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I grew up in Raleigh at a time when the nuns taught at Our Lady Of Lourdes. They lived out back of the school and wore those imposing yet Holy Habits that commanded your adoration, attention, and, quite frankly, your fear. So, when they asked you to "sit up straight" with your "feet flat on the floor" and compose your letters properly according to the Palmer Method of Handwriting, you did just that! I believe it was at that impressionable age that I became infatuated with the formation of letters. When I was introduced to calligraphy in 1978, it was no wonder I fell in love with this beautiful art form. My first taste of the calligraphic world lasted no longer than one hour. The instructor turned a piece of chalk on its edge to form calligraphic works of art from A to Z on the chalkboard. That was that! But it was all I needed to fire the embers that had been sparked in elementary school. Watching the slow, rhythmical shaping of those letters was like listening to classical music. It was not until 1997 that I enrolled in my first formal calligraphy class. Boy, were my eyes opened! I knew I had a lifelong road of learning ahead of me. It's been 38 years since that white piece of chalk was laid on its side. I am still learning. Come learn with me!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Paste Paper














I am a member of the Triangle Calligraphers' Guild. Quite a few of us met today in the home of one of our members to do paste papers. It was a good thing that there was a huge table in the kitchen, expanding to accommodate eight people! And then it spilled over onto kitchen countertops. We all brought papers, acrylics, tools, and our imaginations...all to share! I had taken a workshop a few months ago and ended up with a full sheet of Arches CP watercolor paper that had six equal areas taped onto it. Within each square was a study I had done in that workshop. I knew I would never use the paper as it was, so I brought it with me, tore it into smaller sizes, then painted over the individual pieces with new paint.
Above is one of the pieces. You can see a strong, thick vertical line in it. That line used to be red and was part of the original study. Water was laid on top of the sheet. I experimented with orange chalk (a shared item) and laid it on its side to do the sweeping upward curve next to the red line. Green chalk was also used. Then the Ross Art Paste was put down along with a light sponging of light green. Tools were used to scrape away some of the paint, either in curving motions or straight vertical strokes.
Now this paper is ready for words. Wonder what they will be?
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