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What do you get a guy who is almost 15? I dunno. Well, at least I didn't know at first thought. When I discovered that his travel cup was on the last leg of its journey, that's when the idea struck. You can see here how I solved the Christmas present connundrum!

Merry Christmas!

Felt & Wire

It is exciting for me to tell you that I have been selected to offer my calligraphy and products at Felt & Wire, a curated shop. Stop by and take a look when you have a minute or two. My passion is custom lettering and design so if you have an idea brewing, for a personal monogram or stationery for example, please don't hesitate to contact me to see what we can accomplish together. I am looking forward to my new venture as a shopkeeper!

Love and Kisses

When I was asked to make some signs for Elizabeth Messina's A Lovely Workshop this past year I was quite delighted to say the least. Ever gracious, she sent me some of the photographs she took of my work. I will share a few images today, and will post some more as time goes on.

Pirates

This past weekend I was going through an old hard drive and found the original scans of my lettering for Pirates of the Carribben II. I wrote in walnut ink on Arches Textwove with a pointed pen. The scan is kind of funky but I hope you'll like looking at it anyway!

Joy!

It's not easy to feel joyful with a sore throat and fever, but because I am a bit under the weather today I gave in to some time for play. On this little 2.5" x 3.5" canvas I daubed and painted and brush lettered (even though it's not my strongest lettering skill) but now that it's done, I made a little Joy after all!

The International Exhibition of Calligraphy, Russia

Since starting this blog, I have become more aware of global reach of calligraphy. This month, Moscow is hosting The II International Exhibition of Calligraphy. Look at this list of participants! There’s hours of online exploration here! Or choose to view the gallery. An incredible range of work showing the international appeal of the letter arts.

The Bride & Bloom

Last year, I was asked by the lovely Lisa Vorce of Oh, How Charming! to help make special a destination wedding, and since she wanted lots of flourishes I couldn't say no! Photographer extraordinaire Aaron Delesie beautifully captured my work and a couple of shots appeared in the latest issue of The Bride & Bloom. All of these photos did not appear in the magazine, but I was fortunate to have received a few that didn't make the pages, so I can to share them with you here.

Birthday Gift Book

A dear friend, who is a talented artist and is always making lovely things, recently had a birthday. For a while now I have been working too much (a boring mantra, for sure) and although my lettering gets better from all the practice, it's hard to find time to do fun and artistic things. So, since I received a beautiful handmade book for my birthday from her one year I wanted to reciprocate with a handmade gift. The cover was made using some paste paper that I painted. The project took longer than I had expected but it was fun finding the ribbons, sentiments and embellishments. Happy Birthday, Lisa!

Gestural Writing

Two weekends ago I had the great fortune to study with my new calligraphic hero, Yves Leterme. He is a wonderful teacher, so organized and helpful in his critique. It was a lot of work but so rewarding, and I had a blast! Most days my work requires that I mainly write pretty script letters and pull swashy flourishes for a wedding something-or-other. Yves, however, had us thinking outside the box (one of my favourite things to do). Here are some of what I consider to be my best words of the weekend...

Morning Dervish

On a good morning — those mornings when I don’t stumble directly to the kitchen for coffee — I start the day with the five Tibetan Rites. The first rite is whirling, like a dervish. And so Morning Dervish came to be.

This dervish has now whirled south to be a part of an exhibition at the Naples Museum of Art, entitled The Saint John’s Bible and the Art of the Book. Needless to say, it is honored to participate!

New work-in-progress

Sneak preview of some of new work — quite experimental at this point. I’ve recently taken an acrylic painting course with Timothy Hoey (Tim Rocks!) and he helped me start moving in a new direction with glazes and textures... fun!

Natural Calligraphy

At first glance, calligraphy seems to be so focussed on the man-made. Drawn or pen-made letters, philosophical quotes, rulers and grids. We study the history of letters, which intertwines with the history of today’s dominant cultures.

Because I draw so much inspiration from nature, I’ve often wondered why I don’t paint watercolour landscapes or florals or pet portraits? Why am I so strongly drawn to letterforms? Why, when I doodle, is it inevitably a letter? Something so removed from the natural world.

Or is it? Recently, I've been paying attention to the many shapes in nature that mimic calligraphy. Or rather the many shapes in nature that contemporary calligraphy mimics! Sit back and look at the photos at right — the calligraphic shapes are obvious, but take it one step further and identify a contemporary calligrapher who uses these forms in their work — the relationship is surprisingly easy to see!

Perhaps what we seek in our calligraphy is the replication of nature’s casual grace, simplicity of pattern or riot of texture. For all the years of human design history, nature still leads us forward with an ever-changing environment filled with inspiration.

That Guy

Here's the Helzberg Diamond television commercial that features my calligraphy. Any work that I had done for film prior to this was done alone in my studio, so it was fun to be on site to do the lettering, and on camera, too! Well, at least the pen on the other side of my hand was....

The Getty

At the beginning of this month, my husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. Playing hooky from work we went to the Getty and enjoyed some time away from real life.


This shot was taken out of the front window of the driverless tram that takes visitors up to the museum from the parking area below.


I loved how the sunlight looked on this painting. It was an unusual moment to see any painting there splashed with light as the shutters on the roof (shown below) close when the automatic sensors detect the heat of the sun passing in front of them.



                        There is such simple gorgeousness everywhere . . .


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        As we were leaving the sun came out ... love the lavender trellis!

Wedding Program Fans

These sweet fans and menus were created for Shea Curry and Justin Levy's wedding a couple of years ago. Their wedding was planned by Lisa Gorjestani of Details Event Planning and was an InStyle Weddings feature. The wedding was held at the fabulous Rancho del Cielo in Malibu which has a view of the ocean that goes on forever ... in fact I think you can see the curve of the earth from there! Everything looked fantastic ... the flowers, the tables, the decorations ... all hot pink, glowing orange and a little green thrown in for even more excitement. Isabel Lawrence Photographers were lovely and generous to provide these photos so that I could share them here – thank you!

                            Photos : © Isabel Lawrence Photographers

Chocolate Love

You must admit, chocolate is popular, and here is a stamp to prove it! They are available for purchase on Zazzle today. Feel free to contact me if you want a colour to coordinate or complement your event (a variety will be offered in the near future).

Always & Forever

This was one of my favourite weddings for may reasons but here are just three ... it was a complete joy working with the bride and her mother, Rosalie; the event planner, Linda Howard, is the consummate professional, and I love flourishing! Inside Weddings magazine also liked the wedding of Randie Rubaum and Alan Kleinman as it was featured in their Summer 2008 issue and an image, showing the monogram I created, is still used as an image in the flash frame on their website. Here are some images of my contribution to the festivities, courtesy of and with many thanks to John Solano Photography.

                                           Photos : © John Solano

Chandelier "Seating" Crystals

Making beautiful letters on paper is one thing, but making them on chandelier crystals brings calligraphy to a whole new dimension! From a 2007 wedding that was planned by Lisa Gorjestani of Details Event Planning, these crystals were presented on a chandelier for guests to find their seating assignment.

Fresh From The Archives

Just yesterday I found a wicker basket tucked away that held a couple of cute little dishes I was asked to hand letter on a few years ago. They were originally for a layout in Brides magazine and were later published in Maria McBride-Mellinger's book The Perfect Wedding Details. Here they are filled with confetti, but what would you fill them with to make the perfect wedding favour for your guests?

                                           Containers : Industrial Plastics

Happy May Day!

One of my fondest memories of when I was a child is May Day. My mum and I gathered flowers from our garden, wrapped them in a paper cone and tied them with a pretty ribbon. When we were done we took them round to our friends. Since I was little and quick it was my task to hang the posies on their front door, ring the bell and run!

Although that time is now gone, here is my May Day bouquet for you with wishes for a lovely day!

Calligraphic Cross-Training

There’s much talk in the calligraphic world about freedom vs. discipline — and mini-battles sometimes take place between those who advocate disciplined, legible work and those who prefer expressive, abstract and/or illegible work.

It seems to me that calligraphers — more than most artists — are like athletes. Our work depends on years of disciplined practice, but comes down to “a performance”, a given moment when tool touches down on paper, vellum or canvas. A crucial moment because ink is indelible. Too loose and we make a mess. Too tight and the performance appears strained.

So, like athletes, are we not wise to cross-train? Like a runner who lifts weights, we can retain freshness, balance and longevity if we vary our workouts. Sometimes, a disciplined workshop where we focus on form, later a crazy experiment which may or may not work. Always, at the end, a bit of analysis of what worked and what didn’t.

Yes, there is the risk of the inexperienced calligrapher who might “injure” themselves by flourishing long before they have the skill to pull it off, just as a runner might strain a muscle. It will set back their career, leave them floundering for a bit. But it is also part of the process of learning to find the sweet spot where spontaneity meets control and the results soar.

Welcome to Calligraffia

A team of our friends down under are launching a new calligraphy blog, Calligraffia which will feature “calligraphy news, views, reviews, interviews & how-tos” from around the globe.

Their launch today, February 13th, coincides with the first anniversary of the Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples, and the first posting is an interview (by blogger, Rhonda Ayliffe) with calligrapher, Gemma Black, who scribed the motion for the Australian Parliament — an interesting read.

Canada’s Golden Book

Like my Grandmother, and others who love to entertain, Canada has a guestbook. It is called “Canada’s Golden Book” and is signed by visiting heads of state. A page for a visiting dignitary includes a illumination of their national flag, their name and date of the visit. (Apologies that I don’t have better quality photos.) When I was in Ottawa last November, I met one of the scribes who has done many of the inscriptions, Judith Jaimet Bainbridge. Judith’s clients have included the Chancellery of Canadian Orders and Decorations, The Heraldry Authority of the Governor-Gerneral, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Secretary of State. Her work graces the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance and the document granting the Coat of Arms of the Territory of Nunavut.

Judith’s work on Canada’s Golden Book started with the entry for Bill and Hillary Clinton and ended with the 50th anniversary for Queen Elizabeth. She’s now retired, and spending her time with other interesting projects. In March, she’ll be coming here to Victoria to give a presentation and two-day workshop for members of the Fairbank Calligraphy Society. We eagerly anticipate her arrival!

Psst. And a little bird tells me that Canada’s Golden Book is being prepared for the first visit of President Barack Obama by calligrapher, Karen Mackay and heraldic artist, Debra Macgarvie.

Sunshine from Susan Richardson

In the midst of a cold Canadian winter, it is nice to travel, mentally, to sunnier climes. I can get a shot of warmth looking at the work of SanDiego-based artist and calligrapher, Susan Richardson. Susan and I sat side-by-side at the Island Magic Conference in 2007, and she is as warm and interesting as her work. She’s recently updated her website and added an online store where she sells giclee prints at very reasonable prices! Enjoy!