Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Wet Paint

Happy Friday friends!  This is going to be a quick post. It's actually Thursday night as I type this.  We are having our house painted. They weren't suppose to start until next week, but we're happy they are ahead of schedule.  But...so much for having Saturday and Sunday afternoons to prepare my studio for having the windows open!  It's been a mad dash today getting the house ready and moving the essentials of my studio down to the basement.  So...here's an "in progress" peek at a client piece--a wedding certificate--I did a few weeks ago.

Enjoy your weekend.
Wishing all the dads, including my own and my children's, a very Happy Father's Day!

Go forth and flourish!

xo

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Comparing G Nibs

I did a little G nib comparison sheet this morning. 

 Tom had a meeting in Nashville earlier this week, and I tagged along.  It was great to see Rachel (our daughter), my sister and her family, *AND* pay a visit to Paper and Ink Arts. PIA is a candy store for calligraphers, but it's not a traditional retail store front.  Jennifer Allen, the Director of PIA, was gracious enough to let Rachel and I prowl around....oops, I mean, "Rachel and *me*" ...the grammar police will get me....(aka Tom)    :)

Two things I wanted to try: the Tachikawa G nib and this palette of Fine Tec Pearl Colors. 

Thanks to Heather Held's recommendation several years ago, I already have (and LOVE) the Fine Tec gold palette.  The new palette also has 6 colors.  The new palette's wells are smaller, but it's also less expensive.

 I regularly use both the Nikko G and the Zebra G.  Sometimes the Zebra G is a little too sharp for me.  Although my hairlines tend to be finer with the Zebra G, they also skip more.  I was very interested to see how the Tachikawa G performed for me, and I am quite happy with it.  My hairlines aren't quite as fine as with the Zebra G, but I didn't have the skipping problem.  I love the colors of the new palette, especially the Shining Aquamarine.  As it flowed out of the pen, I was mesmerized!

Jennifer said she was going to have the Tachikawa G nibs available at both The Summit conference and at IAMPETH.  I also have some comic nibs from Kuretake, including a G nib, that I will blog about in the future.

You can find both the Tachikawa G nib (Item: TACHG) and the Fine Tec Pearl Colors (The Item# I used for this test: FN600S, price: $17.95) at Paper and Ink Arts website.

As usual, we had a great time in Nashville. Our hotel was hopping due to a country music awards show to be held the next day.  Tom and I had no clue who any of the people were though.  :)

Don't forget! Google Reader will be discontinued July 1st.  If you use Google Reader and want to keep receiving updates to A Place to Flourish, then please enter your email address in the designated box on the sidebar of my homepage.

Also, for those interested, my son has a new post regarding his research in the Australian rainforest: CLICK HERE.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Go forth and flourish!!

xo

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Return to Contemporary Illuminated Letters

I started this contemporary, illuminated alphabet over three years ago.  My goal was to do the entire alphabet from A-Z within a year.....

....hahaha!!!  

I have the basic forms done for four more letters. Now, I just need to make the time to fill them in with watercolor.   You can view a few of my other letters in this series by clicking HERE and HERE.

Have a great weekend.

Go forth and flourish!

xo

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Recycling Envelopes

Hello Friends.  I thought for today's Flourish Friday I would show you one of the ways I recycle/reuse envelopes.

When addressing envelopes, I will occasionally make a mistake. (Shocking, I know...)  I hate to waste an otherwise useful envelope, especially one in such a pretty color.

I grabbed some light weight, black paper from my scrap bin and cut two pieces smaller than the dimensions of the envelope.

 I pulled out my trusty, inspiring copy of The Universal Penman by George Bickham and found a flourish that I though would work well.  Using a white Gelly Roll pen,  I did a simplified, monoline version of the flourish.

I addressed them very casually.  Using an Uhu glue stick, I glued the pieces to the fronts of the envelopes, covering up the mistakes.

 Finally, I added the postage...my current FAVE stamps!

I like the look of tucking the "To:" into the top, oval of flourish.  Next time, I will tuck the zip code into the bottom oval. (The USPS will *LOVE* that, right?!)  :)

Wishing you a terrific, Memorial Day weekend.

Go forth and flourish...

...especially you, Pacers! (You can do it!!!!)

xo

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - A Country Pathway

Hello friends. I hope you've had a great week.  This is a piece I did for my son to give as a gift to his Australian homestay family.  (He was given the opportunity to spend a weekend with a local family and LOVED it.)  We wanted the gift to reflect Indiana, so I used a photo I had taken from a park near our home.  The text is the first stanza of Hoosier poet, James Whitcomb Riley's,  A Country Pathway.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend with time to wander along a winding pathway.

Go forth and flourish!

xo

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Mother & Child Reunion

My apologies to Paul Simon, but I am very excited to see my kids for a late Mother's Day reunion. Safe travels Rachel and Matthew! 

Wishing all the wonderful mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day...including Marjorie Ann...I miss you and love you mom!

Go forth and flourish!

xo

Jane

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Decorated Letters

The second of two workshops I took with Peter Thornton was called, "Written, Drawn and Decorated Letters of Adolf Bernd." Peter brought along samples of Adolf Bernd's letters, and he discussed his fascination with Bernd and his work. See an example of Bernd's work HERE.  (FYI, the book is out of print.)  Jo Miller had taken this workshop from Peter and blogged about it. (See HERE and HERE)  The workshop sounded great, and I was happy to get the opportunity to take the workshop here in Indy.

I'm not going into detail about the entire workshop, but one thing Peter taught us was taking a plain, basic versal and transforming into a more contemporary, decorated letter.  At home, I tried to remember those steps to create the letter R.

A close-up of my progression.

Once I had a form I liked, I used a .03 ZIG Millennium (Peter' preferred pen for this) and went over the  pencil lines. 

Then more strokes were added with a .01 pen to break up the larger areas. Then watercolor was brushed into the different shapes.

A nice tip that I learned from my calligraphy mentor, Ellen Simon, is this:  take a GellyRoll glitter pen and scribble a spot onto a scrap piece of paper. Then take a damp brush and pick up some of the sparkly color.

Paint over your existing watercolor for a nice, subtle sparkle.  Maybe you already knew this, but I didn't.  I really like it. It's not over-the-top GLitTeR!!, but just a nice touch.

Attention - house-keeping note: Google Reader will not be available after July 2013.  I've used Google Reader to follow other blogs since I started blogging, and I know many of you do too.  If you follow A Place to Flourish via Google Reader and want to continue to get updates, then please be sure to enter your email address in the "Subscribe to A Place to Flourish via Email" box.  You can find it just below my Etsy shop photos.  If you do this before the end of June, then you won't miss any Flourish Friday posts.

Have a great weekend.

Go forth and flourish! 

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Hymn Journal Page 2

This is the second page in my "Hymns That Last" journal.  (I just love the translucent pages preceding the writing pages!)  

 The second hymn is "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" by Edward Perronet.  You can see my original post about this journal, including a link to the list of the 27 Hymns That Last by CLICKING HERE.

 The texture of the pages is a little tricky for my nib (Zebra G) and walnut ink, but I am determined to complete the journal with all 27 hymns. 

I have a favor to ask...

A dear friend may have the opportunity to travel to Perth, Australia in the next few weeks.  If any of you can provide helpful insights into the Perth area (or within a few hours drive of Perth)....sights, parks, restaurants, beaches, etc., then I would appreciate hearing from you.  You may leave a comment here or email me. My email address is listed below my blog's banner.  Thank you very much!!!

Go forth and flourish!

Flourish Friday - Peter Thorton Workshop

I really enjoyed my calligraphy guild's two workshops with Peter Thorton. The first workshop was Casual, Playful and Inventive Capital Letters.  Peter handmade his Rebel Ruling Pens for students that wanted them.  I did the lettering for "enemy" with my pen; however, I've totally botched the quote. (Perfection is the enemy of performance...or....The perfect is the enemy of the good.-Voltaire)

  First, Peter went over the Roman alphabet explaining the construction of each letter.  We worked in pencil, which I loved.  It really helped me focus on the forms.

Peter then had us start to vary the width of our letters. He also wanted us to use pressure and release with our pencils.  (The third row up from the bottom is Peter's lettering.) Misspellings abound as I try to concentrate on the forms.

Another botched quote, but I like the letters! :)  Peter had us progressively alter the letter forms.

Here I am trying to lighten my touch, after Peter said I was "engraving" the paper.

A phrase Peter used often during the workshop attributed to calligrapher, Irene Wellington.

I really like this page, because I feel as though I had progressed with lightening my touch and changing the forms.  I learned a great deal and would highly recommend Peter and his Casual, Playful and Inventive Capital Letters workshop.

Go forth and flourish, friends!

Flourish Friday - Talk Less, Listen More

A piece inspired by Proverbs 10:19. 

Looking forward to the next three days and attending Peter Thorton's Casual, Playful and Inventive Capital Letters and Decorated Letters of Adolph Berndt workshops.

Happy weekend, Friends!

Go forth and flourish.

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Scout Auzro's Nursery

This is a piece I did for my great-nephew, Scout Auzro Sullivan, the newest member of our family.  I used the beautiful rug in Scout's nursery as my inspiration.  Scout's nursery was featured in a post at Apartment Therapy; you can see it by CLICKING HERE.

Isn't he a cutie? A happy guy!

The piece was done in Neuland using technical pens, Pilot Parallel Pens, and Photoshop.  Framed, the piece measures 18" x 24" and includes Scout's birth information, a 3 generation family tree, and a quote. I've deliberately blurred the details.  No doubt Auzro is an unfamiliar name to you.  It's a name from my dad's side of the family.

The original Auzro is Scout's great, great, great grandfather - pictured bottom, right. (That's 4 generations of Klines:  my brother (the baby), my dad, my grandpa and my great grandpa.)

It's such a blessing to have a new generation in the family.

Scout's pictured with his proud mom and dad -
my niece, Taylor, and her husband, Matt.
Congrats on your beautiful son, Matt and Taylor!

(Some of you may remember their wedding calligraphy.)

It was great to see them over the Easter weekend and hold that baby boy!!

Welcome to the family, Scout Auzro!
May you grow and flourish!!
xo
....and *MY* boy turns 21 today... a Happy 21st Birthday to Matthew Thomas!

Good Flourish Friday - Mark 10:45

original lettering done with Moon Palace sumi and Zebra G nib

Wishing you a Good Friday and the hope that resurrection Sunday brings!

Happy Easter, Friends!

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - IAMPETH

After seeing THIS POST I had done, Nan DeLuca asked me if I would do something similar for the 2012 IAMPETH Round Robin.  I miss Nan's presence. The online calligraphy community isn't quite the same without her.  I like to do this type of record keeping since I first learned it from Barb Close.  It helps me to remember things I've learned or seen that I would otherwise forget.  All the above elements were either learned at an IAMPETH class or seen in the archives. I like to make grids not only for flourishing elements but also for letters. It is amazing how many different variations you can have for a single letter.

Tomorrow, March 23, 2013 is registration day for IAMPETH members.  If you plan on going to Albuquerque for the convention this summer, then don't forget to register online!  It starts at 11am Mountain Time, which I believe is 1pm Eastern.

For 2013 IAMPETH Convention Information, CLICK HERE!

Even without the Boilers in it, I am having fun watching the NCAA Tournament.  I know some of you have already endured heartbreaking losses, and there have also been some big upsets.  My brackets are a mess!! haha.

Enjoy your weekend...Go forth and flourish!

Calligraphy Flourish Friday - Australia Follow Up

Many of you have asked about our trip to Australia. It was amazing, and I'll share just a few (of the thousands of!) pictures we took. A friend thought he was stuffed, but the koala above was real. :)

 We started with a week in Sydney. This was taken from the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  No, we didn't do the Bridge Climb. (Sorry, Alex!) This was high enough for me, and the view was wonderful.  I added my lettering via Photoshop.

Our first full day in Sydney was Australia Day.  We spent the first half of the day exploring the city, including famous Bondi Beach.  Can you tell it's an Aussie holiday?

We spent the evening at the Sydney Opera House taking in La Boheme. It just so happened that the Sydneysider that took us around the city earlier that day had a son performing in the opera. That made it  even more special.

We took a day to go up to the Blue Mountains -  gorgeous! We definitely could have spent more days hiking there.

The second half of our trip we flew north to Cairns, and then drove north to Port Douglas. (Above is 4 Mile Beach in Port Douglas.) It is nearer the Atherton Tablelands where our son, Matt, is studying this semester.  Please read Matt's latest post about the Warrawee centre:  CLICK HERE

 While up north we visited the Daintree National Park and rainforest. The plants and wildlife were unlike anything we had ever seen.  This is a cassowary.  We saw it while visiting a wildlife park.  Read about the cassowaries that Matt and his fellow students saw in the wild: CLICK HERE

How about this little wallaby?!  Someone is ready for their close-up....haha!

I've added the lettering, since this is suppose to be a blog about my calligraphy...

 This is Cape Tribulation. It is where two World Heritage sites meet - the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics of Queensland.

Our last, big adventure was snorkeling/diving at the Great Barrier Reef's Agincourt Ribbon Reef.  We went to three different sites. It was my favorite thing. What an incredible eco-system. 

All the different types of fish and coral were stunning. The hardest part was not being able to talk to each other  - just pointing and looking at each other with "Did you see that?!" expressions through our masks.  (and thank you, Fiona! We did wear stinger suits!)

 On our last full day in Port, we woke up early in order to walk down to the beach for the sunrise.

Soooo pretty.  

Australia isn't quite as big as the USA, but it is huge.  It was difficult to choose which areas we would visit, because me may never get back there. I wish we could have spent several months there.

Thanks for enduring my vacation photos. :)

A little early, but.....

(Original lettering done with a 2.4mm Pilot Parallel Pen.) 

 Have a great weekend.

xo

Jane