Love Letters

TYPE magazine + Typography Dojo

Image from TYPE magazine website

 

I just registered to receive TYPE magazine, after seeing a mention of it on Instagram, where there was a caption about a "Baker's Dozen" of the worlds newest and most interesting calligraphers, and my girlfriend Julie Wildman was mentioned as one of those 13 calligraphers! I'm SO excited for Julie!!! Here's an image of some of her calligraphy magic:

 

CONGRATULATIONS, JULIE!!!

 

 

In other news, if you're interested in Typography, and if not, WHY NOT?!?, I stumbled onto a site named Typography Dojo which I urge you to check out! It's a very well-rated webcast with lots of educational material and information. Check it out and let me know what you think!!! 

 

Have a great day, now, GO MAKE SOMETHING!!!

 

 

Seth's upcoming book debut!

If you aren't familiar with my friend Seth Apter, you need to head over to his site, The Altered Page, now!

He has a new book coming out very soon and is doing a promotion during the month of March.  Each day in March he is highlighting the artists he has chosen to collaborate with in his book, and it's a great opportunity to learn more about Seth and his work, along with the work of the very talented collaborators!  

Seth is a terrifically talented, humble, & kind man who has an entirely different daytime occupation, but manages to wear his many hats extremely well! He has been one of my most supportive "online friends" for quite a number of years now, and I am always amazed at all the things Seth has managed to create &/or organize.  This is one busy, dedicated artist, and I'm so proud to call him my friend! 

 

Are you Pinterested?

Are you familiar with ?

It is my current favorite way to explore the web and find tons of new things to look at and learn about... just what I need, I know... I'm already pretty scattered as far as things I love to do!

This is from my bulletin board "Four-legged friends" and it was originally posted at Gibson King.

How darling is that?!?

This little gem was originally posted at Your Daily Dose.  

Seriously, could this be any cuter?

And this very pretty and unusual advent calendar treatment is from Teresa Collins.

Really nicely done, right?!?

 

So these are just a few of the finds on Pinterest, a virtual bulletin board where you can post or "repin" images you find that you like.  It really is a terrific way to find beautiful images you might not otherwise happen upon, and you know how one thing can lead to another and to another and to another, right?  I just wish I'd been the one to come up with this outstanding idea!  

 

Now, go  something and have fun!

Is handwriting becoming a lost art?

This past Friday, Detroit News columnist, Marney Rich Keenan, wrote in her column that not only do we not send handwritten letters any longer; but now children are not even being taught handwriting in school. Apparently, learning how to print neatly will be enough, and then students will move on to learn keyboarding. Handwriting will be reduced to rudimentary printing, and cursive writing will be a lost art.  

Ms. Keenan's article, Individuality is lost as art of handwriting dies, brings up a lot of hot issues for me, and it is well worth reading. I hope you'll take the time to read it.  As a calligrapher, it makes me even more concerned than I already was, that ours is an art that may be in peril; and how do we bring calligraphy to today's youth? If they don't even know how to write in cursive, will they have any interest in the tedious work of learning to write with a REALLY old fashioned pen that has to be dipped in ink?  It would be infinitely easier to just find a pleasing font, and layout whatever information needs to be conveyed on the computer, but it would no doubt be lifeless and boring (at least in my opinion).

I think like a lot of things, sending and receiving a hand written letter will become even more cherished, because it is so uncommon and so special.  Recall how sociologists worried that the computer would isolate us even more than we already were at the time? (I'm thinking that was around the time of the Y2K scare).  And now, we seem even more connected than ever, through blogs, emails, text messages and the like. Likewise, the DIY movement has been seen as an antidote to sitting and looking at sterile computer screens all day... we like to use our hands to produce things.  We like to make things.  And some of us like making cards.  

So, in an effort to let Ms. Keenan know the art of letter writing is not dead, I made her a card and made the envelope, and did my best to make it pretty.  It went in Saturday's mail and I hope she gets a kick out of receiving not only a handwritten letter, but a handmade one to boot!  

This is a simple watercolor piece I cut up and glued to the front of a 4x6" vellum cardstock. There's a kind of a shadow on the upper left front of the card, which is a stamp image done with Pearl-Ex Interference Gold, so it doesn't show up well on a scanner.  

This is the back of the envelope which is made out of recycled, painted Tyvek paper.

Here's the front of the envelope, done in an informal Uncial hand, with Keenan written with a silver metallic marker.  There are also tiny little silver dots in between the zip code numbers.

If you like making cards and sending letters, take the time to write to someone you've been thinking about lately, and let them know they've been on your mind.  Maybe you'll be lucky enough to receive a handwritten letter in return.  And if you can't think of anyone to write to, email me and we can be pen pals! 

Here are some links to some mail art sites that you might find interesting:

Mail-Art Across the World

Post Secret

Pushing the Envelopes

EMMA 

Digital Mail Art

Mail Me Art 

Now, GO MAKE SOMETHING!!! :D

Check out these new Shakespeare Stamps!

London's graphic arts design house, hat trick design, has come up with a couple really beautiful stamp designs and the theme is Shakespeare.  I especially like the hand-lettered typography by Marion Deuchars.

I found the mention about these terrific stamps at Fast Co.'s website, which is loaded with interesting finds and articles.  In fact, Fast Company is one of the few magazines I read faithfully, cover to cover.   

 

Professional designers learn early to work within constraints: time, budget, materials, price. But the team at the London graphic arts firm hat-trick design has a special knack for a particularly daunting creative challenge: delivering big design on a tiny canvas.  I'm pretty sure they hit a home run on this one!

 

Don't you just love the color orange?!?

 I posted this earlier, in March, and just stumbled upon a terrific blog, called How About Orange?, so I had to add a link to this post... and here I thought I was one of only a few who like the color orange!  What's not to like, it's almost red, and since red is my favorite color, it's not too much of a stretch to like orange.  Be sure to check out Jessica's blog, it's loaded with cool projects, time-wasters (her words, not mine!), and overall great design!  

 

 

You've really got to check out this uber cool chick's site!!!

Howdy friends!  Many of you may already be familiar with Lisa Hoffman ... & for those of you aren't, boy, do I have a treat for you!!!  Lisa's posts regularly blow me away with information about people, books, events, current affairs, & more.  Her latest post is particularly interesting if you sew or if you just love handmade things... Lisa's previous post is about a TV show on the Sundance channel I'd never heard of, and once I started looking at the links Lisa provided, it was like I was Alice in Wonderland falling down that tunnel... an hour and a half later I had to stop and rethink what it was I was supposed to do that morning!  I had a blast and I didn't have to leave my studio or get out of my jammies!!! It's a wonderful mix of information from an incredibly cool lady, and every time I stop by, I can count on learning about something I might not have heard of otherwise.  On top of that, Lisa is an extremely friendly, welcoming host, and has become one of my favorite "virtual" internet friends. I hope you'll take a minute to visit Lisa and become a fan of her site, too!   

In other news, today is the twentieth anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall... over the next few days, in 1989, there was a celebration in the streets and people on both sides of the wall started chipping away at the wall, taking chunks of it; until at last, the freed people of Berlin, East and West, tumbled the giant divider of the people, literally and figuratively.  

From the site Berlin-life.com:

The version of the ‘Wall’ that started life in 1961, was in fact not a wall but a 96 miles barbed wire fence. However, after this incarnation proved too easy to scale, work started in 1962 on a second fence, parallel to the first but up to 100 yards further in. The area in between the two fences was demolished to create an empty space, which became widely known as "death strip" as it was here that many would-be escapers met their doom. The strip was covered with raked gravel, making it easy to spot footprints, it offered no cover, was mined and booby-trapped with tripwires and, most importantly, it offered a clear field of fire to the armed guards – who were instructed to shoot on sight.

In 1975 I was lucky enough to visit Berlin and gained access into East Berlin through the famed Checkpoint Charlie.  I was a very young teenager and it was a terrifying experience, (there were armed guards watching our every move) and one I've never forgotten.  But the city of Berlin was one of the most beautiful European cities I saw on that trip, very cosmopolitan, clean, and loaded with the obvious history. No one ever imagined the wall would be torn down and the city and country united.  Perhaps there is room then, for hope for the world today, that we might be able to find a way towards peace, too. 

I'm going to be very busy for the next week, studying for ACLS, which stands for Advanced Cardiac Life Support.  It is a provider course for health care professionals... I stupidly let my certification expire years ago.  In an effort to improve my job chances and make myself more marketable, I'm taking the class again next Saturday.  I've got a LOT of catching up to do!  So, I will not be doing much in my studio this week, but please be sure to check back!  

Now, GO MAKE SOMETHING!!!

And the award goes to...

I need to pass along the baton, passed to me by Seth at The Altered Page, and award the Excellent Blog Award to ten other artists I believe to be Excellent Award worthy. Personally, I have a hard time accepting compliments, (and I'm not fishing for more)... I'm just saying it's really tempting for me to minimize the good, and focus instead on the negatives... so in this context, this is an award given to me by my peer, as recognition of my artwork, and it has real meaning and value to me as an artist. I take this responsibility of nominating other artists very seriously, and it's really difficult to narrow down the choices to just ten! (This sure is taking on a weighty tone, isn't it?)

Art is so personal and it takes courage to put ourselves, as seen in our very personal creations, "out there" for all the world to see. So many artists fear the scrutiny of others, and are afraid of what others might think; that they end up "paralyzed" by their fear, and keep their art tucked safely away at home. I applaud every artist who is willing to risk rejection and put their artwork on the internet for the entire world to see!

So, here are my picks as honorees for the Excellence in Blogging Award:

1. It's because of the encouragement from this artist, that I've even kept with blogging, and she's the source of inspiration for countless mixed media artists... one of the most generous artist's I've "met": Michelle Ward
2. Another wonderful & inspirational artist who has introduced me to some of the coolest stuff: Lisa Hoffman
3. Gwen is a Canadian artist with incredible skills in many different media: Desideratum
4. Another extremely creative and generous artist I've gotten to know via our blogs: Follow Your Bliss
5. One of the most colorful and prolific bloggers I've met, and a woman who has been very supportive: Rodrigvitzstyle
6. This young lady is SO talented and so kind, and her site is just so darn pretty: ihanna
7. I love the work Audrey does, and I am always inspired by her art: Small Creations
8. Another calligrapher who is kind, talented, inspiring and supportive, and takes awesome photos: A Spattering
9. This artist takes beautiful photographs... it's a treat to visit her site: Swamp Angel
10. If you haven't heard of Lisa Englebrecht, or seen her work, then you're in for a really big treat: Lisa E's Letters, Fiber Art & More

And here's a little love to say thank you!

xoxo, K.

Unbelievable, but true!

I need to send a huge thank you to Seth at The Altered Page!

Seth has graciously honored me by awarding me the Excellent Blog Award! I'm totally blown away by this recognition, and I don't think I've stopped grinning since spying this award mention this morning at about 5:00am! I mean, who'd have thunk it! Seriously, I am really, really delighted to even have people visit at my site, let alone give it this sort of recognition... so thank you from the bottom of my heart, Seth! (And if you haven't stopped by Seth's site, click on the link above... this man is talented, innovative, and generous... make his site a daily stop, trust me on this one).

(I guess the expectation is that now I get to award this to 10 other blog sites I feel are outstanding and worthy... how on earth to narrow it down to 10? I'll be back with that list shortly...)

In the meantime...

I receive a newsletter titled Very Short List... described as a "Very Short email with discoveries about high & low culture" ... today's email contains an introduction to graphic artist Stefan G. Bucher. I was prepared to think it was going to be goofy or yucky (I mean, who wants to see someone draw monsters, right?!?)... but I was pleasantly surprised... there's a video which shows, in sped-up time, Stefan drawing his charming little monster... it's amazingly fun to see someone whip out a detailed drawing from an ink blot... check it out... seriously, how often do you get to see this sort of thing? I think you'll smile at what you see!

The Daily Monster

I mean, this is so cool, it even received press in Wired magazine... I'm going to have to go get this issue!

All over the map!

(list updated 1 Feb 08... thanks so much for visiting!)

This is a list of all the places recent visitors to my blog are from... I'm just amazed and delighted and certainly humbled! Places like Moscow, Mexico, Trinidad, France, Bangkok, and Dublin, to name just a few! And Montreal and Los Angeles, and Kansas City and Piscataway, New Jersey!!! I can't tell you how much fun it is for me to see where all my visitors are from, and I'm so thrilled to look at the world map and see people have actually been to see my blog!!! I'm like a little kid over this, so thank you from the bottom of my heart... it really brings a smile to my face and I appreciate it SO much!

BTW, the background for this post and the past two posts, have been from a recent Rolling Stone magazine issue... pretty cool, huh? I wish I could say I painted it, but I did not... but one of these days I'm going to do something a lot like it! You know... when I get around to it... (just don't hold your breath)!

I'm happy to report that I am participating on a project Seth at The Altered Page has put together... talk about cool and thought provoking! Seth has put together some amazingly cools posts and his artwork is to die for, so be sure to check him out!

This is Seth's Roll Call image... very, very cool, Seth! I have to go now and try to figure out how he made this...