Let the reader’s voice honor the writer’s pen — Marginalia, anonymous monk

How do you even begin to think about creating a scroll when you have never even taken an art class (and echoing in your head is the voice of your grammar school art teacher who was QUITE adamant that you were not among the talented ones in his class)? I suppose that it was the desire to TRY and the encouragement of a few and wanting to create…to see if I could replicate something that was centuries old that pushed me to begin. And so started my journey, pretty clueless and trying to read and find sources of help to figure my way.

I saw such amazing scrolls being awarded to my fellow SCA members and the artistry and beauty dazzled me. Realizing that some of my new acquaintances were the creators of these works awed me. I’d really like to try this! I confess I had no idea, thinking these sprang fully formed from their minds and knowing I was not that artful. I learned in an early class that ideas were pulled from manuscripts, pages and pages of images and calligraphy that I really never knew about until then.

I started by trying to sketch what I saw, erasing and redrawing repeatedly and wondering at the amount of time each would take to do. Then a dear friend took me under his wing, looked at me like I was OUT of my mind , and introduced me to tracing. He also introduced me to pergamenata, or perg, the modern scribe’s parchment. After a trip to an art store, I had my basic supplies, which I began adding to as I discovered a need to be addressed.

Here, then, is my personal journey, one of discovery (yes, I CAN art!) and joy. I will post from the beginning with thoughts on each one (good and bad) as well as what I did for each (technique, tools, source, etc.).

Update: on April 1, 2022, I was asked to contemplate becoming a Laurel. On April 2, 2022, I was honored to have my Laureling be King Cuán and Queen Adelheit ‘s first court decree at their coronation. I was also made their Royal Scrivener. So amazed, such beautiful words were spoken on my behalf, and the love felt was astounding.