Heraldic yumminess for a friend

My E.S. project has been great fun, and I continue to work on it, perfecting it since I have the time to do so now. However, endless beadwork and research and planning a dress can get tedious, and a bit......well, endless. Knowing how I am when faced with such a situation, I did what always works for me. I took a break.

Putting the beadwork down, I decided to have a go with heraldry. After all, I do like heraldry, especially heraldic display and heraldic clothing. That said, I also knew that if I was going to do something like that, it would need to be something easily recognized by a large group of people in case I wanted to show it for an arts competition. I have plenty of SCA friends that have a really impressive fruit salad.....Sir Gaston, Baroness Claire, etc. that I could have chosen for a heraldry project, but the one person that I decided to do this for is certainly one of the most deserving of a little hero worship.

His Grace, Duke Aaron McGregor

Aaron is a very kind gentleman, definitely a knight in every way, but what always gets me about him is that he treats every person as if they were his equal or better. He does not look down his nose at anyone, he is fair, and his pride in his people, his Kingdom, is so strong I continually stand in awe to hear him tell tales and recount the history of the Kingdom he has had a stake in making so great.

Another thing that always gets me about Aaron is that he is so humble. For some reason which I dont think I will ever understand, he does not believe himself worthy of admiration, or gifts, or the service of those around him. If asked whether or not he would like an artisan to make him some new clothes, he will smile shyly and suggest that he would be honored, but only if everyone else already has the clothes they need. If asked whether or not he might like someone to bring him some water or perhaps a snack, he would appreciate it but never asks.....he would rather everyone else enjoy such things, he will go last. His level of self-sacrifice and willingness to be so giving consistently warms my heart and reminds me of the romance of chivalry that, for me, was one of the factors that lured me to the SCA in the first place.

I decided to combine my love of heraldry with my appreciation of such a wonderful person, and have come up with my latest project (which will be completed tonight, yes!) I dug around the heraldry pages at the Kingdom webpage, and came up with some information about Duke Aaron, namely his 'fruit salad' or awards listing. Surprisingly, almost shockingly, he doesnt have a ton of stuff to his name, but what he does have is meaningful and significant. To do honor to this, I researched the details of each award, the tinctures, and placed them within my design.

When I am done, I will post a picture here since I found the cam and stuff I need to post. Its definitely one of my best heraldry display pieces, and I am very excited to see his reaction tomorrow at PiP. To see the mans smile at receiving a gift he has no idea is coming his way should be a pleasure in and of itself :)