Why are there two scrolls? I have the USPS to thank for allowing me a redo and a, IMO, vastly better second scroll.
It is not often that we do multiples of the same scroll, although it does occur (awards, largess, replacements, etc.). in this instance, I had finished the scroll, sent it to our Backlog Deputy and she had brought it, along with quite a few others, to her local post office. Time stretched and no word on delivery. Then she received this in the mail…
She was appalled, I was mad-sad at the USPS…and my brain stalled. This was my first effort at squashed bug, pearls and creating realism.
The scroll was a backlog, the recipient LOVES unicorns and purple. She is an archer and her heraldry contains oak leaves and acorns. I also had a photograph (courtesy of FB stalking) that showed her in a favorite dress. I had found a wonderful pair of exemplars to use as well.
So it came together nicely! I used the side border of the Add MS, exemplar but in purple as that was her favorite color, and placed the War Unicorn below. I created an arrow through the primary initial, topping it with an oak leaf. On the unicorn’s blanket, I substituted oak leaves. A crown for her Baronage floated behind her like a divine image.
And then the postal soaking…now what?! Here was a scroll beyond any hope of redemption, and a lovely person still without their scroll. I so loved how I had fit her personal likes and persona bits into the scroll that it really was a no brained. She WOULD have her scroll, and she would have THIS scroll remade. Which I did. With improvements. Using lessons learned from the first. As I stated above it is not common to do a scroll more than once, and once completed, we often find ourselves picking apart our work. “If only I had done this or colored that differently”….so I took this as an opportunity for self improvement; a lesson to myself. How can I make this scroll better?
First, the pearls. They are, to my eye, much more realistic the second time around and seem to pop off of the page in full 3-D. My shading of the shadow box is bolder and less hesitant which adds to the realism/tromp l’œil. The primary initial is now raised gold leaf on gesso, more bold, more shiny. The blanket design now pops and her oak leaves are a focal point rather than a background thought, while the background of the picture is more vivid, and finally, the crown. It went from mica gold to raised gesso and gold leaf. It is HAPPENING! And again, a bolder set of colors and technique than the first…this scroll version is more confident and certain.
While I would never wish to have this happen again (all scrolls I mail are now in water-proof packaging and no longer via USPS), it was a learning opportunity and a progression along my scribal path to push myself to be better, to not let ill luck defeat me and to finally get a deserving recipient their award scroll.
“Out of adversity comes opportunity.”
Benjamin Franklin
Philomene’s Scriptorium 