As an educational organization, we do presentations for the general public, known as a “demos.” We do demos for schools and scouting groups; cons and cultural events. The types of demonstrations may depend on the venue, but generally can include, but are not limited to, medieval martial arts (armored combat, rapier combat), calligraphy & illumination, fiber arts, music & dance, heraldry, clothing, everyday objects and more.
Below are just some of the things you might see at a demo, all made by our local members. The projects below are not items for sale, however, we would love to help you learn how to make them! If you are interested in learning more about what we do, or if you would like to request a demo, please email hospitaler@northkeep.ansteorra.org. You can also like our Facebook Page to be notified of upcoming events and activities.
Lampwork Beads
by Baroness Zubeydah al-Badawiyyah
Court Barony Scroll
by Lady Francesca di Lucca
Inspired primarily from two pieces, the first,”A bull paying homage to Mevlana” an Ottoman miniature from Mevlana Rumi’s Memoirs (The Bright Stars of Legendary Life Stories) by Sevakib-I Menakib, manuscript, Turkey 16th Century. This piece was initially suggested because our King at the time had an Ottoman persona and Sir Geoffrey’s arms included a bull. Once that became the centerpiece of the scroll I began searching for other Turkish or Ottoman pieces to inspire the rest of the decoration. I found ‘The Khamsah of Nizami’ 1539-1543. There are many beautiful illuminations in this book, and I pulled several of those together to create this piece. The piece was done with gouche, gold leaf, ink, pencil and bristol paper. I spent approximately 50 hours creating the piece from research to completion. Thomas de Groet did the calligraphy in a faux arabic script.
Queen’s Blade of Honor scroll
by Francesca di Lucca
This piece was created for Her Majesty Christyana Lambrecht, and based off of ‘The London Hours of William Lord Hastings’ circa 1480. A book of hours contains the prayers traditionally said at the canonical hours of the day, and was especially popular during the Middle Ages. These books provide lots of great inspiration for artists as they usually contain lots of illuminations. The piece was done with gouche, shell gold, ink, pencil and bristol paper. I spent approximately 40 hours creating the piece from research to completion. Thomas de Groet did the calligraphy in a batarde script.
Embroidered Medieval Pouch
by Lady Antonia Valsolani
This embroidery project is a pouch made using tent stitch and plaited braid stitch. The embroidered fabric is light green linen, and the back of the pouch is dark blue linen. The lining of the pouch is blue silk. The tent stitched flowers and butterfly are done in 2 strands of cotton embroidery floss. The plaited braid stems are worked in faux gold thread. Inspiration for the motifs was drawn from later period extant examples of embroidered pouches and pin cushions.
Examples of carding and spinning through history
Handspun Wool Scarf
by Honorable Lady Debroa bat Yosef
Creating fabric by Nalbinding is a technique that predates knitting and crochet. Instead of a hook or pair of needles, it uses a long triangular needle and wool yarn. Because of the fact that relatively short lengths of yarn are used, it’s almost necessary that the yarn be of wool since wool felts, which is the method utilized for connecting the lengths of yarn in order to continue working. The technique for creating fabric is normally associated with the Norse but has also been found in ruins of other cultures. The good thing about the way that fabric is created is that should a thread get broken, it will not ravel. The bad thing about Nalbinding is that should a mistake be made in the pattern, it will not ravel.
The Beast started off as a practice piece when I first learned the Coptic stitch of Nalbinding at an SCA event. It’s a full-circle shawl, beginning with the white medallion in the center. I started off using small skeins of wool created when taking workshops and trying different wools. When I ran out of tiny skeins I began pulling out from my stash the small skeins from spinning and dyeing workshops. Before long I was digging out small orphan skeins. When I ran out of small orphan skeins, I started having to pull out from my stash the larger orphan skeins. Before long I was scrounging for more skeins and other colors. As the years progressed (4 in total), I had used up the orphans and was searching for small batches of yarns. There are natural colors and dyed yarns of natural colors and dyes obtained from other sources, including the overdye from a fabric used to make a court dress. The four years involved in making the Beast does not include the time involved in processing the wools, the spinning or dyeing. The Beast has been one of my most practical items, used for many purposes including shawl, blanket, booster seat, chair cover and cushion.
Metalwork
by Master Beorhtlic Folcwineson
Project in progress
Ivory Pelican medallion
by Master Beorhtlic Folcwinesone
Carving in the style of the Bambug Casket dating to about 975 CE. Material used was recovered elephant ivory, carved with a rotary tool.
Icon of Logos Emmanuel
by Lord Matthew MacGilleFhaoláin
Egg tempera and gilding on wood panel. This icon was painted using traditional methods and materials that date back to the first century. This style of art, known to medieval Europeans as the “maniera greca”, or “Greek Style”, dominated western Europe from the 5th-15th century.
Woodworking Projects
by Honorable Lord Karl Thorgierson
