And that's official . . .

It's been a busy few months for me as I prepared to take the mantle as Principal Herald of Calontir.  Garb to make, contracts to write, calligraph, and illuminate, ceremonies to write, and then bits to learn and create and find out about.

Photo by Marie le Faivre/Kate Gill

So, garb.  I was gifted some absolutely gorgeous teal silk by my lord that was purchased in the Middle East.  I don't trust my sewing skills, and especially not on silk, so I sent this to a friend of mine (Anna, of annasrome.com) to work her magic on it.  I do, however, trust my skills on decorating garb, and so, after it arrived, I started beading it with freshwater pearls, peridot, moonstone, and amethyst, which I must confess I selected because of how it would look, and not because of periodicity.

Beading the Byzantine on an off day.

I sewed several very tiny beads onto the silk (and not period trim), taking care to couch them so they wouldn't move too much.  All are sewn on with size 11 straw needles and a doubled length of regular sewing thread.  I did find that the beads were occasionally problematic, as I purchased hand-cut rounds, which sometimes didn't fit on the needles, so I found myself overbuying beads to ensure I had enough.  I clocked about 40 hours, if not more, on the actual beading of the dalmatica.

Now, when I wasn't working on the dalmatica, I was working on the ceremony, which was based on Byzantine functionaries, who were required to swear fealty.   I found an oath, and I blogged about it here.  I then calligraphied the oath (after clearing the ceremony though Their Majesties), and signed it in court with a quill pen borrowed from my friend Mirabel.  My unsigned oath has been photographed, and was based on Byzantine illumination from the Rossano Gospels, which are a purple dyed codex of the Gospels.  I did not dye the pergamentata, but I did try my first gilding experiments on this piece.  I did put myself in the illumination, but I also put Their Majesties in Byzantine garb.  My calligraphy is not the best, but, being a lefty, I do have some issues with beautiful writing.

Photos of my investiture as Gold Falcon can be found here.  I look forward to serving the Kingdom in this role - it's going to be fun.

A Panoply of Scrolls (and other things)

I've been juggling a couple of things lately, including three scroll commissions from the outgoing queen of Calontir, and learning how to use my new lampwork torch.  I also entered a blank border contest.

So, after my trip to the Middle East, I was inspired by the many, many, many Qu'ran pages I saw at Qatar's Museum of Islamic Art, as well as this page that I saw on Pinterest.  One thing I liked about this particular page was the variety of colour, as well as the ability to modify it somewhat for SCA use.  In the future, I think I'll add more bars, like what is in the extant (which is a 13th century Persian Qu'ran), but I'm otherwise pleased with this.  There's so many techniques to try and learn (I suspect the extant also has gold leaf, which I really must learn to do soon).

While that was being worked on, I also received a commission for three separate scrolls, and for a very important client: the sitting Queen of Calontir.  She expressed that she wanted something French, but she also wanted to personalise the scrolls a bit, as the recipients were for the Queen's Endorsement of Distinction.  The Queen's Endorsement of Distinction is listed as such on the Calontir Awards page:

As the patroness of all gentle and courteous behavior, the Queen of Calontir may, at her own discretion, bestow this recognition upon some few individuals. It may be given only thrice during any one reign, and only once in each category:
1. Unto the individual combatant or archer who has shown the highest of chivalric behavior;
2. Unto the individual who has best exemplified gentle and courteous behavior; and
3. Unto the individual who best exemplified the ideals and goals of the Society.
The Queen may bestow any or all of these recognitions as she chooses. She may bestow upon those individuals a badge of her own initials entwined with a rose, constructed as she desires. Members may place the initials QED after their names. Individuals may be so honored by more than one queen.

So, each scroll is personalised - one with bees, one with an archer and bunny, and the third with a later period knight.  I'm pleased with how they turned out.  You can see them here.  There was a part of me that wanted to add some more marginalia, and there's a lot more vining and detail that I could have added that in the future for a scroll from 14th century France really should have. On the other hand, each recipient loved their scroll.

Scribal work feeds both my service needs and my arts niche.  It's a lot of fun, but definitely takes a steady hand and a gentle heart.

My new lampwork torch and supplies have been a lot of fun - I've been making beads and veil pins and all sorts of glass fun.

There's a lot that I still can't remember or don't have all of the supplies to do, but the evening I figured out how to enrobe beads in clear glass very much made my day.  It's a bit of a challenge, really - it's making sure the glass is warm enough that it doesn't crack, but cool enough that the clear glass doesn't deform the cooling glass underneath.  It's a challenge, but the results are beautiful.
The veil pins, though - fun!  I found some 12th century veil pins (here) with glass that appeared to be wound around the brass. I used 18 gauge brass wire, hammered it in two directions, making sure to flatten and spread the wire a little bit to keep the glass on the pin, and then cut the wire at an angle.  After the pin is worked, the metal was heated slightly while being held in pliers to prevent thermic shock, and then the hot glass was added to the pin.  I then let them cool down in a heat blanket.

In the future, keeping the pin round, but work hardened will be work to figure out, but I look forward to the challenge.

Sorry for the Absence!

2013-11-02-1145, a photo by vhersch_rhianydd on Flickr.

I've had to get some non-SCA life things in order, hence my absence. Let's get caught up, shall we?

A couple of reigns ago, there was a blank border contest. I entered, and won third place for this entry.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. A well-deserving lady was awarded the Calon Cross. The scroll was turned around - and the realisation hit.

I painted the scroll.

Talk about a really cool thing, right?

Queen's Prize Entry

100_3282, a photo by constantiak on Flickr.

It is time for Queen's Prize here in Calontir! This is the novice-level A&S event of the year here.

My original plan fell through - encaustic takes time and money that after a trip out of the country and sixty-hour workweeks I didn't really have, so I switched gears and did traditional scribal. I did want to keep it Byzantine (because, hi, me), so I went with this page from the Rabbula Gospels that depicts the apostles and Christ talking about who would replace Judas.

Not much is known about the artist (or for that matter, studio) who painted the Rabbula Gospels, other than his name was Rabbula.  The extant is on parchment (in the photos, the animal's markings are even seen).

Instead of going with this idea and doing a full-blown replica, I went with the idea of past imparting wisdom to the future, by using the first five kings and queens of Calontir speaking to the current king and queen of Calontir.

From the top, going clockwise - Arwyn and Chepe (1st), Cire and Elisabeth (4th), William (Humpk) and Mammara (3rd), Damien and Issabell (60th and as of this writing, current king and queen of Calontir), Asgeirr and Miriam (5th), and Shadan and Erzebet (2nd).

It is unusual to have the men and women in such close quarters, given how segregated Byzantine society was between women and men, and it is doubly unusual to have the women not veiled.  In hindsight, I probably should have veiled the women (modesty was a big deal in Byzantium, especially in the 5th and 6th centuries, and there's an example in the Rabbulas of Mary being completely covered, however, it appears that she is in mourning), however, looking at the royal ladies of Theodora's court in comparison, they're about as covered, though I will point out that the artist may be illustrating the difference in class.

One cool thing I found out is that the extant is just shy of 13"x10", or about the size of the perg (which is close at 11"x14", though this was due to being trimmed to be rebound. That was a really happy day, lemme tell you.

It is commercially produced gouache (Royal Talens) on pergamenata (purchased from John Neal Booksellers).

I am pretty pleased with this piece, though I really need to draw the figures bigger to fill the space better.

If you would like to see the step-by-step process, the scroll diary can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/belle-etoile/sets/72157634999333773/

Additionally, my documentation can be found here.

And I'm back . . .

100_3108, a photo by constantiak on Flickr.

. . . with more projects. So soon after my return from Canada, too! (I came back from my two weeks away yesterday. I have issues.)

I'm part of a group on Facebook called SCA Medieval Barter Town that is somewhat of an offshoot of Noblesse Largesse. People create items for other people, and then barter them off for other items. It's a really cool thing.

So, I'm working on four blank borders for someone. I've been given some direction - a Roman one, a Norse/Viking one, a 12th c Crusader one, and finally, a 14th c one.

This is the 14th c. one. I'm kind of pleased with it. I need to add some vinework to it, but it's really getting close to what I'd want out of it.

Now I have to get some more pergamenata, and I need to get started on my encaustic projects, too.

Quick Update

I'm working on a rather secret project right now that will be revealed soon - it's for Noblesse Largesse's current documentation-required swap.  The hint I will give is that the object I've made is for a culture influenced by Byzantine culture, and the object is something shiny.

There will be photos - I promise.

I'm also working through a couple ideas for a Norse banner for my barony, as well as a couple of plans for Knowne World Heraldic and Scribal Symposium in Bjornsborg, and one more big project for Queen's Prize in Calontir that I'm exploring.

A year or so after I had joined the Society, I became enamored with iconography, specifically Byzantine and Rus icons.  Since many of Byzantium's icons were destroyed in the 8th and 9th century, and the few dozen that still exist are at St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, there's not a lot of information but what we do have is a handful of icons painted using encaustic paints.

Encaustic painting is painting with pigmented wax, hardened with resin, and applied to a porous substrate (such as wood).  There's a breadth of styles, from rather primitive and almost in a modern chibi style to a naturalistic and realistic style.  It'll take some more investigating, but it certainly looks like fun.

Where Have I Been?

I promise I exist.

My mundane life has sort of taken over - but never fear!  I'm going through a couple of ideas for A&S competition that are Roman or Byzantine in scope - but I have to work through them first to see if they're feasible.

Upcoming is still the tutorial on making wire-wrapped necklaces.  I promise I have not forgotten about it.  I do need some help in photographing the process, and that requires more hands than what I was graced with at birth!  Once I wrangle up some help, and have good enough lighting, I'll walk you through the process.

In another realm, one of the really cool things that I got to do for the past Calontir Crown was create two scroll blanks to be handed out to children in the SCA.  The award is called the Queen's Chalice, and one was presented at Kris Kinder, the other at Coronation.  Below is Magda presenting my favourite of the two I painted to one of the children.

photo courtesy of Gary Fox (ska Ruaidhri ua Ceallaigh)

One more thing - I've been running an A&S Secret Santa-type swap on the Knowne World level, and would love to have you join us.  This next swap is #5, and promises to be quite fun!  If you're on Facebook, check out our group at the following link: Noblesse Largesse.

So, yes, that's what's been going on in my world.