Going to Cheerio

I have been quite distracted from the blogging world the last few weeks. It all started with hurricane Isaac. He was the slowest moving storm I have ever experienced. I didn't think he would ever get here, much less leave! But 15" of rain and 2 days without electricity later, we were cleaning up and moving on, trying to get caught up from the 'hurricane days'. . . . .Some people have 'snow days', we have 'hurricane days':)

This house is not suppose to be in the water!

I was able to complete a beautiful wedding envelope project in Dr. Martin's Spetralite Gold. Even though there is so much stirring involved, I enjoy writing with this ink.

Oh the bling of gold!

And now, I am getting ready for John Stevens' class and a week at Cheerio! YAY!!!!

I have order supplies and have been working on the practice work that Mr. Stevens has sent out. Prepping and priming for brush Roman Caps. How intimidating is that?!? I hardly ever work with a brush so I need lots of practice. I am so excited.

     

Practice, Practice, Practice!

I will be away for a couple of weeks, but will have a special post when I return. Something along the lines of a blogging milestone and a new address.

Rooted

This piece was created for the 

Louisiana Board of Adoption Services 

silent auction held last spring.

It was created on Arches cold press watercolor paper

 with acrylics, inks and pointed nib.

Calligraphy Triptych

These little gems were created using watercolor and Dr. Martin's bleedproof white ink

on Arches cold press watercolor paper.

The painted square is 3"x3" on 5"x8" paper size.  

The words are from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and are definitely words to live by.

Italic practice

Practice from the Denis Brown dvd instructional course.

If you have not heard about this awesome opportunity to study with 

one of the most popular and well-known calligraphers of the day, please check out 

the study curriculum Denis offers in his dvd collection at http://calligraphy.tv/

I still have a long way to go, but this was a lot of fun to work on.

Digital Color Study

color samples

This is a piece that was created some time ago. The colors are quite beautiful. It was created without any plan while waiting for other things to dry, so I did not pay much attention to the process and cannot remember what I used to create the color combinations. 

I imported a picture of the piece into photoshop and color pick throughout. What a good way to come up with combinations for your digital work.

Originality and C.S. Lewis Quote

There has been much discussion in the blogging world about 'originality'. Can one ever really be original, especially with the vast exposure to information and visuals through the internet? Is there really a thought, idea, creation that has not been conceived before? This is a deeply philosophical question; one that will make a person feel extremely intellectual and human by pondering.

I think maybe C.S. Lewis summed it up in his quote:

“In literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.” 

my calligraphic rendition

close-up

detail 1

detail 2

 I love the detail photos where you can see the fibers of the paper.

Written with watered down sumi ink, speedball B5 and Esterbrook Radio Pen nibs,

on 9"x12" Arches textwove paper. 

Canvases

You will have to forgive me for this shameless plug - I have placed new items in my etsy shop.
I have been experimenting with different canvases and techniques.

Italic hand written on gessoed canvas

 Monoline caps on book text

Blackletter exemplar on canvas

Playful monoline caps on pan pastels on canvas

My Rock, My Mom

My Rock, My Mom

verse break detail

border detail

Recent memorial commission created on arches paper, poem written in sumi ink, border is watercolor.

Journal Pages (again)

I hope all of you in the states had a beautiful and safe Fourth of July. I am so thankful to all the men and women who have fought to ensure the freedoms of this country. And I thank God for the freedom He offers to everyone through Jesus Christ.

Gulf Coast Garden Club

Last summer I had the privilege of creating a poster for the Gulf Coast Garden Club. The poster was created on a full sheet of 140# Arches Hot Press watercolor paper. After writing the text in masking fluid, the background was created with washes of fluid acrylic. The mask was then removed and the drop shadow added to the organization's name. The calligraphy is my interpretation of Ismar David's Rustic hand.

poster

Selah

Commission

Each verse written in watercolor on 140# Fabriano soft press watercolor paper.
The finish of this paper is between cold press and hot press

 and is a lovely paper to write and paint on.

Psalm 32:7

Psalm 62:8

Yellow Rose of Texas

Tribute to one who will be missed.

(watercolor rose and pointed pen script in sumi ink)

Plank Digits

Plans for the future are coming a little closer. My husband and I will be building a home in the hills of Tennessee within the next 3 years. We made the progress of acquiring an address for the property. Eager to mark it as a tangible starting point, I created a marker for the entrance.

All I had to work with was a Sharpie. I guess I will touch it up as needed in the days to come.

Letterpress Wedding Invitation

Don't you just love the look of letterpress!?! I think it is my favorite printing style. This spring I was able to create this invitation for a lovely young bride.

The mother of the bride wanted a little flourish to adorn the return address. I got a little carried away but she loved it.

To create the flourish, I drew half of the design with a pointed nib and sumi ink on white paper. I scanned this into Adobe Illustrator, cleaned up the image, and then mirrored it.

Pointed pen sketch

Finished flourish

The names on the invitation were also scanned and imported into Adobe Photoshop, where the remaining wording of the invitation had been arranged.

Detail of names.

Ancient Prayer of Saint Patrick

Earlier this year, I received a commission to create a broadside of the Ancient Prayer of Saint Patrick.

The length of the prayer dictated that the calligraphy be written fairly small, at least smaller than I  am used to. Several different calligraphy styles and layouts were explored.

Just a few of the styles and hints of layout.

As the rough drafts were submitted to the client, we began to hone in on the style and layout she desired for the piece. The prayer was to be written on vellum, have some type of illustration, with a square format, not to be framed any larger than 12"x12", and to be flush on both sides. (The client greatly desired structure in the layout.)

The style of calligraphy that worked far better than any other was a hand similar to the calligraphy in the St. John's Bible.  The hand is compact and upright with a beautifully classic flow. I practiced and studied the hand for only 4 days before attempting the prayer, which is not near enough time to see it properly, much less, try to emulate it with any type of precision. But deadlines must be met. I would encourage anyone interested in learning a new hand to spend time studying the calligraphy that Donald Jackson created for the St. John's Bible.

This is the finished piece.

Creating a layout that is aligned flush on both sides was quite a task. I utilized the computer for this part of the process. A template was created with the calligraphy manually squeezed here and expanded there for each line. I was then able to fold this template above each line that allowed me to place the appropriate line of writing directly beneath my writing line. This way I was able to follow the spacing exactly as it was laid out on the computer.

Template for layout.

This project was definitely a learning experience. My client wanted three of these broadsides created, which gave me the opportunity to develop some new skills and to reinforce those skills.

Enlarged detail view.

Abstract Occasion Cards

I have been playing today with painting tiny abstracts for occasion cards. What a fun stress free day in the studio!

Each card has an original abstract painted with sumi ink and watercolor. The sentiments are hand written in sumi ink.

 View my etsy shop, MillerLine, for more images.

the haiku

My brother, Webster Miller, is a talented still photographer. In April of this year he embarked on a project of creating a short film for the Reduser 4k Portrait Competition. This was his first film undertaking ever! I was thrilled when he asked if I would help in the making of this film and provide the calligraphy. We brainstormed together and came up with the idea of basing the film around a one line haiku. (There is a great resource for the practice of the one line haiku here.)

The calligraphy in the film is an italic hand written with a Brause nib and sumi ink.

Please view the film by clicking the picture below.

The Haiku placed as one of the top ten finalists and received special recognition at the Reduser Party. The top 10 films were on display all evening in a venue similar to an art gallery layout. You can learn more about RED here.

Monograms

I love to create monograms! They are such fun and a challenge, especially a three letter monogram. Here are two commissions from earlier this year.

RK

RCJ

Each of these were created for wedding invitations and is something the happy couple can use for their entire married life. Now that's getting some bang for your buck. 

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

This canvas was created for the local "Miss Wonderfully Made" pageant. The pageant was held as a fundraiser for the VandeVuss' mission trip to South East Asia.

The theme of the pageant was based on Psalm 139:14.

"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. Psalms 139:14 NKJV" 

(18x24 canvas created with acrylics)

Time for Study

As I am sure it is for everyone, this year is speeding by for me. There have been oh so many projects this year; spring seems to energize everyone! So many times, I thought, I need add this project to my blog. Then, of course, time slipped away and the task of sharing in the blog remained undone.

Now as things slow down and I catch my breath, I hope to share some of those projects. But first a brief look at a current study.

"WISDOM is the perfect RELATIONSHIP between BEGINNING and END."

This statement came from reflection of a A.W. Tozer quote, "Wisdom sees everything in focus, each in proper relation to all, and is thus able to work toward predestined goals with flawless precision."


These three pieces are a quick outpouring of the meditation on that particular thought.

(As I lay down thoughts and create different calligraphic studies, I will be adding them to my etsy shop. 

Maybe the concepts and ideas will resonate with someone else as well.)