Examples of my work

This is a scan of a special Dragon's Heart scroll done for Dr. Thomas Amos, Head of the Special Collections department at Western Michigan University. He comes to one event a year to talk to scribes about Medieval books, bringing examples of the "real thing" as well as some of the higher grade facsimiles. He is also caring for the Middle Kingdom Great Book of Ceremonies for us.

I started out with an 8" x 10" piece of lamb (from Bookmakers, Inc.).

You can see my inspiration page (from the Hours of Margriet Uutenham, Netherlands, c.1460-75) by clicking here (I did incorporate the gilded vines from another page of the same manuscript, as I thought they were way too cool). The gilding base was acrylic gesso (which I later regretted, as it was old and the gold didn't want to stick), as I ended up being in a bit of a hurry, and that was on hand. I thought my Permanent Red would be the right shade until I painted it on full... it turned out not quite blue enough. I used Japanese stick ink for the text, and gouaches for my versals. Dr. Amos was pleased (I was not quite happy with all of it, but I did think it was rather spiffy, anyway <grin>).

A rather poor photograph of one of my earlier pieces (when I was just starting). The illumination was traced and colored (I'm sorry to say) with felt-tip markers. And, this was done before I learned the proper way to write Chancery Italic. original size: 11" x 14"	This is the first Kingdom-level scroll I did for the Middle Kingdom. I got a bit carried away with the gilding <grin>. I was happily laying down my gilding base and looked back at the piece I used for inspiration and found I was supposed to do only every other one of the leaves <sigh>. So, this turned out way more spiffy than I thought it would. original size: 11" x 14"
One of the best scrolls I ever did... done on lamb vellum with lots of gold leaf and gouaches. The left side (as you see it) is in German, and the right side is the English translation. I used a magnifying glass to do the calligraphy (but it isn't my most favorite hand, nor best). This was scanned from a photograph taken through the glass of the frame. Sorry for the quality. original size: 8.5" x 11"	A bit of a closer look at the same scroll as the one above. I really had a great time with the whitework, here (can you tell?). I was still learning how to make my gilding base smooth.
Knighting scroll for Jafar al Safa (before he even won his first Crown), done on paper hand-made by Duke Syr Shadden of Calontir, with gold leaf and gouaches. Jafar's name done in modern Arabic in the bottom block. original size: 12" x 18"	Closer detail of the bottom left portion of the scroll, showing how the gilding took on the texture of the hand-made paper and detail of the psuedo-Arabic hand (adapted from the 19th Century Legend Hand). Jafar's name got spelled incorrectly, but it was already down and surrounded with the gold leaf when I found out the error.
A photo of the page from the Topkapi Manuscript book showing the inspiration for most of the Knighting scroll shown above.	A Grant of Arms scroll done using another page originally shown in the Topkapi Manuscript book. Done on the same paper as the Knighting scroll. I used aluminum leaf for silver, and gold gouache as the ground the main character is kneeling on. original size: 5" x 7"
A piece still in progress, based on the Luttrell Psalter... best gilding I have ever done, and it was done at Pennsic in my pavilion! This is a scan of the original, so the large one is quite a large JPEG. original size: 14" x 18"	Willow done for Lady Antonia in the Barony of White Waters (Middle Kingdom) Original size: 8" x 11"
Award of Arms scroll done on Egyptian Papyrus, calligraphed with stick ink, and illuminated with gouache. I used Talens Gold gouache for the first time on this piece... one coat!! 11" x 17"	Inspiration for the scroll shown to the left.
This is part of a Laurel scroll still in progress. The Russian Cyrillic is approximated from calligraphy as done in the Tzar Ivan Alexander Gospels in the late 1300's. There is an English translation to the left, on the other side of the scroll work. The scroll work is raised gilding, which will have a black background and muted coloring in the flowers (like on the Russian laquerware)... you can see the gesso base in pale pink at the top and bottom. original size: 18" x 25"	A Willow done for Kyle using one of the examples of the Göttingen Model Book, a 14th century book of how to make acanthus leaves and diapering. original size: 11" x 14"
The page I did for the Middle Kingdom's Great Book, based on a 14th century Dutch illumination. I had to do this page in the already bound book, which was quite a challenge... the upper left corner ended up out of square because of this. original size: 11" x 14"	A detail of the large initial and some of the illumination in the Great Book. Sometimes I surprise even myself at how good I can get with white- work and gilding.
A Willow for Heather of Shadowed Stars, who now lives in the Barony of Rivenstar. Based on an original manuscript page set (recto and verso, shown in next box). This was the first time I had really attempted to paint with shell gold, and loved it. I think I got it fairly close to the original, too. (This is a fairly large scan when you click on it) original size: 11" x 17" (including matt)	These are scans of a color copy of the original inspiration manuscript pages. I'm not sure which one is recto and which is verso at this time. These are full sized scans of the pages, without some of the actual blank borders. original size: about 6" x 8"
This is a scan of a special Dragon's Heart scroll done for Dr. Thomas Amos, Head of the Special Collections department at Western Michigan University. He comes to one event a year to talk to scribes about Medieval books, bringing examples of the "real thing" as well as some of the higher grade facsimiles. He is also caring for the Middle Kingdom Great Book of Ceremonies for us. I started out with an 8" x 10" piece of lamb (from Bookmakers, Inc.). You can see my inspiration page (from the Hours of Margriet Uutenham, Netherlands, c.1460-75) by clicking here (I did incorporate the gilded vines from another page of the same manuscript, as I thought they were way too cool). The gilding base was acrylic gesso (which I later regretted, as it was old and the gold didn't want to stick), as I ended up being in a bit of a hurry, and that was on hand. I thought my Permanent Red would be the right shade until I painted it on full... it turned out not quite blue enough. I used Japanese stick ink for the text, and gouaches for my versals. Dr. Amos was pleased (I was not quite happy with all of it, but I did think it was rather spiffy, anyway <grin>).	This is actually a fairly old scroll, but one that got chewed up by the recipient's dog when he was at Pennsic. It kind of shows how durable the acrylic gesso gilding base is, as it isn't scratched or chipped, except where eaten.