Society for Creative Anachronism

I have just become a member of The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. (SCA).  What is the SCA and why my interest?  The SCA is devoted to researching and re-creating pre-seventeenth century skills, arts and culture.  Here is a short video from the SCA demonstrating their skills.

Why my interest?  I have always been interested in history, particularly the Vikings and Renaissance England.  I love the clothes designs and artistry.  Lack of proper plumbing, not so much, but I have always been fascinated with times gone by.  What better way to get back to work and into my art than to delve into the periods of jewelry that I excel at - Vikings Knit (which I teach), chainmaille, metalsmithing, wirework, bead embroidery, along with sewing and other fiber arts.  Back to using my hands and learning ancient arts that the SCA is determined to keep alive and not forgotten.

One of my closest friends, Catherine King, has been a member of the SCA since the 1980s and has been trying to get me involved for the past five years.  So I finally bit the bullet and joined my local SCA group Barony of Thor's Mountain of the Kingdom of Meridies. 

I spent last Saturday at the Rossini Festival in Knoxville, TN enjoying the arts and crafts and meeting members of Barony of Thor's Mountain who were participating in the Festival.  Here are some photos I took at the event.

The Barony of Thor's Mountain booth.....

Joisting............

Card Weaving and Chainmaille demonstrations.....

Here are some individual member photos.  I look forward to getting to know these guys better in the future.  They welcomed me with open arms and my head is exploding with all the information they shared. 

So I am now building my persona.  Who am I?  Where do I live?  What time period do I come from?  I am looking at either the time periods of 1400 or 1500 England.  My chosen SCA name is Damaris Annesley of Nottinghamshire.   I wanted to actually bring my history into my persona.  My maiden name Ainsley has had several spellings throughout times, but it began from Annesley.  Annesley Hall was built in the 1300s and is actually part of  Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, England.  Annesley ancestors are responsible for forcing Magna Carta on King John.  I will totally take a different view when watching Robin Hood, now realizing that the dastardly Sherriff is one of my ancestors.  But, unfortunately, the Annesley heritage comes with many ancestors of questionable characters - but it is my history and a place for me to begin my SCA journey.

Historical accuracy is a must when developing your persona.  So my surname and locale I have no problem with documenting, but my given name of Damaris is much more difficult and I am still researching for historical references of the name in order to be able to register my name and begin designing my heraldry.  Renaissance England was full of Elizabeths, Marys, Catherines....., but I wanted something uniquely me.  Although not a widely used name, Damaris is mentioned once in the Bible.  And the Damaris from the 1500s I located was the owner of a brothel.  Maybe not the greatest role model, but the name Damaris speaks to me.  When I sit down to design my heraldry I will see if the local Herald agrees with the historical significance of my chosen name.  If not, back to the drawing board I will go.

Even though I love Vikings Knit and Chainmaille, I did not want to situate myself in the Middle Ages.  I wanted to have more flexibility and creativity in designing jewelry and garb.  So my current research is clothing worn in the 1400s and the 1500s.  The basic tunic I will be making to begin my journey is universal to all ages, but my clothing to wear to Court events I want to be special. 

So my journey has begun and I look forward to getting back to my art.  Making friendships with local artists who share the same interests and learning new crafts in the process.  I hope you join me on my journey and as I get back to work I will be building my inventory to once again have items for sale to the public.  Thank you for reading to the end of this post and be sure to leave a comment so I know that you stopped by.