Peace in the New Year!

Another year's almost here... to unfold and live, live, live!

A prayer for peace in the new year... albeit crooked - but a good prayer all the same!

Blue sky and snowy pines... we had very low temperatures today but lots of sunshine, but we couldn't convince the kids the snow was not going to melt. :)

Bonfire of the Fish Spirits... the painting part is done, I've been writing all over it for most of the day. This one is my favorite so far - it's very personal.

Happy, happy new year to one and all. Thank you for visiting and reading my blog... I hope the new year brings you goodness and happy surprises around every corner.

Thinking in Circles...

I've been doing lots of calligraphy lately... outside in nature. (well, mostly on the deck at the picnic table.) The more I do the more experiments happen. My fabulous calligraphy teacher in Portland (Carol Dubosch) had a motto she shared with us at the time - 'Stay together, learn the flowers, go light'. I love the idea of combining few words with a motto, season, idea etc. So, combined with my love for writing in the circle format, I think I've hit a new idea... but what to call it? Circle poems? Still mulling it over - but I've got more of these to share in the coming week :)

Have a lazy Sunday!

Calligraphy School

We brought out the calligraphy tables here and all the kids had a bit of calligraphy school... taught by me! It was so much fun to see their enthusiasm about using the ink, pens (c-2 - the best for starting out!) and progress. They were all so proud of their practice pages at the end of the night. It's inspiring to have such spunky and interested pupils :) Hope your weekend was memorable.

Carved Calligraphy

A practice page of Neuland style calligraphy. Love this style, though have never been formally taught this one - so, I'm a bit unsure and shaky about it. I like the way the tops and bottoms of the letters touch each other. I believe it's German in origin.

This was a difficult experiment... I actually did it a long time ago and printed it a few weeks ago. (gotta wait for the ink to completely dry before painting it.) The quote came from an old class list at 'Haystack' art center in Oregon... I can't remember who wrote it but it was honoring a great calligrapher who had passed on. I wrote out the calligraphy, traced and carved it in wood. It will probably be the last time I do it. Unless it's engraved in a hard wood like Cherry, the Shina wood just splinters when trying to carve fine details. Very frustrating! I think it turned out kind of nice...

By the Fireside

Here's a quote by Robert Lewis Stevenson... a very poor quality photograph :( sorry.

What is it about a fire that is so inviting? We had our first fire of the season tonight and it was (is) heaven. Earlier I was practicing calligraphy and writing little quotes on colored card stock. I was thinking with a little more planning and layout I could embellish some of them with illustrations and put them in my etsy shop. Who knows if anyone would ever want one, though! It seems like calligraphy is not that popular. With etsy - you never know what may appeal to someone... it's such a great place.

I'm adding a few new ink drawings with gouache to my etsy shop tonight... check it out!

Accordian Book

Here's an example of a book that's in the making... The script is Humanist Book hand and the stamps are by Rubbermoon. I made this one a while back - as a 'dummy book'. (sort of a dry run of what I want!) The poem is a great one by Ted Kooser - Flow Blue , I just love him. I may do another book in pointed italic using this poem... only with better paper and hand coloring.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Confession - I love doing calligraphy. I took numerous classes from the fabulous Carol Du Bosch while living in Portland, OR. Whenever I practice or do a calligraphy project, I can hear her words about how to form the letters, picture her demonstrating in class and warning us that not practicing religiously was simply unacceptable. What an outstanding teacher she was, I miss her!

So, I set up the writing table, opened my ink and got to practicing. Right now I'm reviewing pointed italic. I'm hoping to make a few Christmas gifts (books) and maybe even do a Christmas card and print it on the Gocco printer. (that is if I can produce some decent lettering - it really takes a commitment to get back up to par!)

The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy Winkle

Here is a little song that is in the classic children's book, The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy Winkle by Beatrix Potter. I'm a big fan of hers, I love her animals and naturalist style drawings and paintings. She had quite an interesting life, there's a great biography on her...published in the past few years.

This is a song we sing to our kids, and they love it! I decided to write it out in a fun lettering style I found in the magazine Bound and Lettered. (a calligraphy and book arts journal, published by John Neal.... of Paper and Ink Books ...a wonderful journal but a bit pricey!) Anyway, I just found it stuffed in a magazine, and thought I should color it with my Prismacolor pencils and frame it! (I made the birth announcements for both of my kids and this lettering style was used for my son's.)