Dust-up Wrap-up

Last weekend I did a new wall to welcome seven brave souls who came to learn about lettering with chalk at the "Chalk Lettering Dust-Up". It got good and dusty around here as we worked both on black foam board and on chalkboard-painted masonite boards. In the morning we transferred pre-made sketches to the boards. The short phrases were mostly from Patti Digh's book Four Word Self Help. Everyone did a great job, and each board had a very distinctive look!

Carla

Marjorie

David

Linda

Katy

Janice

Lori

Before lunch, we each personalized our chalkboard painted wine glasses using chalk pencils! Aren't their designs wonderful?!?

In the afternoon we created our own designs in pencil and transferred them. 

Katy

Linda

Janice

Marjorie

David

Carla, the overachiever!

Lori

 ...and we ended with an art show on the back patio! Aren't they amazing?!?

 

Doesn't it make you want to grab a piece of chalk and start writing???

Sweet Music

Quote by Stephen Sondheim, Artwork by Jody Meese
Gouache, Spectralite, gold leaf, colored pencils, "jewels", Pitt marker

 These little 5"X5" illuminated pieces (8"X8" framed) are so much fun to do, and perfect items for charity auctions. This one was for the Marin Girls' Chorus. My daughter, a former chorus member, sits on the Board.

Lucky for me, I had help with gilding from visiting calligraphy royalty, Harvest Crittenden! She also offered valuable critique and encouragement.

The mat is some marbled paper I picked up in town...after this photo was taken, I used a ruling pen to add a gold line about 1/4" from the inner edge.

Always fun to contribute to a worthy cause with something I enjoy creating!

Chalk One Up

Last weekend I was honored and excited to be asked to teach one of the six mini-workshops at San Francisco Friends of Calligraphy's Trivial Pursuits XXVIII ! The calligraphers' version of speed dating, this event has each teacher meets with five groups of eight for fifty minutes each. The wonderful Evelyn Eldridge chaired the event and made everything run like clockwork.

Planning the class gave me the opportunity to reflect on how I got into doing chalk lettering, which was after a kitchen remodel during which it was suggested we paint a wall black to make it 'disappear'. After a few years of staring at that wall, one Christmas I impulsively wrote a snippet of a carol on it to add to the decorations. This was the humble first one:

I decided to make it an annual tradition, so I made a template on graph paper, blocking out the 'obstacles': TV, framed artwork, beam, etc.



The designs got a teensy bit more elaborate.



And here is this year's iteration.

Of course, there was nowhere near enough time at Trivial Pursuits for something this large in a fifty-minute class! Things had to be scaled down. So a sweet little book by Patti Digh, entitled "Four Word Self Help", came to mind.  Four words seemed doable, so I picked a few of them and made thumbnail sketches to scale for our 15" X 20" black foam boards.

And one more I read somewhere, sometime:

After studying a couple of inspiration boards filled with vintage lettering and alphabets, and establishing a list of elements to work into the design, my FOC colleagues dove right in and transferred one of the phrases onto their pieces of foam board--with, of course, artistic license. It was a joy to see what all these talented calligraphers came up with to make them their own!

A fun event and an inspiring day! Thanks to all for your enthusiasm!

Triple Threat

As a mom and school director, I have probably been involved in 25 or 30 charity auctions for schools and sports teams. Over the years it has become painfully clear I have absolutely no sense of what will attract the interest of bidders. Once I copied an item (non-calligraphic) I had seen go for $600 a few years before...then watched it go for 60 bucks, probably less than it cost to make it. Another time I donated anonymously--still no dice. I've even bought back my own stuff to be sure it didn't get tossed! In other words, I am the Kiss of Death (KOD) for auction items.

But I'm giving it one more shot this year! I've chosen three verses that are special to the children and known to the parents at the school, and illuminated the heck out of them. Gold leaf, crystals, Spectralite, Finetec, the works! I figure even if these babies don't go for much, I sure had a great time making them. Each is a little less than 5"x5", and I popped them into 8" x 8" frames.

Please hold a good thought that the KOD curse has lifted, and that these find good homes and raise some golden coins for the magical Mountain School!

Update 3/29/15: There were bidding wars and these puppies raised well over $1K for the school! Yesss! The curse is lifted.

Update 5/15/15: Two families offered to match the top bids on their favorite piece, so now we're over $1900!

Monogram On My Mind

Recently had a visit from a dear friend who showed a gratifying interest in my work in the studio. I wanted to thank her for that, and for other favors received...so hoped she would enjoy a little bit of glitz and bling!