The Sherwood Crier - Sherwood Forest Faire

The Sherwood Crier
The Insider Newsletter of Sherwood Forest Faire
Tapestry by Hans Bauer
What’s Inside
Faire Enough p. 1, Mysteries & Marvels p. 1, In the Limelight p. 2, Vendor’s Corner p. 2, Behind the
Lens p. 6, unClassifieds p. 7
Mysteries & Marvels
Faire Enough
by SQiRL
by Mab Middlin
I wish I may, I wish I might,
I dream of walking faire tonight.
To wander thru and breathe fresh air,
And forget myself without a care.
Cast back in time before my birth,
To distant lands on this humble earth.
I must break free and escape my bane,
Must travel now and shed the mundane.
Arrive I have and with such regard,
A pleasure at a journey not hard.
Time moved forward and I am here at last,
Yet somehow I have returned to the past.
I cast gaze upon that Magical Gate.
So eager now that I can hardly wait.
To come so far that my dream’s nearly true,
Open up, open up so that I may rush thru.
I’m not alone in my wondrous plight,
Others have come and it is such a sight.
to share dreams with so many others,
cont’d p. 6
“Ah, ‘tis quiet now about the forest,” I think to
myself as I walk the paths of Sherwood, “but what a
wonderful Faire it was!” I smile as I listen to leaves
rustling in the soft breeze, “our merry-making didst
drown out the sound of the forest for nine glorious
weekends,” I say, and I think of the great fun we
had and the wonderful
memories we made...I
am already nostalgic
though only a few short
weeks have passed since
Sherwood closed it’s
gates for the season.
photo by GR Hook Photo
I pass in front of the
Three Stags pub, newly opened this season. Now
silent and shuttered, it was a lively gathering place for
friends and festivities.
I close my eyes and
imagine the exciting
bustle of the place and I
remember the audience
swaying to the rhythms
of Saxon Moon, tapping
photo by GR Hook Photo
cont’d p. 6
page 1
Vendor’s Corner
Good Sun
In The Limelight
Fool Hearty
Chance brought Angela Leims of Good Sun to the
making of ceramic dragon’s teeth, and from that
happenstance came the realization of a life’s calling.
Although Angela had dabbled in many art forms
throughout
her life, it
wasn’t until
she
started
working with
clay that she
found her true
passion.
The chance
photo by Robin Aoki
was that husband Jason’s godfather, Lanny, was
unable to attend TRF’s 2005 season and asked Jason
to run his shop. Lanny sent dragon’s teeth by mail
to stock the shop, but most
arrived broken. As Angela
scrambled to make enough
dragon’s teeth (approximately
500 are sold in a season) for
the 2-week hence opening of
TRF, she discovered she was
born to be a hand builder, a
sculptor. Jason was later given
the shop and Angela has handsculpted over 6,000 teeth
since then. Angela makes photo by Kimberly Johnson
everything ceramic and Jason the sand-castings.
At first, Angela only made dragon’s teeth, but Fired
Mud Studios now has a much-expanded product
line that includes dragon scales, dragon egg music
shakers, rune sets, goddess
stones, hand-carved crosses,
skull chess sets, and Jolly
Roger pendants.
by Tara Reed
We have been performing
as “Fool Hearty” on the
Renaissance Faire circuit
for 17 years. This is our
full time job! Traveling
from show to show
all around the United
States, living in a travel
trailer, and living our
dream. We travel with lots of
beloved pets: 3 Border Collie dogs “Blockhead”,
“Wing Nutte”, and “Polka Dot”; 1 mini Aussie
Shepherd, “Jumping Jack Flash”; 7 white doves,
“Lovey”, “Delight”, “Harmony”, “Paulie”, “Irena”,
“Heart” and “Soul”; and a cinnamon pied cockatiel
named “Sweetie Pie”. Our family is quite a menagerie
and practically a petting zoo!
My husband, Mark Reed, is a 2nd generation clown. His
father was a volunteer fire fighter and did clowning for
their events; he rode an oversized tricycle in parades.
Mark started performing professionally in 1972. He’s
been in TV commercials and in 2 movies. All four of
Mark’s sons, Lenny, Simon, Jake, and Henry (who are
now grown) performed with him throughout their
childhood. They each started clowning at age 2, and
performed “The Great American Hobo Traveling
Show” together. When the boys got older, Mark
developed a Court Jester character named “Marquise,
Zany from Zanzibar”, and has been performing at
the PA Renaissance Faire for 32 years now. He is the
original jester at the PA Faire when it first opened,
and he still is!
photo by Craig Busch
Angela is developing their
product line even further
with functional sculpture,
photo by Kimberly Johnson
making wind chimes, soap dishes and spoon rests,
business card holders, and game sets (chess sets
cont’d p. 3
I, Tara Reed, have a 13-year
background
performing
Children’s Theater. Mark hired
me to be a wench at a Feasting
Guild in Reading, PA 22 years
ago when I was 19. Then,
I went away to college and
studied theater and voice for 4
years. When I came back home,
cont’d p. 3
page 2
p.2
and plans to make domino
sets). She also makes The
Eyes of Newt, which is
a type of dice game but
instead of dice, you throw
two eye balls and how they
land determines amount of
points.
p.2
I auditioned at another Feasting place in Mt. Joy, PA.
My old friend Mark just happened to be performing
there as well. That is when we reconnected.
cont’d from
cont’d from
Angela and Jason’s shop,
Good Sun, at Sherwood is
photo by Robin Aoki
not far from the Horseman
stage. They have been with Sherwood since the very
beginning. They walked the grounds before there
were any signs
of Eric and
George’s dream,
and
watched
Sherwood
blossom
into
amazing reality.
photo by Robin Aoki
Clay is her great love.
“It is so forgiving
and malleable when it is wet or moist and so harsh
and unforgiving when it hardens to dry. One moment
you have a beautiful sculpture that you have poured
your heart and soul into for two months and one
bisque fire later the back explodes off into many
pieces. Good times!!” Angela also creates fine ceramic sculpture (figures
based on women, forms that have an organic feel,
and some with symbolism attached to them) and has
won several awards.
photo by Robin Aoki
After many years of friendship, one day Mark and I
were working at a Medieval feast and we experienced
the spark of love between us. From there, I looked
at him and said “I want to do what you’re doing!!!”
It was at this point that Mark made a “Fool” out
of me. He likes to say “It was easy!” Haha! So my
Jester character “Ima Nutte” was born. From day
one, I put red hearts on my face. I have always loved
being on stage, and especially performing for
kids.
We are actually married in
real life and on stage. We
were wed at the Great Lakes
Medieval Faire in Ohio 15
years ago. We had a double
wedding! Both our real-life
selves and our characters
got married that day. Mark
and I are so madly in love
that we have renewed our
vows twice already, on
photo by
Craig Busc
our 10th anniversary, and
h
most recently on our 15th anniversary. We
would do it again in a heartbeat! True love!
We each developed our own makeup/faces. Mark
creates all of our costuming from design to finish.
The very 1st time Mark fitted me in the costume
he made for me, as he was tying up my bodice he
said “I want you to know that you’re wearing my
concentrated love for you.” Aaaww!
cont’d on p. 4
page 3
Behind the Lens
Hans Bauer
cont’d from p. 3
Mark
also
skillfully
designs and builds all of
our props. I do all the
dog training and flock
handling. And of course,
I am the funny one!!! (Just
kidding) :)
Our
Fool
personas
Marquise and Ima Nutte hail from “Zanzibar,” an
Island off the East coast of Africa. We both speak in
accent, and we enjoy playing our parts all day, both on
stage and off. We love our job and all that it entails.
We’re silly and fun, and we love “playing up” our
Arab Women Dancing Before Crusaders
The hauntingly beautiful and thought-provoking marriage on stage. Life is funny!!! Sometimes you just
images of Hans Bauer have hit ye olde Book of
need a jester to point it out to you.
Faces and have often rocked many of us on our heels.
When Hans captures our Sherwood Forest with This year our tour includes Sherwood Forest (Febhis “paintbrush” (camera/computer), the resulting March), Scarborough Faire (Waxahachie,TX; Aprilphoto-art is sometimes May), Kentucky Renaissance Faire (Eminence,
unfamiliar,
frequently KY; June-July), Pennsylvania Renaissance Festival
surprising, and always (Manheim, PA; August, Sept. and October), and
hopefully we’ll be returning to the Louisiana Faire
mesmerizing.
this fall (Hammond, LA; Nov-Dec).
Austrian-born
Hans
Bauer’s world of imagery The most important thing to know about us is that
consists of landscapes we do our job with loving intention. It is our desire
unfamiliar to most, to create joy and laughter so that all in attendance will
perceivably strange and feel good and be happy after watching us perform.
ethereal, where place and We adore connecting with the audience, and having
The Prodigal
heartfelt exchanges with Faire guests.
subject merge fact and fiction; hinterlands where the
veil has been lifted, far-flung outposts, port cities of
http://www.foolhearty.com
the imagination, haunted territories, transition points
https://www.facebook.com/foolheartyshow
between worlds, whirlpools spinning to parallel
dimensions, shrouded lands straddling the waypoints between desire and dreams.
To Hans, the whole world,
everything we consider
sane and normal, is only
a leather pouch filled
with air. In some places,
the leather has been
scuffed to nothing. Ideally,
Bauer’s images transport
the viewer to those
landscapes of magical
realism where the dividing
Woodland Shrine
cont’d p. 5
page 4
cont’d from p. 4
cont’d from previous column
line is thinner; masked,
mystical, chimerical cities
and citizens of the mind,
at great distance, but near
enough to touch.
Hans had long wanted to
create the kind of slightly
askew and off-the-beatenpath images that spoke to
Girl and Goat
him in other artist’s work, but also knew he had none
of the patience or technical skills to pull off anything
worthwhile. “I still don’t know an f-stop from a
box of donuts,” says Hans, “that’s just not how I’m
wired.” Then, with the digitalization of photography,
he realized the answer was at hand, that all he really
needed was to photograph the basic image, and then
create the magic on the computer. “For the past
decade, my camera has been set to automatic without
any kind of adjustments, Hans adds. In any case, the
ideas are never in the hardware, they are always in his
eyes and between his ears.
accomplish the same
effect by shooting at
various Renaissance
Faires, where all
the difficult work
would already have
been done. Where
else would he
find costumes
as
beautifully
When
Leo m
realized
as
et Libr
a
Alphonse the Fox or Fool Hearty
or the endless supply of buccaneers, fairies and
crusaders found on any given weekend. And that’s
how the project began.
Hans Bauer’s primary source of income has largely
been from his screenplays, the best known being
the Anaconda movie franchise. In
recent years he has written several
novels based on stories that he
originally intended for film. The
first to be published is Fishtale, an
action-packed children’s adventure
novel, co-authored with Catherine
Masciola, about four kids and
their epic encounter with a Titanic
catfish on the Mississippi Delta,
which was published this past
illustration by
November to excellent national
Catherine Masciola
reviews. www.fishtalethenovel.com.html
www.facebook.com/fishtale.thenovel
The Fairground
Some time ago, Hans decided he wanted to create
a body of work photographing famous historical or
fairy tale figures, as if the likes of Julius Caesar, Attila
the Hun, Red Riding Hood or Goldilocks had simply
wandered into his home studio and allowed him to
train a lens on them. These would have been highly
stylized, streaked, blurred, burned and unfocused as
if convincingly shot with some kind of heretofore
unknown period camera. It never happened, largely
due to the expense and difficulty of finding proper
and authentic costumes, so he put the idea aside. It
was only last year that it occurred to him that he could
Check out www.hansbauergallery.com for a wider
sampling of his images or visit his Facebook page.
cont’d at top of next column
photo by Cynthia Lively
page 5
cont’d from p. 1
cont’d from p. 1
I feel I am home with sisters and brothers.
We smile and we dance and we celebrate,
Yet we all await on that damned magical gate.
There is but one thing left before happiness found,
The time must be true and the Cannon must sound.
The cannon explodes at this establishment,
And we rush thru to seek merriment.
We all proceed forth and enter this land,
The setting is vast but so rich and so grand.
Which direction to head? I’ve honestly no clue,
I stumble in thought and prepare what to do.
Decided I have as I now straddle this shrub,
I must proceed forth and head straight for the pub.
Raised Mug full of ale while having a ball,
I drink up and then I hear someone else call.
More friends approach from out of the blue,
I say with a grin “I am happy to see you.”
We laugh and cheer and engage in banter,
We drink some more and I fall in a planter.
Laughs can be heard from all far and near,
I simply get up and smile ear to ear.
I set forth from the pub, a place I can’t stay,
To venture out and experience the day.
From shop to shop to see all I can see,
I know here and now that I am happy and free.
The day moves on to my disdain,
The end is near, on my parade it doth rain.
I knew before that this day wouldn’t last,
I must once again return from the past.
And so it is this day is now done,
I loved this day and damn it was fun.
I dare not despair for I shall do this again,
I head back home with only a question of when.
their toes to the sea shanties of the Rambling Sailors,
and singing in chorus with the Bard O’Neill and
her wee brother Hugh. “Such good times!” I say to
myself as I sigh gustily.
I walk up the hill and note, with some sadness, the
stillness about me; the shoppes empty and closed up
tightly where so recently vendors did brisk business and
faire-goers
delighted in
wondrous
purchases.
I pause in
front of a
sign that
maps the
hand. Yes!
photo by GR Hook Photo
Here sat
many a traveler seeking guidance on their life’s journey.
Lynn the Palmist at
the Sorcerer’s Gypsy
Camp gave sage
advice to all who
asked.
I pass the Horseman
Stage and remember,
once again, the
photo by GR Hook Photo
wonderful
music
I heard here. A new group of talented musicians
entertained me here more than once this past Faire
season, Coal Black Rose; who would’ve thought such
music could be made with a saw? I shake my head in
amazement and move on up the hill.
I hurry on past the Trip and the Elven Stage, now
quiet where so many reveled
photo by Shawn McHorse
and romped just a short time
ago. Heading back down the
hill, I notice the Mud Show
stage. “Well, just look at how
tidy everything is!” I exclaim,
“I would never have guessed
it would clean up so pretty.”
I smile to myself as I think
of the best sight ever, when
our very own Autouloucous
cont’d p. 7
page 6
unClassifieds
cont’d from p. 6
Ahh, Faire is over for the year and perhaps you
occasionally imbibed too much cheer. Trying to
piece together some of those magical moments and
just can’t quite remember what happened due to an
alleged inebriated state? Whether wanting to recollect
a precious faire memory or simply determine if that
thing everyone said you did is true, visit Bruno’s
Apothecary for Tuesday’s Memory Potion special.
Guaranteed satisfaction. And if you decide you want
to forget again we have a potion for that too.
***
For sale. Slightly used jousting equipment. All holes
patched and body parts removed. Some scrubbing
required but still very serviceable and hardly smells at
all. Contact Squire Jones at the encampment.
***
Crookfinger guest-appeared, and got a thorough
soaking to our great delight. “Yes!” I laugh out
loud, “we will all remember that moment for years
to come.”
As I turn to head home, I see a small crowd gathering
some way down the path. The people are clearly
very excited about something; many of them are
gesticulating wildly and everyone is looking at
something just beyond the forest underbrush. As I
approach, I see the bushes and tree branches shake
violently, as if some enormous creature stirred
within. “Whatever can be happening?” I say to
myself, “clearly, Mab Middlin, Ace Reporter for the
Sherwood Crier must investigate!” I squeeze through
the crowd at the edge of the path just as shaking
starts again and suddenly the bushes part, and as I
stare wide-eyed, my jaw drops slowly open.
TO BE CONTINUED
Found. Large pile of drunk pirates. Some without
clothes. Free to good home--or bad one for that
matter. Contact office of the Sheriff. Bring own cart.
Second Annual
Sherwood Forest Summer Camp
Session I -July 7-13
Session II-July 14-20
Session III-July 21-27
Attention Fun-Loving
Volunteers!
Sherwood’s Marketing team organizes many events
each year to promote the Faire, the Celtic Music Festival, and Sherwood Forest Summer Camp. We gear
up in costume and character to reach out to our nearby communities with parade floats, comic convention
fan tables, pub crawls, and much more! Keep an eye
on the Sherwood Forest Facebook EVENTS page
as well as official Sherwood emails to get involved;
or you may contact Zane 512-731-2316 or Robin the
Elf 512-693-1807.
For more information, visit
www.sherwoodforestfaire.com/summercamp/general-information/
Or contact Corene Roberts, Camp Director
at
[email protected]
page 7
Subscribe to the Crier
Click here if you’d like to subscribe to the Sherwood Crier
http://sherwoodforestfaire.com/mailing-list/
Poets, Artists, Writers, Photographers
If you have something you’d like to submit for the Crier, email me at
[email protected]
Heartfelt thanks to:
Robin Aoki, Hans Bauer, Craig Busch, Fool Hearty, Good Sun, Cynthia
Lively, Catherine Masciola, Shawn McHorse, Gary R. Hook, Kimberly
Johnson, and SQiRL.
Sherwood Forest Faire
PO Box 10816
Houston TX 77206
visit us online at
www.sherwoodforestfaire.com
e-mail us at
[email protected]
page 8