Laurel for a Woman of Many Talents

When I found out my dear friend Morwenna was being offered the Laurel, I did a happy dance and then asked if I could do the scroll. 

And then promptly went and asked Signet because we do not accept assignments without Signet's blessing! 

But I was granted the assignment, and I took it happily. 

Then the hard work began. Morwenna has a very robust early period persona. Her encampments are truly enchanted ground - nothing modern. Nothing glaringly out of place. She creates a beautiful space and I knew her scroll had to reflect that, to honor her properly. 

So, that meant vellum and that meant goat skin. Do you know how long it takes to get goat skin vellum? I do now, and I am thankful for fast shipping. 

The source was an easy choice - Book of Durrow. It's her region, it's her time period, and it's just a simply beautiful book. I had full run of this assignment... words, calligraphy, and illumination. I went to my Laurel, Eloise, and sort of cried for help. It's overwhelming to be handed that whole weight, and I understand now why so many Peerage scrolls are a team of people. It's a lot. 

We talked, and she agreed to do words, and because we are who we are, that meant a total of 67 words for the scroll. That's not a lot when you start talking about a Peerage scroll. There are words that must be included, and often the text is long and elaborate to truly praise the recipient. However I knew two things - one, she'd appreciate a scroll that was 1:1 and her persona and two, Eloise and I love small scrolls so, super short scroll text was our only option. 

Eloise's words were perfect, eloquent and allowed me to use the letters as they existed in the manuscript which made my job a great deal easier as now I only had to design the carpet page and not also the lettering. 

The end result was this - a two page layout, 1:1 for the original book size on goat skin vellum with modern ink and gouaches. I did deviate slightly from the original and mixed the barest amount of shell gold (gold with a clear binder) to both deepen the yellow to better match the source, and to add a hint of shine in the right light. 

I simplified the filler illustration around the letters, to give a little more visual space so it didn't outweigh the carpet page. The knot work and medallion are from separate pages within the text, and the corners were done to look like leaves and stems, to mimic the laurel leaves in the center. Her arms were added inside the G, replacing the knot work that was there. The larger letters are all gouache, and I used a sepia ink instead of black ink to emphasize the illustration. 

I now have a dedicated brush for red dots, and that amuses me greatly. 

This is the second scroll I've done on vellum - the first was an AoA for a very dear friend of mine. This is the largest scroll I've done on vellum though, the first measuring 5"x7" and this measuring 8"x10". There is ample framing space around the illustration and text, and I look forward to seeing it framed. 

The presentation in Court: 

A close up of the G in progress, with a ruler for scale: