I was asked to do an Order of the Quintain (an award in Atlantia for horsemanship) for Highland River Melees. I selected a letter I liked from the Aberdeen Bestiary, as well as a frame from around one of the horses in the book, which I subsequently filled with the badge for the award instead. I used perg, 8x10" with a 2" border all around. Gouache, finetec, and 22K gold leaf with Noodler's Bulletproof black ink. Again, gold is finicky to heat and humidity and it was not cooperating with me. I need to find a better way to work with gold during the more humid times. In progress pics below.
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So right before Ruby Joust, I was asked by my Peers to do a writ for another member of our Household, my mentor, Aine. While sitting with them at the table, I quickly drafted out the wording I wanted, and had the layout in my head. I wanted it to at least vaguely resemble a legal writ, minus all the seals and etc. Sadly the gold size wasn't cooperating with the weather we were having and I couldn't get the mirror finish I wanted... but..
8x10" pergamenta with 2" border all around, Noodler's Bulletproof black, Batarde hand. In progress below. Back in March I received a message from Dame Eleanor in the Midrealm to commission a prize scroll for a tournament her House was holding at Midrealm 50 year. We discussed what she wanted, what she liked, and she decided to let me just go with it after giving me the wording. I took one of the pictures she sent of a fresco of the nine worthies and the fact that she loved my Black Hours style scrolls to combine a page from the Hours of Charles the Bold with the fresco. This project was why I had the black paper for the one previous. I had ordered it specially for this project. The paper is 11x14" with a 2" border top and bottom and 1 1/2" borders on the side.
The lettering was the first time I used garlic juice for a flat gilding and I did learn a few things, including do not be afraid to redip the pen multiple times. You get better coverage that way. The letters are gilded with 22k gold leaf, and the Capital I is a raised gilding using instacoll. Everything else is finetec gold and silver with Winsor Newton and M. Graham gouache. Clerk Signet reached out to me to ask if I could do a special scroll for Coronation. I had just received a shipment of black paper and decided to make it a little extra special. It was requested to have seahorses and tridents, so I found a picture of a medieval style seahorse and a trident and combined them.
I used finetec gold, watered down, for the ink with a dip pen. The Seahorse was done in silver finetec, the trident in gold finetec, and the badge was done with Windsor Newton gouache. Somewhere in between January and February a friend approached me to work on a very special scroll for her husband. The whole thing was to be a surprise and at Defending the Gate they were going to put him on vigil in the morning to contemplate joining the Order of the Pelican, would I be willing to do his scroll? OMG YES!!! Of course I would! I was ecstatic that he was being recognized and was honored that she wanted me to do his scroll! She gave me some basic requests, and then I spent a good week looking for something that said "Colum" to me. Then I came across this brooch..and it said "I could be a Pelican with a little tweaking from you..." and it reminded me of him in a way too. Brooch in Form of a Bird of Prey Date: late 500s Culture: Vendel Medium: Copper alloy with silver overlay Dimensions: Overall: 2 1/8 x 1 1/4 x 3/8 in. (5.4 x 3.2 x 1 cm) Classification: Metalwork-Brass Credit Line: Purchase, Leon Levy and Shelby White Gift, Rogers Fund, and funds from various donors, 1991 Accession Number: 1991.308 Their dogs are extremely important to them as well, and it was asked that I include at least a black lab in the scroll somewhere. Well, I didn't think I could make it look right with that brooch, so the answer was to make a two sheet scroll. One side with the text and illumination, the other with his heraldry and achievement. Scrolling through the pictures she had of their dogs, I found one that seemed to fit. So I started work. Materials - 2 sheets of Pergamenta 11x14" with 2" borders on the side and 1 1/2" borders top and bottom. Windsor Newton Gouache, Finetec gold, and Noodler's Bulletproof black ink, applied with a C7 nib and a dip pen. I crafted the text and used various Anglo Saxon insular minuscule manuscripts plus Drohgin's to get the hand I wanted. The runes are the same text as in the next and are a mix of various types I found in order to transliterate the script to the upper design. In progress pics below.
So, what happens when the Baronial Secretary gives you an assignment for a friend who you have a slightly naughty inside joke with? You find a way to incorporate it into the scroll, with the Secretary's blessing. A friend of mine, Yrsa, was being awarded the highest award our Barony gives - The Silver Heart of Stierbach. One night at scriptorium, we had been discussing badges, the slightly less prudish attitudes towards sex in period (seriously, many of the period exemplars have some beyond racy images) and the pilgrim badges of the time that seem to mimic or replicate the early Roman flying peni fetishes. I found a brooch that I thought suited her and was close to her time period and had a lovely little blank spot in front. Not too large, not too small. Hunterston brooch Celtic, ca.700.after Chr. Scotland Silver gold and amber Scottish National Museum Edinburgh I attempted to mirror the pieces that were covered by the pin since I was taking that out of the equation, and changed the amber to garnet because the badge for the award is red and white, I thought the color would pop more. Materials used: Pergamenta 11x14"
Winsor Newton Gouache, Finetec Gold, Noodler's Bulletproof Black. Calligraphy exemplar: Various insular minuscule manuscripts of Anglo Saxon writing plus Droghin's. In progress and a couple details below. Our backlog deputy put the call out for a couple awards that needed done. I accepted and was chosen to do Master Herveus' backlog AoA. I looked through different manuscripts and nothing seemed to really resonate, until I pulled out my Macclesfield Psalter facsimile. The Macclesfield is thought to have been created around 1330 and is of especial historical significance in manuscripts. More info on the exemplar here thanks to the Fitzwilliam Museum: https://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/gallery/macclesfield/about/index.html Sample page, but not the one I used specifically. I sketched out the design I wanted, adding some of the details, on a regular sketch pad, then transferred it to a transfer paper so I had a nice clean image to put on the perg, and used a light box to transfer it to the perg. (I sometimes have a heavy hand with pencil, so this prevents me from leaving ruts to capture paint.) The original was done on vellum or parchment and may have used such pigments as vermillion, terra verte, lapis lazuli, madder lake, lead red, lead yellow, lamp black, ochres of various hues, and lead white. The gold would have been laid on a size of gesso sottile, or leaded gesso and the ink would have been iron oak gall ink. Mine was done on pergamenta, with modern prepared gouache by Winsor Newton and M. Graham, mixing to get the shades I wanted. The 23K gold leaf was laid on a modern non lead gesso made by Baroness Aine ingen Chuimin, and the ink was Noodler's Bulletproof Black. These were used over period materials for a few reasons, mostly for archival, toxicity, and cost. The final image was done on an 8x10 piece of perg with 1" border all around, so illumination and calligraphy are in a 6x8" area. In progress and detail shots below.
I received a special request from someone who it is rather hard to say no to, and for a project I was happy not to say no to! One year ago, this past weekend I combat scribed a Golden Dolphin (Order of High merit - Service - Atlantia.) for a friend who stepped up as Baron of Ponte Alto this weekend. The assignment was a Golden Dolphin for the lady who was stepping up with him as Baroness (and also another friend of mine). I kept tumbling over in my mind what would suit her and was bouncing ideas off one of my scribal mentors when she reminded me that there were heart-shaped books! I had completely forgotten about them and they went with the lady in question's heraldry. The Chansonnier Cordiforme (1470s) or Chansonnier de Jean de Montchenu is a cordiform (heart-shaped) music manuscript, Collection Henri de Rothschild MS 2973, held in the Bibliothèque Nationale, in Paris, France. I could not find a lot of images online, so I worked with what I had and hand drew various elements in a sketch pad, then inked what I liked, made a transfer sheet and transferred if over to Perg. While the original was likely done on vellum or parchment, with lapis from Afghanistan, terre verte, vermillion, lead red, lead yellow, and lead white as well as iron oak gall ink, I used more modern materials for archival reasons and cost effectiveness.
Materials I used: Substrate - pergamenta; modern acrylic gold size from Baroness Aine ingen Chuimin; 23k gold leaf, a touch of finetec gold, Noodler's Bulletproof black ink, and gouache from Winsor & Newton, as well as M. Graham. The finished piece was 11x14 with a two inch border around the drawn heart. In progress pics and detail shots below. I had two for Holiday Faire, but a third scroll of mine was handed out there. It was originally intended for Crown, but the recipient was unable to attend. A friend of mine was recognized for her skill and research in Roman clothing and jewelry with a Coral Branch (Award of Arms A&S award). Her device has not passed yet (hopefully soon) so when it does, I hope to make a companion piece to go with this one. A mutual friend of ours showed me an image that Aelia was intrigued with and I used it as the basis for the scroll. It is the sarcophagus cover from a Carthaginian lady. I used an 8x10" piece of perg with a two inch border. The paint I used was gouache. In progress pics below. The first of the two for Holiday Faire I was asked to do was an Augmentation of Arms for another friend. The Gilded Portcullis. I picked the Harley 1498 - Quadripartite Indenture for Henry VII's Chapel, which I have used previously, I used a 5x7" piece of perg with 1 1/2" border. fish glue, the pink acrylic size that Baroness Aine makes, 23k gold leaf, and gouache. In progress pics below. The pencil and brush are for scale. The third scroll was an AoA for the husband of one of my friends (She received hers too, another scribe, Sara, did hers to match). I picked Catherine of Cleves, based on his device. The scroll was done on an 8x10" piece of perg with a 2 - 2 1/2" border around. I used gouache and 23k gold leaf on the homemade gesso. Below, in progress and closeups. Pencil for scale
For Holiday Faire I got to participate in a little bit of shenanigans with my Baroness and Baron for one friend, and I got to combine two different cultures to make something special for another. First up. Shenanigans. A Silver Horn (repeatable service award) for Their Excellencies' Court Herald. She has multiple personas from various places and times, but as far as I had known she hadn't received a Japanese scroll for her Japanese persona. So, I contacted Master Foro for a translation, and searched for an image. I couldn't find anything for the longest time and time was in short supply. The only image that called to me was out of period, from the Edo period, but it seemed perfect. So I used it anyway. The Original. The materials I used were perg for the substrate, and gouache, with finetec silver for the horn. The perg is 8x10" with a 1 1/2" border all around. In progress and closeups. Second, combining two different cultures. I'm not very familiar with the Persian and Middle Eastern cultures of the time, but in the short amount of time I've researched, I do not recollect seeing any manuscripts on a dark substrate like I have found in the Western European cultures. A friend was receiving the highest award our Barony gives for all his service and hard work. He has been doing a lot of research into the Persian, Ottoman, and Middle Eastern cultures of our time periods. To reflect that, I created a "black hours" style Persian scroll for him based on a manuscript from the 1400's. I actually did draw a segment, mirror it, then repeat it to make the border. It is all hand drawn. The Farsi was a translation from Baroness Tala that I placed on the scroll. It is a piece of 11 x 14" perg, hand dyed by me, with at least a 2" border. I used a mixture of acrylgouache that was designed for working on dark substrate, regular gouache, and finetec for the metallics. The writing was done with Dr. PHMartin's Bleed-Proof White. Unfortunately in the process of working on it, I didn't get a lot of pictures in progress. Only two actually, but here they are.
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AuthorMe, Faílenn Chu ingen ui Fháeláin. Archives
February 2021
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