that my work is lacking because I didn't do something, that I didn't employ some period technique. Chances are strong that I won't create my own inks, that I won't make my own nibs or brushes, that I won't fabricate my own paints or dyes. Chances are pretty strong that I will used a cold-press paper, rather than paper I've made, or parchment or vellum.
Life has taught me that perfection is not always reasonable--but that I can always, always give my best.
I enjoy working with my hands. I love to work with leather or wood, love to sew, love to embellish garb, love to illuminate (calligraphy is still to be determined). Love to wield a sword or two, pitch an axe or knife or toss a spear. Love to shoot an arrow or three. My imagination and skills are only limited by time and the ability of my hands and mind to produce.
If I can think it, I assure you, I will come up with a way to do it.
Because I know that if I think it, I'm not the only one to have thought it--and that is an arguably period practice.
So, with it being President's Day--a holiday--I've been painting. I am utterly thrilled to be painting charters, by the way. I love to do it. However, I love it with a caveat.
There are those good folk out there that talk of how some colors would not be used "in period," and how some techniques are not demonstrably authentic. Y'know. Stuff that ostensibly sounds like Laurel-speak.
Mind you, Laurels--bless their heads forever--are mines of information, masses of documentation, and (for the most part) mavins of teaching.
However, there is a part of me that says: The Society for Creative Anachronism is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the equivalent (in any shape or form) the Society for Compulsive Authenticity.
So I guess what I'm saying is, please don't inhibit my imagination. Please show me everything you've learned, please share with me your technique, please let me read your documentation.
But don't expect me to conform to "period" practices, or tell me that my work is lacking because I didn't do something, that I didn't employ some period technique. Chances are strong that I won't create my own inks, that I won't make my own nibs or brushes, that I won't fabricate my own paints or dyes. Chances are pretty strong that I will used a cold-press paper, rather than paper I've made, or parchment or vellum.
Life has taught me that perfection is not always reasonable--but that I can always, always give my best.
I enjoy working with my hands. I love to work with leather or wood, love to sew, love to embellish garb, love to illuminate (calligraphy is still to be determined). Love to wield a sword or two, pitch an axe or knife or toss a spear. Love to shoot an arrow or three. My imagination and skills are only limited by time and the ability of my hands and mind to produce.
If I can think it, I assure you, I will come up with a way to do it.
Because I know that if I think it, I'm not the only one to have thought it--and that is an arguably period practice.