Love Letters

Third exhibit piece...

This is the third and final piece I entered into our guild's exhibit... there are gazillions of layers of papers, calligraphy, ephemera, etc.  It was really fun to make... 

 

The colors are much, much brighter colors in person... lots of rich autumnal colors.  Note the postmark on the envelope, near the top... yup, 1913!!!  How cool is that?!?  I lucked out and found an entire box of letters written nearly a hundred years ago, and have had them tucked away for a long time.  Eventually, it became obvious to me they were doing absolutely no good sitting in a box, hidden away, and I decided it was time to use them. I think they end up being even more precious when used in a permanent piece of artwork and I'm grateful that someone valued them enough to save them all those years ago.   

Exhibit work

In my previous post I showed one of the pieces I am putting in our guild's exhibit, and another piece I was trying to figure out how to finish... well, here it is... the final edition:

The printed page in the center is from a very old French dictionary, courtesy of a dear friend of mine, Kim Mailhot, host of Queen of Arts, and the stamped image on top of the dictionary page is one of my favorites... this is glued to a piece of illustration board that is mounted on top of the canvas.  It provides some interest in that it is three dimensional, and the stamped image is actually in the background of the lettering on the canvas... in addition, the creamy color of the dictionary page is repeated in the buff colored acrylic paint used in the background of the canvas.  It took me a while to come up with just the right thing to put on top of the lines of lettering, and I'm really happy with the final outcome.  Simple, but effective, and there is a relationship between the two parts of the final piece. 

Thanks to all of you who sent me feedback on my early efforts with this piece... it was fun discussing it with you!  

 

Latest Calligraphy project

Greetings all!  I hope this finds you doing well... 

I've been busy preparing some work for an upcoming calligraphy exhibit our guild (Michigan Association of Calligraphers) is hosting, opening next Saturday, November 7.  I'll show you one piece I've got ready to go...

 

In the photo, there is a shadow almost halfway down the first third of the grid... it's there because I had to scan the canvas in two parts and then put it together in Photoshop, and I forgot to eliminate the shadow until I'd already posted it... sorry about that... I'm usually much more careful!  

The requirements for this exhibit is that the work contain some form of calligraphic marks.  The piece above will satisfy that requirement, but in a fairly unusual manner... I guess you could say it's done in true McCreedy style!  One thing that is not obvious, is that underneath all the collage pieces is a layer of calligraphy done in a very pale gold... you can make out some of the letters near the top of the canvas. The colorful squares and large rectangle that runs down the left hand side are all cut from a piece of watercolor paper with layers of calligraphy written on it in multiple colors of ink.  

None of the calligraphy is really meant to be read... and underneath all of it is handwriting done in pencil.  In some of the squares of the grid is my handwriting in a dark green ink, again, not necessarily meant to be read, so some of the writing is covered with collage elements and with a somewhat opaque tissue paper.  In addition there are a few three dimensional objects, the rusty washer in the lower right hand corner, the rusty calligraphy nib in the lower left hand corner of the grid, and the circle with the "B" in it is a slice off the end of a wine cork.  There's also a metal brad in the upper left hand corner helping to hold the heavy paper in place, and give it another dimensional aspect.  

Here is a scan of another canvas I'm working on, but am not quite happy with... 

 

The white shadow and the numbers are done in layers in Photoshop... at this point there is nothing on the canvas except for the writing... I'm trying to figure out what to put on top of the writing... my husband thinks it's fine without anything else, but I'm not quite satisfied yet.  I'll be sure to post a photo of the finished piece.  

Thanks for stopping by, I apologize for not posting more regularly... my studio is nearly all back together now, so I'm able to be much more productive.  Still no job, but I have a couple irons in the fire... my health care runs out the end of November, so I'm starting to get a bit nervous about that.  Otherwise I've come to terms with things and am trying to just relax and enjoy the days to myself until I get a job offer.  Keep your fingers crossed for me, would you please?  I'd appreciate it... now, go make something!  :D

By the way... this is my 200th post!  I'm really surprised... see how time flies when you're having fun?!?  

  

Is it Friday already?

I can hardly believe it's alrdeady Friday night... and I never would've imagined the Wings would be playing game 7, down two goals to 0 in the third period, at home to boot!!!  I need to calm down...

Here is my current Friendship Friday postcard, thanks to Marie, our host at Vintage Postcards...

Note the colors, Red White & Black - does it make any of you think of the Detroit Red Wings?  It should! :D  This card was made with black cardstock, painted and stamped tyvek, handmade paper scraps, a punched heart from watercolor paper, a punched square with scribbled writing, and a red ticket to some event somewhere... I can't remember where I got the red paper at the very top... it's came from a piece of cardstock, approximately 8"x10", with  cut out circles... what you can see is just a torn scrap of that piece of cardstock... I used a rubber stamp and red ink to do the swirly in the upper right hand corner and the 1959 down on the lower right.  There are gold speckles scattered randomly across the piece... it's Schmincke rich gold gouache, in its dry state, sprinkled around, while the acrylic medium was still wet.  

Another journal entry...

This is a simple little impromptu collage I added to the bottom of the journal page, above it is the saying I wrote out with a brush on a post a few entries back... I love that quote... I need to look at it every day and really remind myself of that... I'm afraid I'm going to get to the end of my life and feel like I never really did live it on my terms... so I'm working on that.  Anyhow... I really don't like it when my writing goes uphill or is crooked, so why am I so reluctant to pencil in a little guideline here and there?!?  All I can say is I am either really lazy or really spontaneous... I like how the latter sounds better!

       Now, GO MAKE SOMETHING!  

Drawing skills...

Lately, I've been pushing myself to draw at least one small thing every day... ok, every other day... the impetus was I remembered that calligraphy is really drawing letters... it has absolutely nothing to do with handwriting, though a calligrapher will usually have pretty good handwriting (I think it's just a side effect of studying letters for years, and we usually love letters, so we like them to look good, just MHO)... I digress...

so here's a recent journal entry of mine, with a little drawn ditty, I mean kitty, Moo... (do any of you give your pets three or four ridiculous names?!?)

and here is another journal entry, 

 

And one last journal entry, just for fun:

Flourishes in the mail...

An envelope arrived at my house yesterday, not just any envelope, but perhaps the most beautiful envelope I have ever received in my entire life... it was sent to me by a calligrapher named Heather Victoria Held, and if you've never seen her work, you have now...

Here's an up close view of the flourishes at the top:

This was all done impromptu by a master penman (penwoman), and if she isn't a "certified" master yet, it doesn't matter to me... she certainly is in my book! (Heather may be a Master Penman, I just am not certain, so forgive me Heather, if you read this!)

In person, there are metallic inks in the drawings and it is truly spectacular.  

Thank you, Heather, I will treasure this envelope!  

Postcard Friendship Fridays part deux...

Here is this week's Friday postcard, done for a weekly project hosted by Marie at Vintage Postcards... (click on the image to see it in a larger format, please... it looks much better up close and personal!)...

And even though my postcard isn't vintage, these lovely folks have graciously welcomed me into the fold as a lover of postcard art... very cool.

(This is version No. 1, see version No. 2 below)

Perhaps a bit dark for this beautiful time of year, and it's not intentional, it's just the color palette I am most often drawn to, just not usually with so much black.  

The postcard started out white, and I did some hastily drawn letters that later I didn't like... so I tried to put a layer of pastels over the letters, which turned out okay... but being inexperienced with pastels, I put a layer of acrylic gel over it, to protect the pastels, and turned it into a smeared mess... so the next logical thing to do is to cover the muck with black gesso, right?!?  

OK, well, it's all I could come up with... so here's the final image... there's torn paper from a french book, torn paper I've done some calligraphy practice on, torn tissue paper, a tyvek square, and a paper heart glued onto the card... in the black gesso is some beautiful gold ink, which does not show up very well on this scan. 

 Anyway, good Friday greetings to you all... and now... :D

 GO MAKE SOMETHING!!!

Addendum to original post:

After a reader told me very bluntly, that this postcard looked like someone rubbed coal all over it, I had to agree, sort of... it was pretty dark to start with, and I wasn't especially happy with it myself... 

so, here is Friendship Friday postcard part deux.deux...

It's still quite dark, but I think it's a bit more interesting, and I am happier with it... can you spot the differences? :D

Masterpiece Flourishing Workshop

This was a very special weekend, spent with like-minded calligraphers, under the tutelage of Michael Sull, the Master Penman... I really wasn't sure what to expect, and it was clear I was out of my league, but I learned a great deal and had a wonderful time.  Michael Sull could not be a kinder, more gentle man, who is an expert at his craft; and like any expert, makes his work look really simple to execute. 

I met wonderful, warm people from all over the country, and from Ontario, Canada; and saw some of the most incredible work I've ever seen... really... really talented people at this weekend convergence of calligraphers.  Pat from Chicago, who is an incredible illustrator and letterer; Armando from San Francisco, who's letters and flourishes were SO lovely (what a nice man, and so encouraging!); Heather from Ontario (unbelievable, incredible work); Ann from Nebraska who is one of the warmest people I've ever met, and is a professional musician; Delphene from Hartland, MI, who quietly pens little gems and is completely unassuming and humble; Kristy who came from Kalamazoo and whose twinkling enthusiasm is delightful; Ann and Pat from Midland... ladies, like me, who were quite new to this whole flourishing business and who were really fun to get to know; Vicki from Royal Oak, MI, who, like Delphene quietly makes beautiful, lovely letters and is so kind; and Harvest, who hosted and organized the event, and who's work is most amazingly beautiful... and of course, Michael, who I'd only heard the nicest things about... well, it's all true!  What a nice man and a wonderful, thoughtful teacher...

I was privileged to be among these folks... I had a wonderful time and learned a great deal... as always about letters, about making art, & about myself.  I came home a different person, even if the change is only noticeable to me, it's there, surely.  

This is an off-hand flourish Michael did for the class on a whim... amazing.

Here's an example of flourishing the whole class worked on, which is what Michael refers to as Masterpiece Flourishing, which is different that the example of off-hand flourishing shown above.  

First, we penciled the letters (peony is misspelled... oops)...

Then, we drew an outline of the size and shape of the entire image we wanted to make, and then started the flourishing, in pencil...  I apologize for how faint the image is!

 

Then, we put the filigree sort of flourishing on top of the lettering... again, I apologize for how faint this image is!

Here are some other examples of my off-hand flourishing practice work... 

So gratefully, quietly, I go about my day... enjoying my memories of the weekend with new friends, anxious to get back into my studio to make letters and flourishes... and I can only hope I, too, will flourish!  (I'll hopefully have a photo of the group to share, really soon).

Now, go make something!

Paper Salad everywhere!!!

Today's newest and brightest idea of mine is to present you with my very own, unique "Paper Salad"... I'm offering a smattering of my paper scraps and pieces of calligraphy practice, all things I'd use myself, and do use, all the time! Lots of the paper is painted tyvek and it's beautiful... too beautiful to ever throw out!  When I teach classes I always bring my tyvek leftovers for my students to go through, to take as a sort of "give away" gift.  It makes me feel good that they appreciate how pretty these papers really are...

   There used to be an awesome paper store in Royal Oak, named Sheets... they carried incredible handmade paper, imported precious papers, and unusual cardstock, etc.  They did the same thing with their leftovers, and called it something like "Scrap Salad".  I LOVED it, because that way I could have small pieces of very expensive papers to use in my collage.  I couldn't have begun to afford an entire sheet of those specialty papers, nor would I have wanted to rip it up to use in collage!  

It's kind of difficult to really appreciate some of the papers... the metallic paints don't necessarily photograph all that well. But there is a nice variety of painted tyvek, calligraphy snippets, beautiful german written in an 1893 journal (see in photo below, on the left side of center), punched leaves and hearts from my painted papers, a few old tickets or cards or old book pages... and yes, scraps of some of beautiful handmade papers I've purchased over the years.

So here's my question... would anyone be interested in a side of "Paper Salad"?  I'd like to charge $10.00 per container, and will ship for free for the entire month of April (continental US only!).  I will happily put together custom orders, by color or colors... or you can just order a random "Paper Salad", and be surprised!  I didn't take the time to count how many pieces of paper is in the container, but I promise you'll love it.  If you don't, you know how to reach me.  

I don't have a Paypal account, and don't want one (long story, but I didn't do anything wrong... really!). If you'd like to order a salad, email me for my address, send me a check or money order, and I'll get your salad out asap, so that it arrives just as fresh as possible! 

And if you think this is a nutty idea, I'd like to hear from you, too... I know how much I like things like this, but I'm only one person.  I'd love to hear your thoughts! I will be giving away one Paper Salad to a random commenter, so talk to me!

So, please order something healthy for your studio, & now, go make something!