Daily Words, cards, and layers

I have been continuing to prepare fro Fibres West.  One of our daily rituals is to select a word from a bowl and spend some time thinking about it.

In keeping with the workshop sensibility, I write the words white on white. Which of course is tricky!  So I add a wee bit of silver to get an edge.  Nonetheless, I still like the muted almost silent nature of the words...

I have prepared just over 70 words for us each to select from.

They are now packed and ready to fly west in July.

I have also completed several grief cards.  Cards that for me, somehow reach out to folk who grieve and try to send thoughts that mean something.

The pink bunch for this quote.

the purple,

  and the blue.

And to finish last night as we ate dinner we looked out over the valley and these clouds and this light and the hilltops gave us layer upon layer upon layer...

Fun reminders

I was flicking through my photos again the other day and found these wee ones. They were taken last year at Rosebed St Gallery in Eudlo, where Barry and I held a lovely exhibition.  The back room was a kitchen/workshop area and the wall was plastered with these gorgeous reminders of how to deal with life, the universe and everything.

I snapped the ones I liked the most and they just make me smile.

Sadly, the beautiful Gallery closed earlier this year, so it's good to have these reminders.

A calligraphy project and ponderings

I was recently asked to create a small calligraphic piece as a gift for Christmas. It was a simple quote, I was given some broad brush ideas about - elegant, simple, silver, touch of red, nothing fussy, not too big and off I went.

It was not a difficult commission and I enjoyed exploring a few design ideas and just getting some lettering done. Nonetheless, I have found that many folk are quite surprised or shocked when they see how much preparation goes into a final piece.  I think a lot of folk think that we simply pick up a pen and do some nice writing!

There are a lot of steps and a lot of decisions to be made, followed by a few practice layouts and paper/ink tests, then the final piece might have a chance of emerging. Unless you make a spelling mistake or blob some ink on it. All of which is possible!

I start by choosing a style of writing (a 'hand') that I think will suit the piece, and then work out what size nib is needed and how tall or big the letters should be - a few practices needed with different heights. I then write out the quote quickly and simply and cut up the words to see how the layout might look.

The layout is all about reading and breathing and how it looks. Does the layout let you read it with the right emphasis? Does it allow breaks for breaths that make sense? Does it look balanced ?

Then it's time to do some practices - and hope that the blobs appear now and not later! Here I am checking if the lines are far enough apart to let the words 'breathe' yet close enough together to make the words feel connected and flowing.

All the tools of the trade are used - from traditional 'cut and paste' scissors and glue to pencils and rulers and tissues to absorb excess ink from the nib.

When it's done, I then try to work out how much space to leave around the words when its framed. I knew we didn't want this to be a big and imposing piece, so it was important to leave enough white space, but not too much.

The final lay out piece ready to take to the framer. I used a very broad brush to give a hint of silver as a background. The little red diamonds were placed to counterbalance some of the blank spaces. And a little bit of the southern cross appeared in a way...

This angle shows the silver brush work better.

In typical fashion I didn't photograph it when it came back from the framer - but got it into the post quick smart! So maybe another time I'll actually take you through all the steps in a more logical and sequential manner...but this is a bit of a view into how a piece emerges from a brief conversation.

In the end, I think I didn't quite get the balance of the layout right - I would have preferred to have a right justified piece, but I went over a bit. The red diamonds help balance it out though.

Buderim Craft Cottage - Exhibition

I am honoured to be invited to open the Exhibition "Lavender, Lace and Letters", a collaborative exhibition by the Needlework, Calligraphy and Lace and Tapestry Groups at the Buderim Craft Cottage tonight. I hope to get some images of the exhibition to post over the weekend.

I was also invited to have a small exhibition of my own works and have displayed a number of books - some calligraphic, some blank and some with photographs - but all within the blue-lavender colour theme.

For this book I painted with acrylics onto paper, then applied several coats of matt varnish to allow ink to write on the pages - an experiment for me, and I am very excited by the process and the result.

The quote is "Thoughts, rest your wings. Here is a hollow of silence, a nest of stillness, in which to hatch your dreams". (Joan Walsh Anglund)

This book is for my mum  and is called 'Languages of Peace'. Each page has the word 'peace' written on it in a different language, following the alphabet. So first of all we have Armenian, then Bengali, then Catalan and so on. Interestingly, no language starts with the letter 'O'.

Each page is also embossed with a small peace dove, and the cover has a large embossed peace dove. I made this sweet slip-on cover and then painted a peace dove on the binder in gouache. The work is gouache on Arches Velin paper; the style is my own heartbeat script, and the pages are single-page link bindings using crochet cotton.

Words for Peace 2010 - progress

After fiddling about I have decided on two pieces - one using coloured pencils on Canson and the other using my favourite quote "Peace is every step" written over and over in italics in ink on Somerset watercolour paper.  They are both underway and here are some early glimpses.

What appears to be blank paper actually has the pencil marks on it for colouring in purposes (might be visible when enlarged by clicking) and the stained glass effect I am after is also emerging from the second shot.

Remembering Peace is every step

It's funny I should be posting about this beautiful new book I made in the past few days given that I really need to be reminded to believe in the words I used. It has been quite a week and as I said to somebody today -sorry, but I am really up to my "ear balls" this week!

I flew to Sydney to work - started at 1pm and finished at midnight then got up and did another half day - then flew back to Brisbane and instead of a 1.5 hours trip home got caught in a mess of traffic and it took 3 hours. There is plenty to blog about since then - hearing Andy Goldsworthy speak, playing in my studio with Sue rusting paper, salting ink and so on; openings attended and then a couple of commissions to finish, entries to finalise, dealing with no phone/internet/email for 48 hours, then having the car battery die and leaving us stranded twice, having a report to write, a crown fitted at the dentist and dinner for 8 to deliver tomorrow night!

Hence the need to remind myself that peace is every step. This is my entry to the Libris Awards in Mackay, QLD, managed to send it off yesterday in amongst it all (thanks Barry). I enjoy making metal books and using peaceful words within them; the contrasts are strong yet I like that the strength of metal supports the message - it will remain not disappear. This is the third in the series...see the first here. This one uses recycled copper - I love the patina - and is stitched with waxed linen thread.

Logs and Life Part 3

Well, the day arrived! Yesterday David managed to get the truck to deliver the log into town. It's a mighty bit of timber and was kind of recalcitrant all the way in - difficult to pick up and manoeuvre into place; wanting to lean and fall on the trip in and so on. But it has arrived and looks fabulous.

We went to visit today and when we arrived, a teenage boy was stopped, reading the text. The text is by Marianne Williamson "Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure...". In working through this piece I learned that despite the fabulous urban myth, Nelson Mandela did not write these words, nor has he ever said them out loud in a public speech; yet so many of us associate them with him. So that was a surprise to us all.

David is pleased and I am proud - it was a nice collaborative piece which stands like a sentinel at the entrance to his shop.

The log, David and I in various arrangements!

Calligraphic bits

I have been working on a couple of possibilities for a friend who wanted a small piece of calligraphy to sit on their desk and we are edging closer to finalisation. The main feature needed to be blue - the blue of our big blue sky; so blue does feature a fair bit.

I did a couple of roughs and then had a go at a couple of close to finals to see which way to go. Part of me loves that one of the close to final pieces came from nowhere - it wasn't part of my thinking as I did the roughs; it suddenly just seemed the right thing to try. I constantly smile and reflect on the meandering path of the creative process and how you start in one spot and end up somewhere completely different (or at least that is how it seems to work with me!).

Logs and Life Part 2

The beautiful log I worked on for David Linton is edging closer to its 'unveiling'. I spoke to David today and he is waiting for a crane truck to deliver some timber to his workshop (out of town)and then he will get them to lift up the log and deliver it into town to his shop. You just can't lift this log any other way and it looks like it will be another 10 days or so before it can make the trip to town.

So here are some shots of the writing in progress:

The work set-up; not a classic work space I'm the first to admit.

Followed by the work in progress (with a mistake somewhat evident)



David oiled the timber in the week before I wrote - this seems to allow the ink to bond with the oil somehow, and not bleed into the timber itself, or rub off. I used a loose Roman Capitals hand to make it easier to read and to look contemporary.

I learned a lot about how to remove mistakes from timber (we couldn't budge the ink on the trial piece) by using a scraper and/or the back of a very sharp chisel.

Logs and Life Part 1

I have decided that life is one big roller coaster and basically, you just get on and ride! In amongst what has been a most hectic month or so with work-work; I have been pursuing this weird and wonderful request. It started when I was asked to write on some timber 'pebbles'. David Linton is a master wood craftsman who has both a workshop and a shopfront in our town. He made our dining table and chairs and is a true artisan. Anyhow, he asked me to write some inspirational words on some of his timber pebbles - as reminders and gifts for some people. I did this and he really enjoyed them.

Afterwards he asked if I could write out a longer quote on a big piece of timber he had set aside, to act as an entrance post to his shop. What do you do? You say - I don't know, but I'll give it a try. After a trial run with different inks and the like, we agreed to have a go. On Monday this week I spent the day at his workshop - in amongst so much timber - and wrote. It was the most challenging piece of writing I have ever done - the log is so heavy it had to be put in place mechanically and just rested down and backwards (interesting, when most calligraphers write up and sloped slightly forwards).

Here is the project before it began...an interesting set up, but oh what a marvellous piece of timber. It's pretty much done now; but I'll wait until it's in situ and all OK before posting the final pics. Stay tuned!

Peace is every step

I have mentioned before how I enjoy working with some particular quotes. This is another one which I like to use and can play over and over again in different formats. It is a quote by the Buddhist monk, scholar and poet Thich Nhat Hanh, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967 by Dr Martin Luther King. He lives a philosophy of mindfulness and walking meditation, encouraging us to consider a peaceful way of being in the world with each step that we take.

I have used the quote recently in a book I made for a collaborative exhibition in Japan. It was part of a sculptural piece that provided spaces for both Japanese and Australian artists to display their works.

I also used the quote in small 'book-ets' I made for an exhibition here. I called them "peace in your pocket". They were small pages, cut and folded so that you could always carry peace with you. The good news is that all of them sold, so a few folk now carry peace in their pockets..

Ancora Imparo

As a calligrapher, reader, and ponderer I love quotes. I often find that other people have captured thoughts so beautifully or simply, or can say what I want to say so much better. One of my favourite quotes which I use again and again is Ancora Imparo "I am still learning". It is attributed to Michelangelo and I must admit it works for me. It works for me as an artist and as an individual. I have so much still to learn as I develop my artistic practice; and as an individual I hope I never stop learning.

I have used the quote in a couple of artists books and will continue to use it for a long time yet.

A nest of 3 books - each with the quote written over and over with different sized nibs, and folded

1. The perspex 'pages' in a box

2. I love the way the letters layer

3. The pages laid out (Apologies for the glare)