Silk Purse from Sow's Ear

So after four-plus years of Blackletter classes at Atelier Gargoyle, I had acquired an impressive pile of butcher paper practice sheets that it seemed wrong to throw away.  One of my classmates had suggested I use them for wrapping paper, which was fun and different--very cute when tied with string.  For some reason I thought to grab a few sheets as I went out the door to an evening collage class with the inimitable Anna Corba, incongruously but delightfully being held at Knitterly, a favorite local yarn store.  We were provided with kits and lots of boxes of ephemera to dig through, and I thought my walnut-inked specimens were a nice contrast to the image elements.  (Don't look too closely at the letterforms, Linnea & Ward--the sheets are really old, okay?  That's my story anyway.)

We made collages on two pieces of matboard, then coated them with melted beeswax, which gave them surprising depth and dimension.  The covers were assembled with the notebook elements and bound together with ribbon.

 A fun project and a nice mid-week escape!

Let Them Eat Cake!: Karen's Cake

I had already asked my dear neighbor Wendy Remer, an amazing chocolatier, to make a cake for my friend's 50th birthday celebration.  Then we saw the latest issue of Martha Stewart Weddings...

...and were inspired by the wonderful creations of Nan Deluca, Patricia Mumau, Dana Cochran, and Xandra Zamora. We decided to collaborate and create something unique for the occasion.

Having admired the work, and especially the mandalas, of Jane Farr, I was delighted to find her outstanding step-by-step instructions for creating them.  I penned my first mandala around the initial "K", then headed to Fedex Kinko's (or whatever it's called this week) to make a few enlargements.

With luck (and a 40% off coupon) I found an electric stencil cutter at Michaels--I didn't even know such a thing existed!  What a dream to work with!  It's kind of like a woodburning tool with a very fine tip.  It seems to work well on .003 and thicker acetate sheets, as well as the stencil blanks that are sold for this purpose.

I taped the design to my work table, then a piece of glass over that, and the blank stencil on top.  With a little practice I was able to keep the tool moving smoothly enough.  (I did have my husband improve the insulation, though--it gets very hot!).

The pieces popped out easily with a craft knife.

I set the stencil over a piece of black paper to make sure I hadn't missed any sections...

...and on a whim, took out my pan chalks and a cotton ball to give it a test run.

Then it was time to head over to Wendy's for further experimentation!  She had seen a video on using stencils with royal icing, which specified that the icing should be the consistency of mayonnaise.  She tried out the stencil on her Silpat mat with mayonnaise and pink food coloring.  Voila!

Encouraged by success, I cut and pasted elements of the mandala for a stencil to use on the sides of the cake.  We ended up not using it after all.

Though next time we'd make it a bit stiffer, the apricot-tinted royal icing was quite striking over the chocolate fondant, and Wendy added some touches of gold dust to dress it up a bit.  I made a little matching card to go with it (but forgot to take a picture of it).

The Birthday Girl was glowing and gorgeous!

The Merry Year is Born...

Couplet by Hartley Coleridge (1796-1849)

Everything Old is New Again

I was walking through West Elm on my way to somewhere else when I spotted these dishes and snapped some photos with my phone.  West Elm is a little too trendy for me, but if Offhand Flourishing is hip, I guess I'm cooler than I thought!  I haven't sleuthed it but the bird looks suspiciously like something out of E. A. Lupfer's  Ornate Pictorial Calligraphy.

The deer and the horse don't have the same graceful thicks and thins, but the idea is definitely there.

I didn't notice it in the store, but according to their website they also have a snowflake, mandala-like design:

 West Elm photo

So I guess it should come as no surprise that Pottery Barn, which is also owned by Williams-Sonoma, has also used calligraphy in their holiday bedding design.

Pottery Barn photo

In this case the flourishings are relegated to the background, but I think they really make the design:

Pottery Barn photo

Pottery Barn photo

And for the truly obsessed dedicated, you can complement the ensemble with scribbly sheets!  Couldn't name the hand, but it looks to be French.

Pottery Barn photo

Pottery Barn photo

So I wondered if this was a running theme in the corporation, and headed to the Williams-Sonoma website.  Sure enough.  Napkins, tablecloths, mugs, glasses, plates, and even a cookie jar with calligraphy--some recognizably Spencerian--woven in.  We're taking over!

Williams-Sonoma photo

Disclaimer:  West Elm, Pottery Barn, and Williams-Sonoma have no idea who I am;  just thought these were fun and wanted to pass them along.

Bye Bye Blackletter

The names of everyone who has ever attended a Black Sabbath class
by Ward Dunham

It was a bittersweet event.  On Saturday, December 4, students and friends of Ward Dunham & Linnea Lundquist gathered to celebrate the end of four-and-a-half years of "Black Sabbath" blackletter classes in their San Francisco studio, Atelier Gargoyle.  Those of us lucky enough to attend these monthly Saturday sessions were expertly and enthusiastically schooled in Textura, Johnstonian Italic, Uncial, Batarde, and other related topics by two exceptional calligraphers who happen to be a couple and, often, a comedy duo.

There was food, including cupcakes from the wonderful Jasmine Rae Bakery, who have kept us in yummy gingerbread and other delectables these last few years.

Look closely...those are fondant Brause pen nibs!  Good enough to eat, and we did.

Ward tended bar, offering his signature Hot Apple Pie adult beverage...

...while Linnea helped everyone stock up on supplies from the shop.

The exhibit of the students' final projects, beautifully displayed on the studio walls and tables, was varied and awe-inspiring!

Here is a closer look at a few of the pieces for which the photos came out reasonably well.  There were so many wonderful ones!

Meredith Jane Klein

Paul Costanzo

David Brookes

Patricia Coltrin

Jessie Evans

Helen Fung 

Bonnie Noehr

Dean Robino

Raoul Martinez

There were awards, speeches, and heartfelt tributes, followed by lively conversation and merrymaking!

Ward made sure we all had the contact information for their new abode in Half Moon Bay...

...and Linnea, along with the rest of us, shed a few tears.

But it has been a great run, and all of us who participated are richer for it.  Black Sabbath has been an important part of the San Francisco calligraphy community, and will be sorely missed.  Thank you, Ward & Linnea!  It has been a pleasure and a privilege.