Saturday, December 31, 2016

January 2017

 

January Scribnote

COMMENTS FROM OUR CHAIRPERSON 
October arrived and with it the fall colors that we so love to see, but we also saw some snow and some look forward to seeing the roads and ground covered….but not me! 
For our October meeting, Marty Mitchell gave a wonderful demonstration on Tunnel Books.  We each had a card to make either a Downton Abbey or Forest design.  Marty took care of all the cutting so we had the easy part of just putting it together, but seeing how the design takes shape as we fold and tape.  Thanks Marty, we appreciate your time in putting this together. 

Pat West, Rose Kopec, Renee Tuveson, Anna Schlemma and myself headed north on Sunday, October 23, 2016, to Boyne Falls, Michigan and the Lake Louise Art Retreat for 5 days of instruction with Jacqueline Sullivan along with some members of the Kalamazoo Pendragons and a few others from various areas.  Day one starts off with an almost 5 hour ride to Thumb Lake. We worked with Absorbent Ground, acrylics, High Flo acrylics, eco printing, Gel Press and nature printing.  We had such a wonderful week not only enjoying the company of other artists, but being able to walk around the lake and woods to see nature in all its glory.  It was just past peak season, but there was still plenty of color in the woods.  We had a hard frost one morning and the next morning we had snow on the ground.  Luckily it melted away by late morning, although I heard from the cooks’ that they had 4 inches of snow a bit south of us.  Our week goes by very quickly but a lot of art work and many memories were made in that week. 


November 5 was our guild meeting and deadline to have our calendar project ready to give to Lauren Matacio to have printed before the December meeting.  The artwork is wonderful and we look forward to seeing the entire calendar put together and hanging on our wall, or fridge or closet.  Lots of time was put into these pages and hope everyone appreciates our collective effort as a whole group on this project.  Our one day workshop with Lisa LaBlanc had to be changed due to a family emergency with the instructor.  Lisa was stoked to do this workshop with us and we came up with the new date of November 12 at Christ the King Church.  Lisa gave us a very good start on working on the uncial hand and how to make sure there was a “lemon” in our o’s.  Toward the end of the class she demonstrated some of her miracle wedge brush flowers she learned to do at the Pat Blair class several years ago.  Thanks Lisa for a great day of lettering and learning. 



We always enjoy our December meeting because we get to have a great pot luck luncheon after our meeting.  Maureen brings her wonderful roasted pork loin and the rest of us add salad, fruit, veggies and of course, dessert to complement the main course.  Lauren brought the calendars we created and we got to see 18 months of art on each page.  Thanks Lauren for taking charge of this project.  Lauren ordered 100 calendars, cases and clear bags to put them in and all were spoken for, so if you didn’t order one, there are no more to spare. 



Our donations this year included Christ the King Church and the Northern Indiana Food Bank.  Thanks to Sharon for setting up our meetings and to Christ the King for allowing us to have our monthly meetings all year. 
As many of you know, Anne Binder’s son Russell, US Army, was deployed to Iraq in early September.  At our September meeting, we discussed sending some much needed supplies to support our troops.  At our October meeting, many donations were brought in and Pat West took charge of packing and mailing 6 boxes of goodies to Russ and his company.  We want to thank them for their service to our country even though they are on foreign soil, and hope they enjoy the items we sent and may they return safe and sound soon. 
Thank you note from Russ and his troop

At our last two meetings, we have put together a year full of meetings and demonstrations for all to enjoy and included in those are two wonderful workshops with Eliza Schulte Holliday on March 3 and 4 and Jacqueline Sullivan on September 29 and 30, 2017.  Hope everyone can join us for all the things we have planned for the year. 
As always, many thanks to the MCG Board for handling many of the behind the scene dealings with workshops, meetings, etc. Thanks to Sharon Esmont for being the second in command, Jo McPherson for sending out all those emails to everyone, Pat West for taking notes at all the meetings, typing them up and sending them to Jo for distribution, Renee Tuveson who puts the newsletter online every quarter and lastly to our newest member of the board, Laurie Heyden, who has taken over the treasurer position and has had lots of checks to write this November and December!  Thanks to all of you who make our organization run as smoothly as possible.
Hope everyone had happy and healthy holidays.  I look forward to working with all of you in February, 2017. 
Ginny VanderHey
 BAC - Michiana Calligraphy Guild Member Show: Calligraphy in Many Mediums
Barbara Walsh:
This fall the Michiana Calligraphy Guild had a wonderful, inspiring all-member exhibit at the Buchanan Art Center. It was a great way to welcome in the fall season. Organized by Anne Binder, the exhibit ran from Aug. 31st through Oct. 15th. It gave the Guild a great opportunity to show visitors to the Buchanan Art Center that calligraphy is "more than just pretty writing".
Books and calligraphy-inspired art were nicely displayed throughout the Hess library and Gallery glass showcases.
A combined reception on Sept.11th took place on a beautiful fall Sunday afternoon, and was well attended. Angie West and Lauren Matacio demonstrated various book folding techniques and Ginny Vander Hey and Pat West demonstrated different hands, lettering on colorful bookmarks. It's always fun to see the look of WOW on people's faces when they see the kind of things the Guild can do.
It made for a varied atmosphere of talents combining the show with 3 other artists: Watercolorist, Gail Vogel, Fiber artist, Gwen Jones and book sculpting artist, Monica Makielski.  Monica had several pieces of her Readable-art Interspersed throughout the MCG exhibit. She has since joined the Guild, as her creative process with books fits in so nicely with the guild. She will be a wonderful addition to our group!
Thanks go out to the many people that contributed to the event bringing in baked goods and other tasty items to enjoy at the reception. Special thanks go to everyone that helped in setting up the show and taking it down, including Anne Binder's son, Matthew.




Lisa LaBlanc Workshop
Linda Bigger:
I had a very enjoyable and satisfying day on Saturday as I attended my first MCG workshop, filling many practice pages as Lisa LaBlanc taught us uncial lettering. We learned many tips and tricks, including an easy way to mark out a pen-angle guide, and nifty ways to use tracing paper to gauge the correctness of our letter shapes. Lisa gave individual attention to each student as we worked.  The day was relaxed but focused, leaving me with a sense of accomplishment and the inspiration to keep practicing every day since then.  We had the added benefit of a table filled with yummy snacks to keep up our strength, and a lunch break that gave us all a chance to chat.
I’m new to the guild and new to any organized practice of calligraphy, although I have been a dabbler over the years. Back in high school uncial was the first hand that I attempted, so I was delighted to have the opportunity to learn it properly. Lisa is a most kind and gracious teacher, and I’m eager to attend another of her classes.
We concluded the day with a chance to play with the Miracle Wedge brush and explore and practice some of the techniques Lisa uses in her art. Altogether, it was an inspiring day and simply a lot of fun.​

From Laurie Heyden:
Lisa LeBlanc Workshop
November 12, 2016
Fifteen members spent the day together learning the Uncial hand, taught by fellow calligrapher, Lisa LeBlanc, of the Kalamazoo Pen Dragons Calligraphy Guild. We spent about 3/4 of the day learning this beautiful hand. It’s a bit quicker to learn than other hands due to the fact that it only has capital letters. The rest of the day Lisa showed us how she did her one-stroke flowers using the Miracle Wedge brush, which is sadly no longer being made. She brought many of her finished works and practice sheets. Her work is beyond beautiful and so inspirational!
After she demonstrated using the brush, we all went off to make our own — well, I tried, some have natural talents and made some gorgeous flowers, and others obviously weren’t new to this.
I went to this workshop for the flowers, not the letters. I walked away happy for this introduction to the Uncial hand and that the flower part does not come easy for me. I especially enjoyed this opportunity to learn from someone with such skill and talent. Thank you, Lisa…

Donald Jackson at Notre Dame
Laura Fuderer
“Ancient Techniques in a Modern World”
            On the evening of October 26th a few Guild members attended a program at Notre Dame that was presented by noted English artist Donald Jackson, described as “the calligrapher who dared to create a fully illuminated Bible for the modern age.” The work is known as the St. John’s Bible after the university that commissioned the project. Jackson showed slides of the seven calligraphers, examples of their writing, and some of the 160 illustrations that went into a project that took fifteen years of dedication to achieve.  According to Wikipedia it is “the first completely handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned by a Benedictine Abbey since the invention of the printing press… [It] is divided into seven volumes and is two feet tall by three feet wide when open. The Bible is made of vellum with 160 illuminations…”
Jackson’s talk was rather rambling, which put some people off but I found interesting for the bits of wisdom that he shared. For example, he spoke of the difficulty of capturing “the real truth” of the Past, which I think any historian would agree with; and observed that we learn from both the Past and the Present. I also liked some of his comments, such as “letters like to hold hands”, which I think means they look better connected somehow.
 Born in 1938, he recalled his early years spent in an industrial city and how he came to devote himself to the art of calligraphy. He said you’re basically copying things, but it must be fun for the artist in order to do it well.  Jackson described some of the details of the process of producing a monumental work like this Bible. He noted that they didn’t have a tool so basic and useful as the pencil in the Middle Ages, although they were able to use lead, and of course nibs were made from feathers. In creating an illumination the artist works from the background forward in stages, with white lines applied last. Mistakes are inevitable, but can either be scraped off of material as durable as vellum or possibly incorporated somehow into the ultimate design.
     What impressed me was the sense of the deep feeling that Jackson puts into his art with each letter and every stroke of pen or brush. Angie called it the humanity that is expressed through writing. Personally, I much enjoyed the talk.
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"In the strictest definition of illuminated manuscript, only manuscripts with gold or silver, like this miniature of Christ in Majesty from the Aberdeen Bestiary (folio 4v), would be considered illuminated." Wikipedia.
Upcoming workshops:
We have been diligently finding instructors for workshops and, at this time, we are happy to announce that Eliza Schulte Holliday will be presenting Duet (flat and pointed brush lettering) as our spring workshop, March 3 and 4, 2017. This is the first time an instructor has ever contacted me to see if she could do a workshop for us in the spring.  The quote, “good things come to those who wait” seems appropriate here.  We didn’t have a workshop set up for the spring and now Eliza has filled that spot for us. Go to her website and check out the workshop that the MCG board has selected for all of us.  http://www.letterist.com/WorkshopPDFs/Calligraphy-PDFs/Duet.pdf. The cost of the workshop will be $90. for members and $105. for non-members.  Keep in mind that there will only be 15 participants, so if you are interested in taking this workshop, don’t delay in registering.  Supply list will be forthcoming after the first of the year. 

Jacqueline Sullivan: We are in the process of setting a date for the fall of 2017 with Jacqueline Sullivan.  Many of you have seen the work we did at Lake Louise this past October and Jacqueline will be guiding us through some of those art techniques and processes.  More information will be forthcoming after the Eliza Schulte Holliday workshop.
It seems that instructors are booking their workshops way, way out in the future and we have secured two really good calligraphers for our future workshops.  Please mark your calendars for May 2018 (I don’t have an exact date as of yet) when Yukimi Annand will be in South Bend for a workshop for the MCG and also Heather Victoria Held for the weekend of April 6, 2019.  Both of these ladies are booked solid and these were their first available dates.  Save the dates and save your pennies because these workshops will cost a bit more since we have to fly them here from Canada and California.  Luckily for us, we will piggy back onto the Chicago Guild’s dates for Yukimi Annand so we won’t have to pay the whole airline fee.  Another guild will be looking at Heather Held’s dates to see if they can piggy back onto ours and we can again share that cost.  I have said many times that we try to keep our fees as low as possible, but when an instructor comes from a distance away, they charge us more for travel and baggage and we pass that on to you.  You won’t want to miss either of these workshops!
http://www.letterist.com/WorkshopPDFs/Calligraphy-PDFs/Duet.pdf
Policy for MCG
Our workshops seem to have people sign up and then decide not to attend. We have been very generous in returning monies paid for the workshop if someone decides not to attend at the last minute, but we are going to have a change in this policy.  There will be a nominal fee if you drop out of the workshop.  If there would be an emergency, for instance, a birth of a child or grandchild, illness, etc., then the board will take this under advisement to decide on a course of action regarding a refund.  Also, if the workshop is filled and there is someone to take your place, that would also quality for a refund. So please, if you want to sign up for the workshop, make sure that you put that date on your calendar as a commitment.  We have a small calligraphy group and we struggle to fill workshops at times.  We need all of you to attend as many as possible so that we can continue to have quality instructors. 
Are you on Facebook? If so, look up your favorite calligraphers because they are on Facebook also.  I like to look at Barbara Close, Reggie Ezell, Julian Waters, John Stevens, Rachel Yallop, Pendragons, Capital City Scribes, Yukimi Annand, etc.  There is a lot of beautiful calligraphy on these pages that will get your inspired.  Also look at Joanne Fink and Barbara Lever’s Facebook Page.  And then, there is always Pinterest.  Oh my, so many places to be inspired!

PO Box in South Bend – Due to a lack of much mail at our Post Office box in South Bend, we have suspended any mail sent to that address.  If you have anything to send to the MCG, please send to Laurie Heyden, 18292 Courtland Drive, South Bend, IN 46637 or Ginny VanderHey, 51854 Stoney Creek Drive, Elkhart, IN 46514. When monies are due for a workshop or dues, they will now go to one of these addresses. 
American Frame – Just a reminder that if you order from American Frame, please mention MCG, and they will give us a small stipend.

MCG Meetings for 2017

January  – No meeting
February – Angie West – Versals
March 3 and 4 – Eliza Schulte Holliday workshop
April –
May –
June –
July –
August – Annual Picnic at Ginny VanderHey’s  house.  Our exchange will be a handmade book of your choosing
September –
October –
November – Sharon Esmont – Celtic Knots
December – Annual Christmas party at Christ the King Church

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP
Annual dues of $15 are due at the July meeting. Our annual dues have not changed in many years and are put to good use for supplies for our make it/take it meetings, annual raffle in August, and, at the end of the year, we give to local charities. Please remember to bring your dues to the July meeting or send it to Maureen Trubac, our treasurer.
OFFICERS
Ginny VanderHey, President 574/262-1345 gvanderhey@hotmail.com
Sharon Esmont, Vice President 574/272-5481 Sesmont@aol.com
Laurie Heyden, Treasurer, silverbird323@yahoo.com  
Pat West, Secretary 574-612-9328 pwpatwest@gmail.com
Jo McPherson, Study Group Chairperson, jobakestwo@centurylink.net
Renee Tuveson – Blog Coordinator




If ever you would like to add to the newsletter/blog, please contact one of the officers, and we will get that information to Renee Tuveson. Something you have done or have seen would be welcomed into our information.