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. 

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.

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

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.

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.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all!

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

We have seen his glory, 

the glory of the one and only Son, 

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

Card for the Ladies

I recently completed the Beth Moore study 'Breaking Free'. I would recommend it to anyone interested in living out Truth in their life and breaking away from the mindset that holds you back. At the end of the study I made these cards for all the ladies that had completed the course with me.

The verse was written in sumi ink with a Leonardt Hero 40 nib, scanned into

Photoshop and color was added there. 40 cards were printed in total. 

The word TRUST was hand embossed on each card. 

The stencil was created from hand lettering on bristol board.

Journal Pages

My journal art is quite a bit more casual than my 'serious' work. But I enjoy it just as much! It gives me an outlet to try different color schemes, to enjoy creating with no expectations, and to letter without worry of messing up.

Here are some pics of a few recent journal pages.

Three P's In A Pod Shop Logo

Three P's In A Pod

shop logo came together quite easily.

That doesn't happen often, but I love it when it does.

The first sketch was brought into Illustrator, cleaned up and vectorized.

Slant and curvature of the lettering was modified as well.

Then the shadows and embossing was added in Photoshop.

And voila! Shop logo.

Original sketch was written with sumi ink and Hero #40 Pumpkin nib.

Event Poster

This is an event poster created to promote our Women's Weekend at Walker Baptist Church. The logo for the Women's Ministry was created and used on several items for the event. Then I also created the Angela Thomas signature to compliment the logo.

Each item was written with a pointed nib and sumi ink, scanned and vectorized in illustrator.  

Flourished Script Initial tags

Where has the week gone! This week has been a whirlwind.

When the week is crazy busy and flying by its nice to create something sweet and pretty like these initial tags.