[Sca-cooks] A & S question
Robin Carroll-Mann
rcmann4 at earthlink.net
Wed Aug 6 19:28:34 PDT 2003
On 6 Aug 2003, at 17:24, jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:
> I am also about to get myself in real trouble. Fasten your hats down,
> everybunny.
>
> I'm in a special situation: my main area of interest, herbs, didn't have a
> lot of serious A&S people doing it when I started. With 10 years of
> studying herbs and herbgrowing and history and so forth under my belt, I
> found myself a woman with a mission... show people how herbs were part of
> medieval life.
>
> There are many ways to have your work seen. Displays, classes,
> exhibitions, and competitions all work to one degree or another. If you
> want high-powered A&S people to see your stuff and interact with you about
> it, in my kingdom, you probably want to do exhibitions and/or
> competitions.
I'm not a great fan of competitions. The last time I entered one, it was at Ice
Dragon, in the Principality of Aethelmarc. :-)
It is possible to have your stuff noticed by entering exhibitions alone. It
helps, of course, if those exhibitions are at Kingdom events. At any rate, I
seem to have been visible enough -- without entering competitions -- to be
given a Manche. (For you non-Easterners: Manche=EK award for the arts.)
Maybe I'm the exception that proves the rule. I don't know. I do know that
one Manche told me afterwards that he/she voted for me based on the
quality of my documentation at one of the exhibitions.
I have also observed on the Manche polling list (and I don't think I'm spilling
any dark secrets) that many people will remark of a candidate, "I'm not
familiar with his/her work. Where can I see it?" Most don't seem to care if a
candidate enters competitions, per se.
Other ways to be seen include teaching classes and workshops; putting
your work (or at least pictures and documentation) on a website; and writing
articles for SCA publications.
> > I STR that was two or three years ago, also in the Barony of An
> > Dubhaigeainn. I also think that one was slightly smaller than some of
> > the ones that were done elsewhere, but that may also have been the
> > way the site was laid out, with the exhibition spread out across
> > several smaller rooms, instead of being in a huge hall. There may
> > have been a comparable number of exhibitions... but again, artisans
> > had the option of staying with their work to solicit comments or just
> > answer questions, and even worked on the projects right there in the
> > open. Most of the people who prefer that format to a competition have
> > commented on the friendliness of the format, whereas they had
> > concerns about hurt feelings, rude judges, and who knows what else,
> > in a competition format. Rightly or wrongly, it's a common perception.
I find competitions very stressful. Having my work judged in in formal, score-
keeping situation does bad things to my blood pressure. I know that other
people find competitions enjoyable, and a spur to do better work.
> I love exhibitions. I find them fun. But then I lure people to my table
> with food.
What a sneaky, underhanded approach. :-)
Oh, and I just realized that I *have* entered one other competition. A few
years ago, my baroness encouraged all the local artisans to participate in
the Pennsic A&S competition. So I embroidered a handkerchief, and
entered it for the honor of my barony.
I hope I'm not sounding obnoxiously boastful and complacent. I just wanted
to share what my experience has been in A&S in the East. (Results may
vary. Not valid where prohibited by law. Contents sold by weight. This end
up.)
Brighid ni Chiarain *** mka Robin Carroll-Mann
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
rcmann4 at earthlink.net
More information about the Sca-cooks
mailing list