Flourishes

Sherri Kiesel made this large "A" during a demonstration at her recent workshop. She used Pebeo drawing gum and 1/2" automatic pen. She held the pen sideways to make the thicker strokes and on a corner to make the thinner ones. Sometimes she double-stroked in order to give the letter more body and interest, making sure there was sufficient gum to cover the paper. After the resist dried completely she used a large watercolor brush with clear water across the background. Into this she placed watercolors, allowing them to blend, creating a background for the letter. Care must be taken that strong enough colors are used to provide contrast. After this is dry the Pebeo is gently removed. If Rives BFK is used, extra care must be taken when removing the resist as it tends to pull up the top layer of the paper. If this happens, an agate burnisher can restore the fibers somewhat. Sherri showed her adeptness at letterforms and her control with watercoloros. As beautiful and as free as this letter is, making it well still requires practice and a healthy dose of serendipity. My thanks to Barbara Gere for the loan of the original, which she won in the Draw-of-the-Demos.

Lines by Leslie

Hi, everyone,

I want to thank you all for coming to our December holiday party. The food was delicious and the company was fantastic -- a good time was had by all! Very special thanks go to Loni Carlson for doing such a wonderful job with the hospitality affairs. And more special thanks to Maggie for helping me set up the "exhibit" and for coordinating the money collections, and, of course, to all who exhibited. It was such fun to browse the work of our members and to wander around and shop so leisurely. I hope this can become a tradition in years to come.

Thanks also to Rudy Gonzales for all the great paper he delivered -- an unexpected early present for all that attended.

And thanks to Beverly Carter, Shirley Ginn, Betty Lou Jordan, and Leonora Yawn for the lovely party favors. It's wonderful to have so many people working in little groups; both official and extemporaneous, to make this Guild so special. I know I've said this before, but please indulge me once again -- the more people who are involved in the activities of the Guild, the more fun we all have, the better our work, and the stronger the Guild. We can't all do everything, but if we each take part in something, we all benefit.

And thank you so much to all those who wrote and e-mailed me to thank me for the party. All I can say is, I had at least as much fun as the rest of our members, it was our party far more than it was my party, and it was my honor and pleasure to have everyone at my home. I'd also like to thank Fierce and Company once more for their beautiful music. They still have some tapes and CDs available for sale if anyone is interested.

By the time you read this the holidays will be winding down and we'll be ready to start fresh on the new year -- Spring Exhibit, calendar for the year 2000, workshops, mini-workshops, playdays, fund-raisers, etc. The days will already be getting longer and we'll have a lot of exciting activities to look forward to. So, no post-holiday blues allowed! Be thinking about new work and get started early -- the Spring Exhibit will be upon us before we know it.

Here's to a happy healthy and productive 1999 for our Guild!

.................................................................................................Leslie

1999 CALENDARS

Final tally on calendar sales will be made on December 31, 1998. Those three members who purchased the most calendars as of that date will be announced at the January meeting and the following prizes awarded.

1st place award: A $40 Gift Certificte for Dinner for Two at Molinari's Italian Restaurant located in The Elms, corner of Lockhill-Selma and Wurzbach.

2nd place award: A $25 Gift Certificate for merchandise kindly donated by Herweck's, 300 Broadway.

3rd place award: A Gift Certificate for 25% Discount on framing services or ready-made frames donated by Sigoloff Gallery, 8222 Broadway.

SACG wishes to thank these merchants for their generosity and support. Calendars are $5 each and can be purchased by contacting Pauline Sager.

Hazel Tillson, '99 Calendar Chairman

........Report on Contemporary Decorated Letters
............................................................................................ by Shirley Ginn

Imagine how I felt walking into a room filled with seasoned and excellent calligraphers such as Joan, Maggie, Pauline, Bonnie, Jane and Leslie, just to name a few. Me, just a novice, not knowing or proficient at even one hand much less numerous hands, was going to be spending a weekend with seasoned calligraphers. My knees were knocking. I wanted to quickly place my coffeecake on the treats table, turn around and run, but I had been telling myself for days that "I can do it." All I had to do was go in and do it. So what if I don't know a hand; so what if I can't ... it was only going to be TWO days!

Sherri Kiesel opened the class with shapes (no letters -- whew!), that were done in pencil on tracing or layout paper. We made the shapes over and over again. She walked around the room giving individual instruction and encouraging words for all. I was doing it! I could make the shapes. We then started taking the shapes and putting two together and suddenly got a letterform. More shapes together, more letterforms. I was doing it! The letterforms had freedom but yet seemed to be dancing from the ends of our pens. Sherri imparted that one of her favorite pens was the "ZIG Millennium." A quick trip to Asel Art during the lunch break scored me a set of these marvelous pens that really helped the letters dance off the end of my pen.

The afternoon of the first day was spent making more letters and then adding watercolor pencil to them so that the letter would jump to the foreground. Next we boxed the letters, giving the impression that the letter was jumping out of the box. Gold was added to the letters and oh, did the letters really begin to dance. I was doing it!

Soon the first day ended and all I could think about was going home and practicing those shapes that soon became letters. I practiced, ended up with some great letters to use for class the next day and to use on cards for friends and family.

The second day was just as fun as the first! Sherri had us use one of our completed and boxed letters and we added Sumi ink to it. Oh, no, my hand was really shaking now. I was supposed to put black ink on my delicate pastel letter? Sherri demonstrated the technique and then sent us back to our tables to practice. The Sumi ink was not to go all the way up to the letterform, but we were to leave a trench around the letter. It was okay though to take the ink all the way to the edge of the box. Some had to add another flourishing line to break up the big space between the box and the letterform. We were to be free and let it flow. I was doing it!

Suddenly we changed gears and were to make really big letters with Pebeo Drawing Gum and tools that I was too intimidated to even consider using. I had seen Pauline and Bonnie demonstrting their use of these tools and they were fabulous. The pointed pen was comfortable for me, why did I have to try something SO BIG? Oh well, I should be able to do it. I picked up the ruling pen, dipped it in the drawing gum and made a letterform. WOW! I did it and it even looked like a letter! Sherri then had us use the same tools with Sumi ink on Needigan paper. The letterforms were big and bold. After each dried, we added watercolors to the letters made with the drawing gum and a touch of gold to the black ink letters. Many beautiful works were completed by the class, some of which were ready for framing.

One of our last projects was to take a completed and boxed letter and add a name or date in monoline below the letterform. Sherri demonstrated the technique, using the same colors in the monoline as had been used in the letterform. All you had to add was a frame and you would have a wonderful gift for a special friend or family member.

My first lettering workshop was over all too soon. Sherri had made it so easy and fun. She was willing to share all of her secrets with us. Her samples were fabulous and Sherri explained in detail how each and every one was accomplished. Sherri demonstrated each technique and answered questions at any time. She was an excellent instructor and encourager. One of the demonstration samples was an "S" that had a monoline of Shirley. (Wonder how that happened?) Names of those attending were put in a drawing and several of those attending left with a Sherri original. I am excited about having Sherri Kiesel back some day to make a complete book using techniques we learned in this workshop and other workshops. I left my first letteing workshop with the desire to do a piece for the spring show. I can do it!!!

Tendrils from the Grape Vine

We are all saddened by the sudden and unexpected death of a dear calligrapher and teacher, Fran Strom Sloan, on December 9th. Fran led several workshops for SACG and presented a wonderful program a couple of years ago. She will be greatly missed.

Fran has been described as a friend and champion of calligraphers.

Kingsley of Southern California had this to say in a recent Cyberscribes e-mail: "With the passing of our beloved and talented Fran, it brings to mind all of the teachers who have had a profound impact on my life and my abilities to letter. Sometimes, we take them for granted thinking that they will always be at the 'next convention' or next workshop. Please take a moment and think of a teacher who has presented a gift to you -- call them or drop them a note and tell them." She concludes with "Teachers are magical people, giving and loving of the craft -- appreciate them and do not stay silent."

We have many teacher-members in SACG who qualify as "magical people" and we should let them know how much we appreciate them (DP)

.......................... . . . . . . . . . . . . .***

More Cyberscribes news from Pavasa -- Marsha & Larry Brady are happy to announce they became grandparents on December 6. Grandbaby is Carly Ann Brady, 8 lb., 2 oz., and 21". Congratulations to the Bradys!

New Inks from Ziller
Via e-mail from Pavasa

Ziller of Kansas City has brought out a new line of calligraphic engrossing inks. Ziller's inks are well known as the best for copperplate, Spencerian and script lettering. According to Rich Mungall, the company's owner, he had to change the ink formula (after 60 years) because the prices of the ingredients for the previous inks were skyrocketing. The new formula now includes an entirely new line of colors.

These new inks are waterproof. This past summer at Discoveries, the company demonstrated a test piece using the new glossy black ink on Arches paper that was immersed in water for three days and the ink didn't budge. The new ink is a little thicker than the previous engrossing ink, mainly due to customer request. Rich says adding distilled water -- up to 20-30 drops for a one-ounce jar can thin the ink. He suggests testing the ink by dipping the nib in distilled water first and then into the ink to see how the ink flows. He says to add the distilled water a little at a time to the jar until the desired consistency is reached. However, he guarantees that the ink as is will produce a hairline line.

Some tips from Rich: since the ink is waterproof, he recommends using distilled water mixed with ammonia to clean up after the ink and the Esterbrook #357 and Principality #128 nibs have extra-fine tips that work well with these new inks.

The following are the different inks available (all pre-mixed):
Gloss Black -- thinnest consistency
Flat Black -- a matte black similar to the previous Ziller black engrossing ink, now darker
White -- thickest consistency

New colors -- Cardinal Red, Sunflower Yellow, Midnight Blue, Prairie Fire Orange, Sweet Grass Green, Wild Viola Violet, and Buffalo Brown.

Prices range from $3.40 to $6.90.

For more information, contact Rich Mungall at Zillers of Kansas City, 7930 State Line Road, Suite #112, Prairie Village, Kansas 66208-3704 or via e-mail at mungall@unicom.net .

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