More Creativity

The students have been working hard on the end of year project. 

Various paints, nibs and water colour paints were used.

 

Use a larger nib and write the name of a flower. Add a drop of colour and design the page.

Draw or paint a flower and add some writing around the edge of the design.

Choose a capital letter. Draw some flowers through and around it. Write out a suitable quotation. 

Be creative and enjoy yourself.

Great ABC pop-up Book

I came across this today and thought you may be inspired!

ABC3D
www.youtube.com
http://www.abc3dbook.com/ Preorders available! ONE OF THE MOST DELIGHTFUL AND INNOVATIVE POP-UP BOOKS I HAVE EVER SEEN.—Robert Sabuda From the lenticular cover that changes with the angle of your hands, all the way to the Z, ABC3D is as much a work of art as it is a pop-up book.

November Notes

We are back in the studio in the last few weeks of creativity for 2010. Here is the set project. Perhaps you would like to try a few creative pages.

Take two sheets of paper in spring/summer colours. Canson works well.
Divide each sheet into 4.
Choose 8 quotations: summer, floral, joyful
Do thumbnail sketches and think collage, numerous nib sizes, different hands: Uncial, Foundational, Italic.

Quotations:Nothing is so beautiful as spring, Hopkins. Spring is sooner recognised by plants than by man, Chinese Proverb. A life without love is like a year without summer. Swedish Proverb

Suggestions: Write in a circle. Write in a square. Write using pale colours. Write using strong colours.Write in a design- the shape of a flower or bug.
Write the name of a flower in more than one colour more than once in different tones of the same colour.

Take a deep breath and smile!

When 8 pages are completed make into a small booklet.
Bind with ring binders or punch holes and tie with ribbon.

Back Home

After a remarkable time at the first Penfriends Calligraphy Retreat in Scarborough and presenting workshops in Knysna and Cape Town I am sitting quietly writing thank you notes and adding pictures to websites and FB.

The workshops on Colour and Creativity were full of fun in Cape Town. The group was small and enthusiastic and we covered aspects of colour wheel, colour matching as well as mxing and adding calligraphy. As you will see from the photographs we all had a good time and were extremely productive and creative.

Thank you Cape Town - see you again soon.

Penfriends' Scarborough Retreat 2010

I sit now now in Belleville [or really Eversdal] in the 'north' of Cape Town after a wonderful week at Scarborough where the first ever Penfriends Studio retreat was held.

Six students and I settled into the beautiful surroundings of our Scarborough retreat home - which is really Felicity's home - and which overlooks the ocean and beach of Scarborough - or Misty Cliffs as it is now called. Lyn and Karin had their 'home' in Muizenburg and commuted every day, Jill and Ghita shared accommodation, I had my own space.

Our daily routine was simple, up for breakfast, look for whales, breakfast, look for whales and then on with the daily programme - and look for whales.

Much laughter and enjoyment was shared. Exercises were set and completed - creative colour work, design and letterform as well as creative art on black ink with touches of colour. {I shall add the instructions on my return].

The whales eventually displayed themselves on our last day which was filled with sunlight and little wind. All of us were delighted with the sightings of these remarkable creatures.

Each of us left with six completed creative pieces and we all left planning our next retreat in the Lydenburg district in November 2011. Book your place NOW!

Time Flies - of travel, calligraphy and retreats

I cannot believe that it is August since I last posted comments. Well since then we have been to the Masai Mara, crossed the Equator, posed at the tip of Africa and traveled from Johannesburg to Kruger and back, flown to Cape Town, driven to Knysna for a class reunion [and I presented a workshop there to an enthusiastic group of calligraphers] and now David has returned home and I sit overlooking the ocean after a successful day and a half of the Penfriends first annual calligraphy retreat at Misty Cliffs - Scarborough. If you feel dizzy reading this, just imagine how great it is to spend creative quiet time in the Cape.

I thought it would be a great opportunity for some creative time when a student of mine mentioned she had a home on the rocks overlooking the ocean in Cape Town and it could happily house at least six students.

As all good ideas they are left to mull around and then suddenly we find ourselves together in the Cape and having a remarkably creative time with a beautiful view and good friends.

But before that the I presented a morning workshop to an enthusiastic group of calligraphers in Knysna. I presented a workshop: 'Take an Apple and a Pear'. Here are a few notes about it:

Take and Apple and a Pear

It is always exciting visiting calligraphers around the country and I have been privileged visit Cape Town once in February and then again in October. My husband David had a veterinary reunion in Knysna and I was fortunate to meet up with a group of calligraphers on a Friday morning to present a workshop on creativity.
The workshop incorporated watercolours, painting and very ‘loose letterform’.
I find that many ‘new’ calligraphers are anxious about trying new techniques and loosening up their work – mostly due to lack of confidence.

The ‘Knysna Group’ was enthusiastic and brave enough to try out the exercises presented to them.

First exercise was to use a fruit as the basic design for a piece of calligraphy. Using the colours of the fruit the first step is to due a few colour ‘swatches’ down the side of the page. Then over the wet patches ‘writing’ was placed over the area. The next step was to allow the paint to dry and from there a graphic image of the chosen fruit was drawn. Paint was the applied and the fruit was completed. After the final touches a specific word was written using black or a darker colour.

The finished pieces were delightful and as always we all realised that creativity is simply a line away.

Off to Kenya

We are off to Kenya in a few days. Once again the excitement of visiting old friends, making new contact and the sheer delight of travel fills the next few days,

Our calligraphy group will disband for a few weeks with much homework being set and I suppose little being completed!

Our Versal course has gone well with everyone completing a booklet filled with examples and some colour.

Looking forward to some great ideas. Meanwhile, what about creating a letterform using the image as inspiration?

Letter Collage

While teaching it is always a challenge to 'keep up' with one's own work.

I really enjoy Versals with their variations and design proportions. I also enjoy earthy colours and placing letters into a space. Here is a Letter collage I have worked on after, before and during each class.

Study in Versals

The Thursday group is in the process of studying Versals. With great exemplars from a few masters of the craft they have begun their books and have created some beautiful work.

First Homework!

Thanks to Ina [and her permission] we have the first few letter collages to look at.

The sense of line and placement on the first piece really works. What do you think? The letters lie well and are beautifully constructed. The touch of gold just adds a special focus to the piece. The connection between the open A and D is pleasing to the eye. Well done. I can't wait to see more pieces.

Saturday Workshop - Versals

It is always a challenge to find good materials and ideas for calligraphy and creative workshops.

What better way than to look at Versals. Based on Skeleton Roman capitals, they lend themselves to fine design and colour.

The Pretoria calligraphers drove through to Johannesburg and enjoyed several hours of creative calligraphy as they poured over examples from old texts and more modern interpretations of the Versal letters.

Thank you once again for bringing 'the team' over for a workshop.
Homework and preparation:
1] Complete letters for words chosen [Logic etc]
2] Start and complete Letter Collage: Use pen, pencil. Black. White. Brown. Shading. Grey. 15 cms x 15cms
Get this photocopied onto white cardstock
3] Decorate an initial with black and a colour of choice with a 'dash' of gold.
4] Place all finished pieces into a book. Bind
5] If you would like a very fine calligraphy nib, bring a mapping pen nib and holder to the next workshop.
6] Bring a quotation in preparation for Christmas/Holiday fabric banner.

I look forward to exciting creativity at the next workshop in August.

Well done all!

Exhibition - Isonke Calligraphy Plate

Exhibitions are always a challenge. When we decided to participate in the Isonke Calligraphy Plate exhibition we decided that we would all paint at least two plates which became three then four! The Penfriends Thursday morning students all painted four, much to their astonishment.

Plate designs were calligraphic in feel although some people wrote words and phrases.

After the opening half the plates were sold and by the end of the exhibition only 10 plates were left.

We are able to send a 'tidy amount' to the Isonke feeding scheme. Flour is bought and given to people to make bread for children in need.

Watch out for our Christmas outreach - we may even surprise ourselves.

Workshops

It is always exciting to view other people's works and attend workshops with visiting calligraphers.

This past week I attended a day and a half workshop with my friend and colleague Heleen de Haas from Cape Town. Not only did we have fun, but we explored letterform yet again.

We stretched letters, used various writing instruments from wooden coffee stirrers to calligraphy markers.

Fun and creative! Here are a few of my pieces.

New Creations

As a teacher I am always on the look out for new ideas and plans for creative projects for my students.

I have spent several weeks with a friend of mine who has shared her skills and expertise using multi-media. We've pasted, coloured. Used found objects, lace and papers. Canvas was the base and imagination essential.

Using various techniques there was no limit. And then there are surprises. An old photograph here, a leaf there. Don't forget the old nibs and pencils that lie about. All to enhance and add interest.

Of course that simply flows over to the calligraphy aspect which will take on a more colourful outlook.

The best thing of all, of course, is that I have a pile of new projects for my students.

Pretoria Calligraphers Explore Uncial

A rainy day and a warm and friendly afternoon.

A group of 12 calligraphers gathered in Penfriends Studio this afternoon to explore various aspects of Uncial. We started with Greek uncial and moved to a modern day font.

Try out some exercises. Find pictures of old manuscripts. Look at the lettershape. Observe letters that you are familiar with. How do they differ from the Uncial you already know?

Write a line of Greek uncial letterforms.

Write a block of letters. Use black, grey or white paper. Use different kinds of ink.

Explore, experiment and create a great monogram using your initials and the uncial letterform.

Crazy Calligraphy!

Not only have we been making Peace posters but we have been painting plates for a project which hopefully will highlight calligraphy and its versatility.

Here is one comment from Michael Warner, organiser of the Peace posters in the USA:
We arrived back this afternoon from a nice long Spring time walk with the grand daughters. Opened the mailbox and what peered out from the inside at us? My grand daughters were thrilled to no end to see something "... ALL THE WAY FROM AFRICA!" Well, to tell the truth, the 7 year old was thrilled because she can now find Africa on a world map. The 3 year old was thrilled because ... her sister was. So we cut the tube open and all sat around and looked at the beautiful banners from the other side of the world. "Grandpa ... the confetti is falling off." Hmmm, I have some regluing to do. Beautiful work. Flowing. Artistic. The works from France are dark and brooding. The Canadians are bright and flashy. The Australians have very controlled hands. What you sent us was so very smooth and soft. Almost ... delicate. By hands and by colors and layout. Really lovely work. The Guild sends its thanks and appreciation. I will send you photos when we hang - which has been pushed to early summer. Hopefully June, before we have our National Conference - Odyssey.

At the moment we have another project on the go: A few calligraphers have been doing an Uncial update with Heleen de Haas in Cape Town and feel that we don't simply want to STOP. So we each working on a final 'project' to give away to friends at the end of the year. So as I said - calligraphy is crazy here at the moment.

Cape Town Calligraphy

Have just returned from a wonderful week of teaching and sharing in Cape Town.

Classes from the Non-verbal Impact of Letterform, In the Art of seeing the Invisible and Thinking out of the Box were the challenge.

All students were encouraged to participate fully and with as much enthusiasm as possible.

Not only were we able to share teaching but had a wonderful day in the city itself. Cape Town was hot and the mountain was clear.

The evenings cooled down - although teaching in the heat - and keeping everyone awake was a challenge, we all shared and enjoyed a great time.

Saturday workshop

Presented a workshop in Pretoria on Saturday. A creative afternoon of photographs and calligraphy was enjoyed by all twenty one participants.

I chose some of David's photographs and with some discussion about layout and design, we completed beautiful images.

We used gouache, tracing paper and fine nibs.

A great way to enjoy a Saturday afternoon.

New Classes 2010

Thursday is the start of the Penfriends Studio Classes 2010.

Tables turned, seats moved, equipment polished - all ready for the new year. Oh and I forgot - new notes and music too!

Creativity is very much part of 2010. Colour. Calligraphy. Creativity. The three C's of the classes.

Apart from the 3 C's, we have a great friendship as a group. So here we go to a great new year.

Back Home and Writing

What a place Argentina is! Exciting and fun. Beautiful and surprising. Antarctica is of course another tale altogether. Remarkable is all I can say at the moment.

I have updated my notes for 2010 and hope that we will have a creative and colourful year. The studio has been cleaned and re-set out and I hope the change will make everyone aware that change is good!

I will be attending workshops in Cape Town and Johannesburg and will also be presenting a workshop in Pretoria in February. I find all this very stimulating as presenting new ideas and expanding creative thought is always a challenge.

Look here for new creative ideas. I'll be adding them from time to time - perhaps even monthly.