Fall-ing behind.

Dear Friends:

It's been so long since my last post. This summer was simultaneously altogether too short and the longest I've known. My family and I went home to Maine this June. It had been three years since we had been able to visit. We spent three glorious weeks with our family, creating memories that will last a lifetime. We roasted marshmallows indoors at the fireplace. We picked blueberries and made pancakes. We visited the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and enjoyed the splendor of stepping inside some of our favorite story books like Blueberries for Sal, Fairy Houses, and Miss Rumphius.

This would have been the most glorious summer I've ever experienced spending time with my children, my husband's family, and my extended family except for one thing. My mother-in-law, Val, passed away shortly after we returned home. She was only 63. To have had that time with her is priceless. But I never expected the magnitude of the grief and how it hits you when you least expect it. Almost two months out,  I thought I would be over the sobbing part. But no. It still manages to catch in my throat and well up in my eyes even right now as I sit here typing.

The week before she died, my husband flew back home to be with her and I was suddenly presented with a few mother's day greeting cards to design. To sit and create a mother's day card while your mother-in-law is dying is either the cruelest irony or the most cathartic gift - I haven't quite decided which yet. But in any event, I was struck by one of the assignments as it reminded me so much of Val.

I had taken a photograph of the daisies in one of her gardens. Her mother (who has also passed away) had planted them. I used this to draw 5 daisies for the card - one for each of her children. My husband was able to show her a copy before she passed on. It was a gift, I've decided.

Val was an extraordinary woman. She welcomed me into the family and treated me like her own. At her funeral, I shared some memories of her and I'll leave you with my final sentiment: Thank you Val, for raising the best man I know, for unreservedly sharing him with me, and for loving me like your own.

Valentines ... again!

Where oh where have I been?! Well, I bet you all had thought I fell off the planet. One of the great benefits of working from home is that when something comes up ... sick kids, traveling husband, blah, blah, blah ... you can be flexible and tend to it. However, one of the greatest drawbacks of working from home is that when something *does* come up ... your schedule is the first one to go right out the window! Which can be extremely frustrating - especially when deadlines are involved. :-)

Anyway, you get the drift. I am happy I have had a few more assignments. Some I can't post but I love to share when I can. Below are two new Valentine's cards for Sunrise Greetings. They'll be printed with the white in glitter. I heart glitter! It's so sparkly and good.

Summer has officially hit southern Florida ... 95 degree days are here to stay. We went right from 75 to 95 and missed out completely on our usually BeAuTiFuL spring weather. Blech! I hate the heat and one of the charms of living here are the perfect paradise days in January through April. Not this year! I loved the unusually cold days because they felt like home but we went right from that to stifle.

Kids get out of school in the next couple weeks ... SUMMER! Ready or not ... here we come! :-)

Funky Alphabet Fun - creating a fun calligraphy style

I've been slacking on the posts. Well, I guess I've been generally slacking at life! So, so busy. The kids were on spring break last week and I had to update the school site which took me WAYYY longer than I anticipated. Then I had to do my taxes which actually took me way less time than I thought!

Anyhow, I have become keenly aware my children are growing faster than you can say, "blink." My son in particular is pulling my heart strings lately as he is turning that corner where 8 melds to 9 and you can see the beginnings of a man in his lengthening neck. I find myself trying hard to remember moments of him at 4 or 5. I realized this is when my third was born and the full meaning of the words "middle child" actually makes me wince a little.

At the other end, my oldest (12) is now accompanying me to my calligraphy guild meetings. And this past weekend, she participated in her first workshop with me! This brings me great delight! :-) This workshop was a lot of fun and hosted by Fred, a guild leader and very talented lettering artist and teacher. It was appropriate Delainey's first class was for "funky, fun letters."

We created our own alphabets using a foundational ... well... foundation! :-) Then we added a variation of a thin line and a swirl. I added a little squiggle and a few dots to mine (see below). Delainey did a variation with straight lines. It was really fun and we accomplished a lot in a short time. I may turn mine into a font just for fun.

On our way home from the workshop, I asked Delainey if any of her 6th grade friends were interested in calligraphy. This was the age I began my adventures into the lettering arts. She said none of her friends are really interested in art like she is. This was a revelation for me as I had never stopped to think about someone not being interested in art. For me it's like breathing or eating or sleeping ... it's just there and always has been. I have always, since I can remember, loved art whether it be doing my own or admiring another's. But until that moment, it hadn't really occured to me it wasn't innate in everyone.

I've often tried to determine what it is about lettering that I just love and I've never been able to express it adequately or eloquently enough. I suppose it's the potential for beauty in something that is ordinary. Or that meaningful words become even more so when visually expressed. Or maybe it's just the swirl, or evenness, or even reliability of the shape of a beautiful letter ... the combination of lines straight and curved, the unexpected swoosh that graces the page. Whatever it is, it is definitely "my thing."

I've encouraged my children from birth to find "their thing." I've tried to gently kindle a love of art and learning although it has been a struggle. Whatever it may be though, I encourage them to go for it. For my dad, it's sports. He just loves sports and always has. I, on the other hand, don't enjoy them much. But we share in common a love for something that just endures. I hope I can foster in my children that love for a special thing. Something they love forever and ever. Something that makes them happy. Because they are the only thing that supercedes "my thing." :-)

Truly,

Two new Christmas greeting cards

I had a lot of fun designing these cards for Sunrise Greetings (a division of Hallmark). Christmas cards are the most fun to design. The color palette was chosen for me - beautiful!

I've been doing a lot of sewing and crafts lately and not much calligraphy. I hope to get back at the lettering practice in the next week or so. I have to get back up to speed for IAMPETH! I still can't believe I am going to my first conference - hooray!

Enjoy! :-)

Zentangle - Zenspirations Silk Ornaments and Zentangle Sneakers!

Phew - it's been awhile since I've posted. I haven't had much time to do much of anything. I make 8 to 10 chauffeur trips per day - drop off first 2 kids, then come home, drop off 3rd kid, then come home, pick up 3rd kid, then come home, pick up kid, come home, pick up kid at sports, come home. It's never ending! I figured out I spend 3 hours per day in the car. But next fall all three will be in school full time and I'll have 6 whole hours per day!

I'm working on a few greeting cards for Sunrise which I will post when I'm done. But in the meantime, I thought I'd share the fun stuff I did yesterday.

My 12 year old daughter and I were working on homemade birthday gifts for her friend and I thought it was about time I combined the silk painting classes and zentangle/zenspiration classes together and make a zenspiration silk painting! I wasn't really prepared so the letters aren't all that well executed and I am out of practice on using the gutta paint tubes but I was so happy with this process! I cannot wait to make more. I know what I'll be doing for Christmas this year! And my daughter loved it so that was cool. I was bummed I only had time to make a couple. But stay tuned because I am sure I will be perfecting some letters and creating more of these.

Final zentangle ornament:

Close up:

Unfinished but ready for ribbon and beads:

The other fun thing I did this weekend was create my new zentangle sneakers! This was a trial run so I used cheap sneaks. But it was sooo fun! And I loved the results. Except I will need to get a new, brighter white paint pen. This one was old and faded. But I'll definitely be making another pair - if anything because my 12 year old wants a pair of zentangled converse!

Hope you enjoyed seeing them as much as I enjoyed making them! Until next time ....

Truly,

Erica

Painting Roman Caps on Fabric - Susan Hufton workshop

I had the best weekend! I went to a calligraphy workshop - Painted Roman Caps on Fabric. Susan Hufton, an amazing, calligrapher and lettering artist from London is a great instructor. The class began promptly at 9:00 and we learned and worked from the minute the class started until it ended each day at 5:00p. We covered an amazing amount of material and I learned *so* much.

I have very little experience with a brush, no experience painting on fabric, and no experience with Roman Caps. So this was a great way to introduce all three! I purchased Sue's book, Step by Step Calligraphy many years ago. (You can find it used on Amazon.) It features the techniques we used in class.

The class started with a brief introduction to Roman Caps and we practiced doing skeleton letters and drawing Roman Caps with pencil. We spent the afternoon getting acquainted with the brush and painting the letters onto different textures of paper. Then all day Sunday we spent playing with different paints, inks, and fabrics.

This was a great process for me because I normally work *very* fast. My pointed pen and flourishing are quick movements from the shoulder. It was refreshing to slow down and draw the letter and slowly paint it. Clearly I have a lot of work to do on the letter forms, but I really enjoyed it.

This was FW Acrylic on linen (an old tablecloth).

This is cheap watercolor paint on the same linen:

This is schmenke pan silver on dupoini silk:

This is the silver on polyster nylon. This was surprisingly easy.

And this was a little monochromatic experiment on cotton broadcloth. This was also the FW Acrylic.

If you ever have the opportunity to take a class with Sue, I highly recommend it.

There are so many applications for this. It will come in handy for gifts, I'm sure. Now I'm off to practice Roman Caps! And P.S. The "baby" is practicing for a friend. :-)

Belated Valentine's Day Zentangle

Kept wanting to post this but didn't want to interrupt the letterpress flow... I had so much fun trying to design the Valentine heart that when I was practicing with a marker, I decided to do this:

You may recognize some of the patterns from one of my favorite Zentangle artists, Sandy Bartholomew at Beez in the Belfry. A few were featured in her Tangle of the Week posts. I bought the Studios magazine which features her zentangle studio (wow!). I also purchased her AlphaTangle Book. Both are a worthy purchase for the zentangle enthusiast. WARNING: For some reason zentangles are extremely addicting! :-)
Truly,
Erica