[Officers] Arts and Sciences Minister monthly report: February (and early March)

[Wendi Dunlap]

Greetings to the officers and populace of Wyewood!

~~Recent Activity:~~

I have continued working on scheduling new Arts and Sciences related 
activities for the Shire and encouraging Wyewoodians to teach and share 
their knowledge.

On February 11, Dame Esclarmonde hosted a "Braids Without Bonds" class, 
about a possible medieval hairstyling method.

Lady Fionnghuala has had some injuries recently so there was no culinary 
activity in January that I know of, and she had to cancel the February 
25 class on how to be a Head Cook.

Jorunn stepped up with a cord-making activity which was held on February 
25 instead. Thank you to Jorunn (and congratulations on the Award of 
Arms you received on March 12 at Kingdom A&S!

We had our second knitters' meetup on February 17. 4 knitters/crocheters 
attended, and we had an enjoyable time.

I understand that Scriptorium activities took place in February as well, 
with more planned on an ongoing basis.

I spent some time this month working on the website for the upcoming An 
Tir Culinary Symposium event, to be hosted in Wyewood this April.

On March 11-13 the Kingdom Arts and Sciences Championship event was held 
in Dragon's Laire. I entered two items, the same items as I entered in 
Wyewood's championship last year (but newly revised). Lord Tomas mac 
Donnchaidh was also there with a display of wire weaving. Several other 
Wyewoodians took part in judging at the event, including Master Mir and 
Dame Esclarmonde.

~~Future Activity~~

I will continue working on promoting Arts and Sciences activity in the 
Shire through both formal classes and more informal activities. Here are 
some of the things coming up in the future. (As this is being mailed on 
March 14, some have already occurred.)

March 15: Knitters' Meetup, hosted by me. This will continue as a 
monthly activity.
March 26: Beginning Handsewing, taught by Dame Esclarmonde.
April 15-17: An Tir Culinary Symposium in Wyewood.
Throughout April: Tentative plans for a series of activities related to 
Heraldic Display.
Early May: Perhaps another medieval market day?
July: Wyewood A&S Championship (planning just being started)

Sundays: Scriptoriums (scribal get-togethers) that Master Mir is 
hosting; check with Mir at mir.plemmons at gmail.com to find out the 
address and which Sundays this month will have Scriptoriums.

More activities are being planned -- stay tuned.

I want to remind everyone that you don't need to be an expert or a 
trained instructor to host or teach activities. You just need to be 
willing to make it happen! So if you are wanting to do a specific 
activity, consider offering to host it. And if you have a location for 
the activity, that is a good thing to offer, too. We don't have to have 
all of our activities at the FCS.

I would also like to encourage everyone to start thinking about things 
you might like to enter in the Wyewood Arts and Sciences championship 
this summer. Even if you don't feel you can win it, entering allows you 
to get good feedback on your work and it is very helpful. If you are an 
artisan or a researcher, it is a great opportunity. Please do consider it.

I think that's it for now! Questions, comments -- just let me know. Thanks!

Wenyeva

\-\ Wenyeva atte grene * "In tenebris lux" * pronounced WEN-yuh-vuh
  \-\ Armorum Servula, quam Ancoram Caeruleam dicunt
   \-\ Per chevron argent and vert, three beacons counterchanged.