[Sca-cooks] scroll for Edouard

[Laura C. Minnick]

At 11:09 PM 5/21/02 -0600, you wrote:
>Better be careful, Lainie....it *is* Olwen...she could be planning to
>copy it in sugarpaste and marzipan or something.....
>--Maire, who wants to see your work of art, too! (and I'm *much* safer
>and more boring than Olwen....I'd wanna do it in blackwork, which would
>take _way_ too long ;-P)

Well, as soon as he's taken pictures I'll see what I can do. In the
meantime, I learned several things:

Writing original work in an archaic language (Middle English, West Midlands
dialect) Is a LOT harder than you'd think. I labored over this for MONTHS
and even though the words work and the form works, I could never have shown
this to
Master Chaucer. He'd have laughed and sent me back to try again, and then
he would have written the incident into one of his Tales, one about a bad
poet trying to be impressive...

Doing the calligraphy hurt more than I'd remembered. And I'd remembered a
lot. Partly I think beacuse I was working in an unfamiliar hand. But I
still have a 'dead zone' along the side of my little finger and that side
of my hand. Be awhile before I do lettering again. OW.

I really enjoyed myself on the illumination though. Lots of vinework, and
In the capitals I put flowers- specific ones, the properties/qualities of
which corresponded with the Latin header (ex- 'Fidelitas' had violets in
the capital). I have the little picnic laid out on the white cloth with a
fringe and black stitching along the edge, like the ones in the
illuminations. The food is really too small too see unless you really get
your nose into the paint, but there is a pretty blue pitcher. And of
course, the ants are in the vinework, and just beginning their march onto
the picnic cloth...

The portraits were difficult. Well, mine was not so hard, because I know my
face rather well. But my 'Sweteherte' is a little harder. Hard to paint a
moustached man without him looking like 20th century megalomaniacs. But he
does look nice- I painted him in clothes he doesn't have- so I at least
know that yes, he does look nice in red. My chances of getting him in it
without hogtying him? Nil. ;-)

I think cooking is more rewarding in some ways- you can eat your work and
it is usually easier to get it off your hands. But you can't just stop and
go do something else, like you can with artwork. I could rinse my brush and
take off to run errands- but I can't just up and leave bread dough, or a
pot on the stove...

But when you're cooking you can eat your mistakes!

'Lainie
-and I dare anyone to replicate this thing in sugarplate or marzipan. I
don't think it could be done.
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Sometimes Life makes drastic changes without our permission...