Final Winter Calligraphy Project

I chose Woody Guthrie's 1943 'Rulins or his New Year's Resolutions for my final calligraphy project last term with Carol DuBosch.

He wrote thirty-three in his notebook and I selected seven to highlight. I first saw them on the website- The Improvised Life.

Here are my rough drafts-

 

 Donya Burmeister  framed the artwork and I'm pleased with the results

Guatemala Trip

In March, I took a trip to Guatemala for an illuminated journal workshop with Amy Bogard. I shared the experience with a great group of women.

In January, I stitched the cover for my journal, made the title and calendar pages. It was fun to add to the calendar what we saw or did each day.

Joan Youngberg and I visited Lake Atitlán a few days before we met our group in Antigua. This has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. We stayed at La Casa del Mundo in room 12 at the top of the hill (300 steps of stairs). It was worth every step.

 We met our group in Antigua, another beautiful place surrounded by volcanoes. I love the mountains and Guatemala didn't disappoint me.

Here are some more sketches from my journal-

The courtyard at our Posada San Sabastián

The central plaza and park fountain with Clara selling her embroidered and woven fabrics-

The view from our Posada rooftop. It felt good to share this experience with others, be in the sunshine and eat delicious Guatemalan food, a week to remember.

Word for 2018

My word for 2018 is to simplify all aspects of my life. I'm starting with cleaning out my studio so I can focus on a few projects. I want my supplies close at hand, a utilitarian space. It's become a storage place which doesn't support my creativity. The whole process seems overwhelming but I work at it a little each day and am seeing progress. What I want to keep are tools, paints, inks and paper. I ordered flat files for the papers. What to do with all the books?

That leads to cleaning out bookshelves in other parts of the house. Letting go and concentrating on where my focus will be- calligraphy, painting, book binding, stitching. Hopefully, this will make room for more making and less finding.

Happy 2018- Words for Light and Life

Looking forward to the New Year with fresh eyes, a joyful spirit, a peaceful mind and a local focus on the people and things important to me here and now where I live and walk. I made this card for my final project in Carol DuBosch's calligraphy class Fall term. She challenged us to make a professionally printed piece that looks made by hand. We studied Modern Versals which is my new favorite script and the one I used to letter this card. May these words fill your life in 2018.

Winter 2017 Weather Grams

One of my favorite rituals is hanging weather grams for the new season. These celebrate the Winter Solstice- a way of bringing in the light. I love to see them all hanging on the tree and appreciate the exchange every three months. Thanks you dear friends.

 This year, my good friend, Sandy, lettered four weather grams for my tree.

 

Taos NM Travel Journal

This month, I traveled to Taos NM for a workshop on "Deepening Your Art Through Daily Practice" with Laurie Doctor. We stayed at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House for a week. What a wonderful experience combining the people, place, landscape, art, spirit, food and history. Here are pages from my travel journal.

I made a file folder journal adding Aches Text Wove paper signatures in the front and back. Before pamphlet stitching the signatures, I covered the binding end with Tyvek. I bound them together to form the book binding and covered them with a strip of fabric.

This is the first page with the left pocket and the signature.

My travel journals include a calendar-

a map-

a spread about Mabel's House-

the solarium where I stayed-

an interest where Native American Pueblo culture meets Western religion-

some of Tony Luhan's wall paintings with thanks to Amy Bogard for the ones in his room-

a spread on our workshop-

Mabel brought many artists to New Mexico including Georgia O'Keeffe-

the food-

the back cover-

Bottled Up Emotions

One day, I was reading Leslie K. Pearson's website and saw her book entitled "Bottled Up Emotions". This book resonated with me and inspired me to create my own version for my calligraphy class Spring term final project.

The back has an EKG reading-

The book contains 55 pages of negative emotions that are hard to express-

Around each word are the antonyms or positive emotions and feelings.

As someone who tends to keep her emotions bottled up, this project was very therapeutic. It's a great tool to turn a negative emotion around and feel more positive. In this crazy world, I've found it very helpful.