Each Craft comes with a Medieval Artisan Program of Study (MAPS). These MAPS include a set of craft Skill Definitions, Skill Tests to verify mastery of the Skill, How-To Guides to explain the Skill, Projects the Artisans have done using the Skill, an Annotated Bibliography and Resource List relevant to that Skill.
We’re the kind of folks who love to learn new ways to make things. That’s a trait that comes with plenty of blessings and an occasional odd look from un-crafty folk. We are both self-motivated and apply ourselves to learn new skills. On the flip side, we both have day jobs that do not include improving our medieval artisan skills, which means our time for making art and learning new skills is limited.
Unfortunately, for me at least, without a formal program of study to follow, it would be very easy to follow a haphazard learning path. To avoid that, and build the set of skills we want to have in an orderly manner (so that they mutually reinforce one another), we’re defining a structured Medieval Artisan Program of Study (MAPS) for the two materials we’re most interested in, Clay and Metal. That way, step by step, we will build the skills we need. An interesting graphic at Jamie Hall’s blog site and the Masters Registry for Precious Metals Clay (PMC) were the genesis for this idea.
We feel this might be useful for others with similar interests, so we’re going to publish them online. (Hopefully, if others find this useful, they will take the lead in defining MAPS for fabric, leather, bone, horn, wood and glass.) Many hands make for light work!
An important part of each of the MAPS is a set of skill tests that can be used to objectively measure one’s progress in each Program of Study. Each skill test will define a project to complete and the evaluation criteria used to judge one’s success. We think a color-coded graphic that shows a student’s progress and the next logical step(s) would be a nice way to feel good about one’s progress and to help decide what to learn next.
Ideally, we’ll hook How To articles to the relevant Skill Tests as we define them and provide an online way for others to document their own progress through each Skill Test via a progress report or a How To article they supply. Over time, we might be able to set up a juried evaluation process similar to that used by the precious metal clay industry that could act as a professional certification – or at least provide a working prototype of standards for such a purpose. The only reason we would charge for such a service would be to cover costs or if so very many people participated that it became a burden rather than a joy.
David Wendelken