Manuscripts and Churches

As a calligrapher I have always been enthralled by handwritten and illuminated books. When in Europe, I seek out the traditional tomes in the usual places of church, museum and gallery. When we visited Ethiopia, I was thrilled to view ancient books in churches, open for all to see and still in daily use. We might think these books should be protected, they are in use and seen by the priests and congregation as part of their daily worship.

As a woman and layperson, I was not able to handle the manuscripts, I was given permission to photograph many and able to view the fine calligraphy written using a reed pen. The pages are made from goat skin and have been cured in the same age-old way. The remarkable thing to note is that although the books are centuries old, they are still used for teaching and reading in church on almost a daily basis. With wide margins and exquisite hand drawn borders, the colours still glow on the pages.

Borders are interwoven and simply coloured in blacks and red with occasional blue or green filling. The illustrations are 'Orthodox' in style with traditional colours used for the people depicted. Blue for the Virgin Mary, red and blue for Jesus, ochres and red for angels.

At no time could I see lines for writing, either drawn or scored. But the pages are soft and worn with centuries of handling. Rather like a beautiful pair of favourite leather gloves. Cherished and enjoyed.



A holy book in a cave church in Lalibela


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Location:Johannesburg

Penfriends Patter Project for September

I always like to prepare projects for when I am away. It keeps everyone focussed on 'something to do' during the times we normally have classes.

The next project will be A3 size. Watercolour paper. Subject: A Map or Plan of a place familiar to you or even a fantasy area.

Preparation: Choose a theme. Research colour, design and lettering.
Explore colour on a similar sheet of paper to the one you will use for the good piece.
Prepare a 'good' rough on a sheet of A3 layout paper.

Next lesson: Bring finished rough. Colour test sheet. Gouache, paint brushes. Pencil crayons. Nibs.

Board larger than the A3 paper for stretching paper. Looking forward to seeing some great ideas.

 Spring Day - Cake, flowers & friends

Doors open, in the Garden - A show of Spring!

Workshops

Have returned from Cape Town where I attended workshops with calligrapher Yves Laterme from Bruges.

Yves, a past student of Brody Neuenschwander and great admirer of his work is now a teacher a great calligrapher in his own right. His flair for creative gestural letter forms is something to aim for and yet, with him as a teacher we hardly all want to be a pale copy of his work.

We worked on creative layouts using gesso, paint and ink. We created beautiful built up capital letterform and tried to make beautiful marks on the paper.

The Cape Town group was willing and did their utmost to create exciting pieces. We all had fun and will continue to use some of the techniques he shared with us.

 Yves's finishing touches

 A-MM - Circles of my Mind

 A-MM - Wonderment

Studio Notes

Homework is set to enhance the student's creativity or is it simply that the teacher sets homework in the hope that something will ultimately get finished?

The small books that we have been doing are limping along. Mine is complete, most others are not. It seems that if you are working with an end goal in sight - grandchildren's use for example, one has a tendency to finish. I also find that deadlines are good as well as holidays - I mean who wants to return to several unfinished projects?

We have moved on - with half completed books as a challenge. Now we are working with double pencils - two HB pencils taped together - creating beautiful Roman caps which will be coloured, decorated and used as first letters for a Foundational piece of text. We write on washed backgrounds [gouache lightly painted onto water colour paper] with gouache in toning [analogous] colours.

Should be exciting.......until we return to the books which lie limply on the desks waiting to be completed!

African Alphabets

I often wonder what the students do while I am away. I like to set a project and see the results. We have been exploring letter form with an African theme. One of the tales from Rudyard Kipling's Just So stories was the inspiration: How the Alphabet was Made. Reading the story was great fun as was creating the letters.

 Ghita's A

 Jeannette's Cheetah

 Lyn's Taxi

Jill's Albatross

We have been working on an African Alphabet and making concertina books.Mostly geared for children the images and themes are African.

 Lyn, Ghita, Jill and Jeannette

Versal Workshop - Pretoria

It is always a privilege to be invited to present a workshop. I was invited to Margo's guild in Pretoria where we 'initiated' her delightful new studio. With lots of light and space, we all fitted in and enjoyed the wonderful facilities. We talked about Roman Skeleton Letters and how important they are as a basis for creating beautiful letters.

 A-M demonstrating a Versal Letter.

 Some of the work created by students

And then you have to stretch!

Another piece

Colour work

And then we have the pencil!

Thank you Margo and ladies for a wonderful afternoon.

Africa - Letters & Words

The Penfriends Envelopes have left South Africa and are on their way to France, Begium and other parts of the world. Here are the 'girls' proudly holding up one of their creations.

Our new project is far more intense and involved. 

Have you ever wondered how the alphabet developed? Well think no further [for fun and literature] than Rudyard Kipling. He wrote a delightful tale 'How the Alphabet was Made' from Just So Stories written in 1902.  About a little girl and her dad, this story takes us from A-Z in descriptive and intriguing 'old fashioned' terms.

We have been working on Letter Shape and Form using the skeleton Roman hand, moving into Foundational, as we develop an 'African Alphabet' from which to choose letters and then to create a book.

Project details: 

Paper: Use 'toothed' Water Colour paper at least 250gsm.

Tear: 28 sheets of paper 12x12 cms in size.

Research: the meaning of letters

Research: Quirky Questions

Prepare the paper leaving a small pencil hand drawn border around the page.

Watch this space for details and illustrations through the next few weeks.

Lin Kerr Workshops

We have just completed 10 days of fantastic, creative calligraphy workshops with Lin Kerr from England. Lin is an 'old' South African and returned to delight us with inspiring workshops.

From colour to design, black and white with Ben Shahn and Herman Kilian as inspiration.

The Cape gave us perfect weather and in many instances we melted as we wrote. We all inspired each other as we painted, swirled and cut.

Here are a few images to tantalise and inspire.

Post cards from the Edge

One of my favourite Ballads by Leonard Cohen: Ben Shahn style

An 'E' in the style of Adolf Bernd

Three 'old hands': Heleen, A-M and Lin

It is always an insporation to have an 'outside' calligrapher visit us. Thank you Lin

Start of the Envelope Project

We all enjoy projects [well most of us anyway] and the Mail Art across the World theme is a great opportunity to participate in a world wide group project.

 Swirled background

 Backgrounds using water colour & cling wrap

Some of the creators!

Using water colour paper, paint and salt and plastic wrap the 'students' created great backgrounds for envelopes.

Now we wait for the lettering on the envelopes to see what creative ideas are used. Any ideas? What about Versals, Skelton Romans or extended letters? The choice is endless. 

Calligraphic Inspiration

It is remarkable how often I am reminded of calligraphic line when I am 'out and about'. If you look at the image of the desert, the curving lines and soft shapes are reminders of exquisite lines of Italic and even Foundational.

The shapes make me want to grab a pen and some watercolour paper to curl, swash and sway letters across the page.

At the moment we are looking at creating envelopes for the Art Across the World project which closes in April. The class is working hard and I will be posting the creative envelopes in the next few weeks.

In the mean time here are a few 'natural images' to inspire you.

 Perhaps use: A fine pen, muted colours and a touch of water colour

 Perhaps use: A large brush, earthy water colours and Roman Capitals

Perhaps use: Muted greys and creams in water colour and letters using a square brush

Envelopes, Creativity & New Blogs

I've just discovered 2 new blogspots which are creative and fun for calligraphers!

One is a Place to Flourish, the other 'A Letter a Week'. So very stimulating and exciting.

Another project I will challenge my students to participate in is the Mail Art Across the World. Create a beautiful envelope using colour and calligraphy and send it to one of the addresses given before the 1 April.

More visuals in a few weeks time when we have completed some creative envelopes.

Thursday Mornings

The group is back and ready to go!

This year we will study the origins and structure of the Alphabet with focus on the skeletal forms which are, after all the basis for letters.

Starting with Rudyard Kipling's tale of How the Alphabet was Made we will progress through the story to ponder on the creation of the alphabet as we know it and perhaps move onto creating our own 'African' based letter collection.

At the end of the year, the garden will be adorned with creative 'installations' using letter forms, paper, sticks and wood, which will form part of an open day exhibition.

New Calligraphy Courses

I so enjoy the first few weeks of a new year. It often rains in Johannesburg with spectacular lightening skies and rain storms which seem to clear the air and certainly clear the mind!

This is when I start re-planning notes, writing new courses and continue to work on my creative pieces.

New classes begin at the end of January 2011. If you are interested please contact Anne-Marie at dmoore@iafrica.com. Booking is essential as classes fill up quickly and there is limited studio space.

Monday afternoon: 16h00 - 18h00
Begins 24 January 2011
Beginners: Explore the History of Letterform from Hieroglyphics to Foundational
Create several finished pieces including cards and concertina books
Course: 4 Months, cost R500 for 4 lessons. Notes and equipment extra
Minimum of 4 students

Thursday morning: 09h30 - 12h00
Begins 20 January 2011
Ongoing Group: Thursday morning classes will focus on environmental calligraphy, creativity and projects.
With Foundational as the working hand, students will hone their knowledge of this, the most inspirational hand, using it as the basis for further study and development.
In a year long programme, students will explore the history of Foundational and its development. Calligraphers continue with creative letter form using photographic images, audiovisual presentations and poetry as reference. With nature as inspiration students will complete several books, wall hangings and paper banners.
The year's work will culminate in an exhibition in November 2011.
Cost of class: R500 for four weeks.

Saturday classes for a minimum of four people by arrangement only. 

A reminder that booking is essential.  Contact: Anne-Marie dmoore@iafrica.com