Merry Christmas

Wishing all a Merry Christmas filled with the hope and love of Jesus Christ.

muslin test writing

Last post was my attempt at background painting on muslin. This post is some test writing on the fabric. I t is my first attempt of using a parallel pen. There was no layout; I just went for it.Sometimes this approach works for me, but . . . this time you can see Not only did I run out of the ink mid way thru but I also ran out of space. The ink at the beginning seemed to bleed but the second ink did not. I'll have to continue to test which inks work the best and bleed the least. Overall, I enjoyed writing on this surface; I like the friction of the fabric on the nib. More testing and then on to the final piece.

muslins beginnings

What a wonderful day, the sky was bright and brilliant the air cool and dry. I love fall! Plus I was able to spend the afternoon in the studio 'playing'. I have been wanting to try my hand at painting and writing on muslin. Oh my gosh it is so much fun. These two pictures are the two backgrounds that were started with watercolor and words in ziller inks. I have a quote picked out for each one. So I hope to post as they progress.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

next generation (con't)

This is the event poster mentioned in the previous post.

next generation

There is some concern about the next generation's interest in the calligraphic arts. I have a seen a small glimmer of hope in this area. At the beginning of this month there was a youth experience at out church. My daughter volunteered to create the decorations. She created the event poster, 4 banners 50ft long (see sample below), 6 panels on 4'x8' coraplast(see samples above), and 2 foam backdrop icons 7' tall. The work took her every weekend and some evenings for about 6 weeks. As for her art experience, she doodles sometimes but has not ever spent much energy with art or calligraphy, and this was, definitely, her first attempt at large scale art.

I helped, but only in gathering material, moral support, cleaning the spray gun, and that sort of thing. This was her vision and her talent. Now, I am the mother, so of course I'm proud, but her performance has caught the attention of others also.

Just wanted to share some of what the next generation is creating.

Her exposure has led her to think about art and design in a different way, and has sparked the desire to consider this as a option for her future direction. We do have calligraphic artist in the next generation, but it is up to us to help them have the confidence to try and succeed

pointed pen play

I don't usually practice flourishing for the sake of flourishing. But I came across this little tidbit in my files and thought I would share it. One quadrant was flourished, then scanned and copied and rotated in illustrator. My flourishing is not very good but I do remember having fun with this.

Journal page

I have been neglecting the blog as of late. The Ponchatoula Trade Days is coming up the first weekend in November and I will be participating in the Art Station booth with 9 other artists. So I have been furiously working on new art pieces, handmade journals, cards, etc, etc.

I did take the time to make a journal entry recently on the rhythm of things surrounding us in my very small journal. It has such nice hot-pressed watercolor paper. The markers, watercolor pencils and pentel water brush just glide over the page. Purple and orange can be such nice colors together. I'm not sure it's a masterpiece but it does make me happy.

evening sketch

This is a small journal entry created while sitting on the couch enjoying some old standards and swing music with my daughter. I thinks it's pretty cool that, at 16, she will sit and listen to some old music with me.

website

I have been struggling with building my own website. There have been several versions; there have been a couple of visions that I have not been able to make happen as of yet. But now I have something up that I think will work for me, for awhile at least. There are a couple of bugs in Internet Explorer, unfortunately, but it seems to view and work okay in Firefox and Safari.


All that said, I would appreciate any constructive criticism and/or problems you may experience. Thanks in advance for helping me out. (Just click on the heading above to visit the site.)

Daniel study

This Daniel study I am in the middle of has generated quite a bit of motivation for me in so many areas. This  is a collage made in photoshop. The text was written and scanned in, then painted backgrounds and brushes added. And as I am sure you can tell, I have been inspired by Martha at Art Du Jour.

Daniel 2

This is part of Daniel's prayer to God for revealing the dream of King Nebuchanezzar. I am in a local group participating in the Beth Moore study of Daniel. What a glorious prayer! When reading it I can just imagine the joy and worship in Daniel's voice.

I have had this layout vaguely in my mind for the last couple of weeks and was so excited to get it down on paper today while pondering the wonder and holiness of God.

not dark enough

This is a piece I have been working on the last few days. It started out to be golden-orange italic on arches 90lb, but I made a couple of errors in the text. So I thought, 'I'll just add a couple of layers of colors and text. Which turned out great but the green text was not dark enough and the layout was off a little. So more layers of wash then the final text was to be a dark purple, but alas the purple was not dark enough. It still gets lost in the background. I should have used gouache instead of watercolor. There is a section in the middle that I darken up by applying another layer of watercolor with a little tiny brush, but that will take entirely too long to fix the whole piece.

Any suggestions as to a direction I should take this piece? I still like the piece it just needs something to make it pop.

BTW, the text is Daniel 2:20-23.

Library show

I only thought to get a picture of one of the cases in the library show. This is it. I hope to get pictures of the other displays soon. this display is of some calligraphic art pieces.

Back in the studio

What a wonderful summer it has been! And what a busy month August has been. After just one class of basic html web design, I have a temporary website up on the net, www.MillerLineDesign.com. Hopefully I will have a fully functional site by the end of the year.

I also have the wonderful opportunity to have an exhibit of my work at the local library in Denham Springs for the month of September.

And now it is time to get back to the drawing board so to speak; back to creating. This photo is of a background made with Winsor Newton inks. I love them; the colors are so vibrant and lovely.

Humanity

I have been working to create a website. What a task! Seems so easy in my mind, but alas. So my studio work has been neglected, but I was able to sit down and play for a little yesterday. This thought was in Donald Miller's video "A Message to Artist". The video, by the way, is wonderful and thought provoking. Check out his website http://www.donaldmillerwords.com/. There is also a project started called The Mentoring Project. This also something worth checking into, http://www.belmontfoundation.org/.

Anyway, food for thought!

studio practice

I have been painting quite a bit lately and needed to get back to some calligraphy practice. I created these two pieces yesterday. What fun I had!

whirlwind

I have been in Tennessee for the last week. It was a wonderful time, chillaxing with the fam and taking in all the beauty. Had a run in with a baby vulture; that's another story. But today I was back in the studio trying to get into the swing of things and loosen up the old hand. So I wrote out his little ditty that pop in my head the other day.

This a page out of my practice journal. After it was finished I had to ask myself, "Why on earth did you choose the word capacity to accentuate?" Funny!

This quote by Mother Teresa was written in pencil Roman caps. I have been working with a painting of Mother Teresa and wanted to place text within the painting. This layout does not work with the painting but is pretty cool by itself.

harmony to chaos

This is a piece started today. Both elements are good but it needs more; a binding element and element to pop on the page. Not sure what I will add, but something.

The background wash is sumi ink on damp paper. The vertical textural element is pencil and the built up letters are sumi ink.

 

Pencil romans

It has been quite a long time since I have taken the time to post.

The photo is a practice piece using pencils and Peter Thornton's method of pressurized roman caps. Written today. There are many projects going on in the studio but nothing ready for exposure yet.

 

As with life, time has been flying by. The summer is almost here and I'm not sure I am ready. 

I just hope I can spend my days in the way and with the purposes God had in mind when he made me. 

Happy Easter

May you know the love and peace of Jesus Christ and the freedom that comes with forgiveness.

Custom Letterhead

This last weekend I put together a little housewarming present for our new next door neighbor. It is a custom letterhead; 10 little envelopes and 10 5x7 sheets of Arches text wove paper. The outside box is made of brown Fabriano paper and, of course, it is tied off with the lace bow. 

Peter Thornton Workshop

Peter's farewell 

My completed piece

Peter Thornton Workshop

I had the pleasure of attending the Peter Thornton pressurized roman caps and layout and design workshop hosted by New Orleans Lettering Arts Association. The workshop was filled with information. Peter is a genuinely talented calligrapher and teacher. 

Confrontation, apprehension, worry, eager, curiosity,rapport, bond. Creating lists that reflect my life is going to be a new focus of my art. Although, the piece shown is a product of the above list - waging war. 

Judy Melvin's "Art Expose"

At the suggestion of Julie, I purchased Judy Melvin's new book, Art Expose. What a wealth of information in a small book! I recommend the book to all who enjoy the creative process. These images are techniques from one of the sections. The images are cool in and of themselves but I think I will add text eventually. 

Youth Logo

This is a logo created for a local christian youth group. They want to be distinguished as the RE generation, because God has regenerated them through salvation in Jesus Christ. 

The Color Master

This time of year the color of nature stops me in my tracks. The trees leafing out with the bright greens and pinks and reds, the flowers popping out with blooms, the blue sky after a couple days of rain. God is good!!!! The ultimate artist, the color master. And all the earth cries out His name.

Adolf Bernd flavor

These enlargements are from two quotes written in the flavor of Adolf Bernd. I had the opportunity to take a class with Peter Thornton last summer at the "Letters Mingle Souls" conference. The class was a look into the work and style of Mr. Bernd. What beautiful work! If you ever have a chance to see his pieces, it is worth the time. The subtlety of color is amazing.

Abstract Painting class

This piece is the first completed painting from the abstract class i'm taking at the Art Station in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. This the third class taken there; it is such a good way to loosen up, learn new materials and processes and meet wonderful people. Kim Zabbia, owner and teacher, is a joy to work with and a very good instructor. 

A sampling of the last envelope addressing project worked on. Modified engrossers script in charcoal gray ink on William Arthur envelopes written with a Leonart EF Principality nib.

Spirit's fire

This image was written with masking fluid, the watercolor background was poured on, the masking removed, then the words colored in with colored pencil. This was the first time writing with the masking fluid. It worked out fairly well in most places, although there were a couple of spots were it was too thin and the watercolor seeped thru. These places covered well with the pencils. It was a lot of fun to work on. I really enjoy using watercolor washes on backgrounds.

New Blog Title and Image

I penned the "Sowing Seeds" title today and added a photo of the fall leaves from Tennessee. The colors are surprisingly pleasing. Color is something that I am constantly working on, and although, I have so much to learn, I have made some progress. So "YAY!!!" I have a new blog title.

Well, after a good night's sleep, it is time once again to finish up a couple of projects and ponder on why I desire to create and where my inspiration comes from. It is so hard for me to put into words that quickening in my chest and the tingle of excitement that runs up the back of my neck. Having the opportunity to focus on art is a dream from my childhood that was forgotten and now has been infused in my life. I do not deserve such lavishness, but I am continually grateful.

We as humans have an inherit need to create, adorn, decorate, design. Utilitarian objects have been painted, carved, embellished from the beginning. Walls have been painted; symbols, alphabets and languages developed to communicate. It is within our nature to pay homage to the beauty that surrounds us. We are made in the image of our Creator and therefore have the need to create. I want to give back praise and thankfulness to the One who has given us all colors, all shapes, all design, all the beauty in the world. 

This is just ramblings of one who needs to learn to voice where her art comes from. They say practice, practice, practice in all you do, if you want to improve. So here is the humble beginnings of what drives me to create art!