My Artisan Quest From Mistress Crespine de la Vallée

I am pleased to report that today I became the student of Mistress Crespine de la Vallée. This wonderful woman has been an informal adviser and guide for me since I met her as one of my judges at my very first Kingdom A&S Competition in May 2012. She is a talented needleworker (she also does blackwork!) and a seamstress of gorgeous 16th century clothing and accessories. She has much to teach me, and I am honored and inspired by her.

I asked Mistress Crespine for a Quest to challenge me in my pursuit of juicy arts and sciences goodness, and she willingly obliged. Here is my Quest:

1. Make a list of other artisans whose work you admire for any reason, be it aesthetically pleasing, an exceptionally fine technique, or historical authenticity. Include artisans of all levels, not just Laurels.

2. Work your way through the list. Find each artisan and introduce yourself, if you aren’t already acquainted. Ask them to show you or teach you what they do (even if its something you already do). Gain different perspectives. Include a few things that are outside your normal range but tie into your 16th century German persona or culture. Try to make a small project of what you learn from each one.

3. At the “end,” create something that incorporates all the things you learned from other artisans  and display it with each part showing what you had to learn and from whom you learned it.

There is no deadline on this. But it might make a really great display for next years Known World A&S or the Kingdom Craftspersons Faire, whether its “complete” or still “in progress.”
I am very excited to begin this Quest, and I plan to keep track of it here. I foresee many fun projects in my future. Pulling it all together to create something that incorporates all the things I learned will be quite the challenge! My mind is already in a whirl.

Quest Progress:

Duchess Runa’s Norse Apron Dress – Completed September 2013
Master RanthlfR’s Hide Glue and Oil Paint Mixing Techniques – Completed April 2014
THL Eva’s Sprang Technique – Completed May 2014
THL Heodez’s Hand Softener Recipe – Completed June 2014
Lady Amie Sparrow’s Goller Pattern – Completed October 2014
Update: I now bring many of the items I’ve created in the above quests with me to events and enter them into the A&S Display, as a matter of course! I will have my next display of these items at the Pentamere Regional Craftpersons Faire at Grand Day of Tournaments on November 15.
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3 Responses to My Artisan Quest From Mistress Crespine de la Vallée

  1. Thea says:

    I think this is brilliant! Congratulations to both you and Mistress Crispine!

    Thea
    Caid

  2. Lady Cate says:

    Mistress Crespine de la Vallee is a very inteligant & brillant lady!
    I love this idea! I think that I will try this myself.
    It will be fun to see where this takes you! It will be fun to see where it takes me also!
    Lady Cate

    • Genoveva von Lubeck says:

      I would love to see you do this, too! In the week I’ve been working on it, it’s already expanded my thinking and encouraged new ideas. I can tell this will be a long journey, however.

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