SCRIBE NOTES



Volume 4, Number 4




Editorial

Unto all known Scribes in the Principality of Lochac

Richard de la Croix sends greetings.

Well here we are yet again. Another two months, another issue. The news item of the last 8 weeks would have to be the Scribes' Workshop in Rowany. I'll provide you all with a detailed summary later, but for the moment let me state that it was quite a success.

Now for some other, more mundane, news. In the next 2 weeks I will be leaving my mundane employment for (what I hope will be) somewhat greener pastures. This will have two immediate effects.

Firstly, the next issue of Scribe Notes may be late. I am uncertain of the access to copying facilities at my new job, so I'll be asking my wife to copy the next few for me. As to the timing, I hope for the effect to be minimal, but this may not be the case and SN could come out a bit late next time.

Secondly, most of my mail turnaround has been next day, or the day after. You should expect that this will change at least for the next 2 months to something more akin to a week. I will try and get a response to any questions or requests within the 7 days, but please show some patience if this goal is not achieved in the short term.



Scribes Workshop

The Scribes' Workshop was on the whole an unqualified success. The only negative would appear to have been a lack of space and tables. With more planning and a bigger room I think a repeat performance is warranted. The attendance register read as follows;

Richard de la Croix (that's me)
Alarice Beatrix von Thal (my wife)
Rowan Perigrynne
Katherine Ashford
Myfanwy of Aberystwyth
Melloney de Charteris
Yseult de Lacy
Frae Fitzalleyne
Branwen of Werchesvorde
Fillipa Genevra Francesca de Lucignano
Leonie de Grey
Elouise d'Arnell
Riona of Caerleon
Lars Leifsson

I know I enjoyed myself immensely, as did several others who have taken the time to say the same. In addition to the fun that was had, a lot of quality work was also completed.

Surprisingly, there were more people completing original scrolls than pre-printed AA's. This is a good thing, since there are now only a few pre-printeds remaining to be assigned. I will talk more on this later however.

Work completed or marked as completed at the workshop included

1 KSCA original
1 OP original
1 Viscounty original
1 AA original
5 AA pre-printeds

These results I found to be quite worth the effort. In addition , scrolls worked on but not completed included

2 KSCA originals
1 GA original
1 OL original
2 AA pre-printeds

I would like to thank all who attended for their efforts. I am only sorry that those living some distance from Rowany were not able to be present. If any one wishes to conduct similar workshops in their local area, I would be happy to offer advice, and would even try to attend if it were feasible. I would also be able to supply assignments and blanks where necessary.



Thanks and Welcomes

I would like to welcome Myfanwy of Aberystwyh and Frae Fitzalleyne back to our active number. Both Megen and Mark attended the Workshop and I am very pleased they have decided once again to donate their superb talents to the obvious benefit of the Principality.

I would also like to extend a welcome to Elouise d'Arnell, Riona of Caerleon, Lars Leifsson and Melloney de Charteris. These good people were also present at the Workshop, and have expressed interest in doing work on award scrolls. I hope to soon have a newcomers' package/kit that I can send along to people just starting out in the College. When I have the final product completed, I will be sure to send it to any new scribes that would like it.



Backlog Project

Now for an update on the project I mentioned in SN 2. Of the 40 AA's that were over two years old, 25 have been completed and the remainder have at least been calligraphed. A few of the remaining calligraphed blanks were assigned to other scribes at the Workshop and I am awaiting their return.

All ORL scrolls with concurrent AA's have been completed now, as have 5 of the outstanding GA's. Consequently, there does seem to be some light at the end of the tunnel after all.

Thanks must go to Alarice Beatrix von Thal for her very considerable efforts in assisting with the illumination on the scrolls so far completed. The remainder should be finished sometime in the not too distant future - the mid-year target date being now very probable.



Assignment Recall

As I have already indicated, the number of unassigned AAs has dropped considerably since last year. Despite this however, some of the scrolls marked as assigned have been outstanding for quite some time. The next task I will be performing is the recall of any AA's that were issued to scribes in excess of a year ago.

This should free up quite a few more assignments for those scribes that wish to work on the pre-printed scrolls. It should also ensure that recipients are not disadvantaged by the delays caused by the slow recall of assignments that in all likelihood would not otherwise be completed.

Rather than contacting every member of the college individually, I will be including a list of recalled assignments for each scribe at the end of this issue of Scribe Notes. Remember, only AAs will be included on the list, so if you have originals that are a little overdue that is OK for the moment. If there is no list with this issue of SN, it either means you're up to date or you don't have any AA's scrolls to do.

If you have one or more of these assignments and you wish to keep it then you will need to advise me. Note, I have not included assignments where I have already talked to the scribe concerned about a particular scroll.

If however, you no longer wish to do the assignment ,or you never knew you had it in the first place (sigh), nothing more needs to be done on your part. The scroll will simply flow back into the pool of available work when the May deadline is passed. I have done it this way because it is easier for both you and I to assume that silence implies consent.

In any case, if I haven't heard from people before May Coronet, the assignments (if any) , that are on your list will be recalled. I should also mention this will include people for whom I do not have a current address but these people I will be contacting in some other way.



Supplies

Mistress Rowan has told me of a store in Melbourne that may very well have the cheapest gilding supplies I have ever seen. For your benefit, I have included some of the better 'bargains' below. The company's name and address details are also included in this column.

For those who don't live in the city of Melbourne, from what I can gather the supplier also has quite a reliable delivery arrangement. Take particular note of the imitation gold leaf price. Mistress Rowan has started using this on the pre-printed AA's and it looks fantastic. It is a marked improvement over the metallic guache available (in ease of use and final results) and costs around half to a third of the price of the 23/24 carat equivalent. Also, an added advantage to using the imitation leaf is that it will enable you to gain expertise with a very much cheaper alternative.

Of course, if your financial resources will not cover the use of imitation leaf, the metallic guaches on the market are perfectly acceptable for either pre-printed or original scrolls. The same goes for the use of vellum over paper. There is no requirement to use vellum on original scrolls done for the College, and neither should there be. If you want to use vellum, then by all means do so, but the effect on paper is to my mind almost as good. Almost all of my work to date has been on high quality paper, and it will continue to be so. I think that in the end if the recipient wants vellum then you and they should come to some financial arrangement, unless you like them a real heap. Enough said, here are the details I promised;

Transfer Leaf (for loose leaf deduct $2.00). Prices are per book containing 25 leaves and are also ex-tax.
Gold Leaf 24 carat $37.00
Red Gold Leaf 23.5 carat $31.00
Gold Leaf 23 carat $27.00
Gold Leaf 22 carat $25.00
Imitation Gold $14.50

Weyermann Nominees P/L
T/A The Gold Leaf Factory
P.O. Box 912
Frankston, VIC 3199

Phone 03-7862247
Fax 03-7851145
If there is enough interest I am prepared to bulk order for people who will be able to collect the material from me at some time in the near future. The Rowany Festival or May Coronet would probably prove an ideal place and location.

I will order around 100 leaves of the 23.5 transfer gold for myself, but I am prepared to add to my order if the request gets to me within the next week or so. I will not be buying extra on spec, so you'll have to be sure that you want the material and let me know accordingly.



Mail Box

I received quite a few letters in the last 2 months. Fortunately for me, I was able to answer the majority of these in person at the Scribal Workshop. There are just a couple of other responses that I will give here rather than in a separate letter.

Frae Fitzalleyne

Frae the wording change that you asked about is fine. Its such a minor change you needn't have asked me, but thanks anyway. It was great to see you at the Workshop, and even better that you had been working.

I will pick up the AA's you started on the scribe's day when I see you at either the Festival or May Coronet. I'll also pick up the Viscounty you are working on if its finished. I will also forward the Award details and emblazon sheet for the scroll you mentioned.

Muirghein ni Ghraine

Thanks for the letter. I have noted in my records that you wish to do the Viscountal scroll you wrote about. As for the other reference to accounts in your letter, I received a cheque from Rhianwen shortly after you wrote.



Feature Article

This issue's Feature Article has been taken from the pages of an old edition of the West Kingdom College of Scribes' Handbook. The article was written by Masteritsa Taitan Nikolaevna, OL of the West Kingdom and is entitled "Illumination and Colour Theory".

I find it particularly useful information for both beginning and accomplished scribes alike. It is an excellent article dealing with the use of colour and light in our art-form. It contains invaluable tips on the darkening and lightening of areas of colours to give that extra life to one's work.

In conclusion, I hope to see as many of you as I can at the Festival. I will probably bring my C& I gear just in case I get time to do something, and providing the weather holds well. My prediction in this regard is for lots of rain though, so don't leave the wet weather gear behind.

In service

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Written by my hand this 22nd day of March in the year nineteen hundred and ninety-five of the Common Era


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