A Måking place
cAlliGRApHY
I began the study of calligraphy with traditional edged-pen hands – italic, blackletter, uncial – but somewhere along the way I began drawing my letters. This happened alongside an obsession with medieval studies – illuminated manuscripts that I found and copied in order to learn those graceful embellishments. ✦ Once I began drawing in earnest, the hankering to draw ‘medieval style,’ took hold. These shown here are copied from a favorite 14th c. manuscript, the Luttrell Psalter.
◂ R
False gold & pen-flourished, medieval style
BOOKMARK ✒
I enjoy making quote bookmarks. If you are interested in one, reach out to me. They are always fun to have and they hold up well in book after book. ✦ Unfortunately I have a bad habit of forgetting them in library books when I return them. ✦ My librarian doesn't mind.
◂ WHAT WE PLAY IS LIFE
Hand-lettered ink on pergemena.
Watercolor illustrations
RAM DASS QUOTE ✒
Hand-lettered in an original style I invented.
Watercolor illustrations
◂ WHITE VINE INITIALS
These were designed as drop caps and pullquote box for a book, Kabbalah Month by Month, by Michael Ribner.
JABBERWOCKY
This is by far one of my favorite ways to letter, and yes, it has its origination from studying medieval styles. It is not unusual to find letters conjoined, upside down & backwards & different sizes, in service of fitting on the page and taking up as little space as possible. ✦ Because of their freedom and playfulness, they seem very modern, hence what I call 'Modern Medievals.' ✦ I use familiar texts – making it a puzzle to decipher, but hopefully a fun puzzle.
Drawings
I was learning to draw when I lived on a houseboat in Oregon. I wanted to draw the river scenes, but nothing was working, not charcoal, not watercolor. ✦ When I teach drawing, there is something I discovered I call 'your drawing voice;' it's as unique as your physical voice, belonging only to you. Because that was how it felt when this tecnique appeared – it seemed to arise out of nowhere, a tiny pencil drawing, 2" x 2" square on Stonehenge paper. I embossed a thin border around the edge. Voila. ✦ There was no stopping me then.
JOHN DAY RIVERSCAPE
That's our house on the right. 7" x 2"
EVENING LIGHT
My first drawing of the view upriver from my porch. Fishing shack & gillnet boats. 2"x 2"
COLDSTREAM TO PEACOCK
5.5"x2"
Astoria Oregon is a gillnet fishing town, & where I learned to love drawing boats.
MEN SHOVELING CHAIRS
5" x 5.5"
Who wouldn't love medieval style when it's this quirky & mysterious? ✦ This is a copy from a 15th c. Flemish artist, Rogier Van der Weyden. (His original is 16" wide.)
FLOATHOUSES IN A ROW
2" x 2.5"
MASTS, STEEPLES & SPIRES
2" x 7"
Astoria town
JOHN DAY RIVER MAP
7" x 5"
Admittedly my largest pencil drawing – my medieval vision of our river setting. This one includes a lot of 'inside' smiles– Mr. Johnson walking across the bridge every morning; a sea lion a long way from home, looking for salmon; Bob in his boat; Tami in her innertube; the boys upriver who liked to ride their bike down the ramp and dive into the water; the ducks at our house waiting for grain; a cormorant drying its wings; Tom's dump truck and outhouse; & Christi, rowing by.
WOULDN’T YOU HAVE TO AGREE WITH VINCENT?
tiny pinch-pot ceramics
Porcelain and so very small. But just right for holding tiny things – a feather, an earring, spices or salt, seeds harvested from the garden . . .
TRAYS
4-PIECE SET
