Picking up a new art
Sep. 27th, 2010 11:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jducoeurOne of the major amusements on Saturday was the point (made a couple of times by different people in different ways) that they thought I'd done this Vox Regis (nee Pocket) Herald thing before. I really hadn't: I've basically been an Emergency Fall-back Herald for a few Royals in foreign courts, and have tended to be Jehan's fall-back when Golden Gryphon isn't around, but I've never formally been The Herald. Indeed, it was a long-running joke that I was the only member of House Silverwing who *wasn't* a herald. That wasn't actually quite true, but I was apprenticed to a Big Name Herald, I'm married to a Big Name Herald, and my first two apprentices wound up Big Name Heralds. And half of Silverwing has been Brigantia at one time or another. So it did often feel that way.
Obviously, the "I'm not a real herald" thing is now largely shot, but it's been a fun and interesting experience. Ultimately, it's much like learning any other art, for court heraldry is as much an art as any other. Dabbling is fun, but if you're going to do it right, you need to go in with fierce joy, pride, care and courage. If you can manage that, you should be able to succeed.
Several people have asked whether I'm going to do it again. The answer is maybe later, but not now. It's a good deal of work and care to do well, and I'm not interested in becoming a professional herald. I went into it for my friends, and I might well do it again for friends, but it would need to be people I care about enough to put in that much work and who I trust enough to not make the job suck. (And a fair amount is simply whether I'm willing to clear my desk for six months and focus on that, because it really has to be one's primary job.) It was a good experience, and it was the right people to do it with, but now it's time to focus on other priorities...
Obviously, the "I'm not a real herald" thing is now largely shot, but it's been a fun and interesting experience. Ultimately, it's much like learning any other art, for court heraldry is as much an art as any other. Dabbling is fun, but if you're going to do it right, you need to go in with fierce joy, pride, care and courage. If you can manage that, you should be able to succeed.
Several people have asked whether I'm going to do it again. The answer is maybe later, but not now. It's a good deal of work and care to do well, and I'm not interested in becoming a professional herald. I went into it for my friends, and I might well do it again for friends, but it would need to be people I care about enough to put in that much work and who I trust enough to not make the job suck. (And a fair amount is simply whether I'm willing to clear my desk for six months and focus on that, because it really has to be one's primary job.) It was a good experience, and it was the right people to do it with, but now it's time to focus on other priorities...