2005-03-23 - 6:46 a.m.
If you weren't at Gulf Wars, well, you weren't close to hypo-thermia...
Man was it COLD there! It went below freezing one night. Sigh, the things I do in the SCA.
It was a very fun event. No rain but cold. I've never been to GW and wasn't sure what to expect of the site but came home pleasantly surprised. The land where Atlantia was camped was pretty level. A very slight slope but not enough to notice. Insert here: "I did not slide out of my camp cot at night." The walking was not nearly as bad as it is at Pennsic. The site looked bigger on the maps.
It is a long A** drive, over 1,000 miles one way to be exact but I might do it again.
GW being a smaller event was good too. No lines, not so much noise. Folks partied and laughed to the wee hours around us but not in an obnoxious way. Maybe we were on the quiet side of town.
The really BIG parties were held up on the battle field away from the camping areas.
The A&S competition entries were EYEPOPPING! There was a display of embroidered Elizabethan Velvet Mittens that was to die for! I hope my pictures of it turns out. There were quite a few embroidery entries besides mine and I was glad to see it. It seems embroidery has sort of fallen out of favor for other textile arts like card weaving, lace making, knitting etc. Now these are all very worthwhile and beautiful arts but I like embroidery the best.
Redswanne had a great spot for her stained glass display. Mark placed it right in front of a window and the sun shone through. Colors spilled out on to her display. It was also on the end of a table and was easy to access. He did a good job for her and should be proud. It was the only stained glass display there which made it all the more obvious. I picked up her judging sheet while Mark was out fighting and put it in her book, AND I was, in fact, the picture of virtue and didn't read it. Not one peek. I'd love to know how she did.
One exhibit I especially enjoyed was done by a Kingdom A&S Champion who had researched period fishing equipment and techniques. They had floats and line and hooks, all sorts of information. I like to fish so it was fun seeing this.
I was annoyed when a fellow artisan recieved a comment that showed the writer did not read the documentation or look at the pictures included. This person basically accused the artisan of not being truthful about the whole role power tools had in making the project. I, myself, did read the documentation and saw that the artisan clearly explained how the object was made and what role certain tools played and at what point. I told the sad Lady to ignore the comment because obviously the writer did not read the first page of the documentation.
Sheesh, I hate that. Before you write a comment please please read the documentation to BE SURE your comment is warrented. If you don't, you only end up looking d**ned foolish for it and we talk about your inability to read for the rest of the day....
My entry received 5 votes from the populace. I'm not sure how that compares to others, as I was not privy to that information, but hey, I'll take that. At least somebody liked my work that day. The folks running the event said that most of the populace votes went to the Kingdom Arts Champions. Those displays were the most eyecatching so I could see it.
All in all it was a good A&S competition with a HUGE variety of handmade items and live performances in a boatload of different subjects. I am energised and excited to keep working on my own projects!
