Tag: Calligraphy

  • Artober, and the Power of Putting Your Focus In a Specific Place

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CF0gUpTgP5O/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

    I decided this year to participate in the Instagram art festival #artober. Simply put, the idea behind these kinds of challenges is to practice your art on a regular basis – sometimes daily, as I\’m interpreting it, but not always. You could do #artober weekly or even, if you chose, monthly. Posters put pictures of their art on their Instagram feed and follow others who are doing the same.  That can be a lot of fun because you get inspiration for other pieces and meet a lot of really interesting artists in the process.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CF2ZsaYAjfl/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

    There are prompts, but I don\’t always use them.  As you can see from this post, I chose to go a different direction. The prompt for this day was \”Ecstasy,\” which didn\’t really speak to me. I happened to listen to a broadcast by theologian and scholar Starhawk about power, and voila. My piece.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CF5_-4AgaTU/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

    I decided on Day 3 to play with faux calligraphy, which uses a regular fine-point pen to draw calligraphy, rather than relying on a nib for the characteristic thick-and-thin.

    I do my pieces on the fly, and don\’t overthink them. That\’s one of the key pieces to a challenge like this that works for me: go fast, don\’t think, don\’t edit, just make.

    I also use hashtags connected to my art, such as #calligraphy, #fauxcalligraphy, and of course, I tag each piece #artober and #artober2020.

    What about you, Dear Reader? What are some of the things on which you\’re choosing to place your focus?

  • Self Care September – Theme Reveal

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    I don\’t have to tell you that this year has been challenging. Between the pandemic, learning new terms for windstorms like \”derecho\” (which is a land hurricane, if you hadn\’t heard it before, and occurred in Iowa and left devastation in its wake), the fires in California, not one but two hurricanes in the Gulf, shootings and protests and rioting, it\’s a wonder that any of us can sleep at night.

    Which brings me to my theme for this month: Focus on what I can control.

    I can\’t fix the weather, and I\’m not a doctor so my job as regards COVID is to stay healthy and stay out of the emergency medical system to the extent that I can – which means, wear a mask, social distance, and avoid travel. I haven\’t really left the house since March other than to walk, go to the community garden, and essential shopping – and I\’m stir crazy!

    Which got me thinking: I can\’t be the only creative, highly sensitive person out here with these challenges! I suspect there are a lot more of us than any of us realize, partly because when we\’re overwhelmed we don\’t communicate as loudly about our personal reality as we might during times when things aren\’t falling down around our ears.

    And thus, the image at the top of this post. Did you know, there\’s such a thing as \”faux calligraphy?\” Here\’s how it works:

    • Write out a phrase or statement, leaving extra space between the letters than you normally would.
    • On the descenders of the letters, draw a second line next to the line of the letter and then color it in – I used the same color for my letters but you could get really fancy and color in the spaces with different colors, even using a colored pencil!
    • When you cross the \”t\’s,\” be extra intentional and make a wavy line. You could even add flourishes if you felt called to.
    • Voila. Calligraphy. Who knew it could be that easy?
    • If you try it, please link me to your Instagram or other place you share your images; I\’d love to see!

     

    And in the meantime, tell me in the comments – what does \”self care\” look like for you? And I\’m not talking here about mani-pedis, necessarily. I\’m talking about really caring for yourself. What does that look like?

    And be sure to come back throughout the month while I share some ideas, challenges, and suggestions so that we can make September a great month together. And on September 3rd, I\’ll be back over at Delilah Devlin\’s blog for a guest post – watch for the link to come visit with me!

  • The A-Z of the Natural World – Letterforms In Nature

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    I waffled on whether to do the A-Z on my craft blog, because I\’m already doing it elsewhere.  But I already went out and took half the photographs for my idea, so I decided what the heck, I\’m gonna throw my hat in the ring.

    So here\’s what I\’m doing:

    The A To Z of the Natural World – Finding Letterforms in Nature

    Inspired by calligrapher Margaret Shepherd\’s blog, I decided to take a different tack – rather than look for human-made letters around my neighborhood, I am looking for letter shapes in the natural forms made by botanicals and objects in the built environment.  Over the next month, I\’ll share with you my discoveries, beginning with today:  A In a Tree.

    Enjoy, and Happy A-Z!

  • C Is For… Calligraphy

    C Is For… Calligraphy

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    Before the printing press, there were pens and paper.  The art of calligraphy is from the Greek, Kallos graphos, or beautiful writing.  Like the printing press, there\’s an ancient history of calligraphy in Asia, and it\’s even tied to meditation practices.

    I discovered calligraphy when I was about ten years old, when one of my classmates\’ handwriting caught my eye.  She wrote so beautifully, letters that were even and round on the page.  I studied her writing for four years, endeavoring to copy it.  I finally succeeded and, in the process, discovered the art of calligraphy.  The Scheaffer calligraphy set that I was given as a gift opened a new world to me.

    Despite becoming good at it, I dropped its pursuit in college due to family opinion that I should focus on college and the necessity of making a living.  About eighteen months ago, I re-discovered the art.  The technology in felt-tipped pens is much better than when I was young.  In particular, my favorite is the Zig brand double-tipped pen.  I found a set of six of them and played for a few months, before buying one of each of the colors available.

    What about you, Dear Reader?
    What art did you play with as a child that you have picked up, or might like to, as an adult?

  • A Is For… Alphabet

    A Is For… Alphabet

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    Alphabets are magical.  Before reading and writing became ubiquitous during the Renaissance, it was the province of specially-educated people, usually men, who spent their lives learning to be scribes.  The illuminated manuscripts they left behind are masterpieces of art, calligraphy, adornment, and design.

    I learned calligraphy as a child and spent many years away from it.  I\’ve recently rediscovered it and have been having a ball playing with it.  By \”play,\” I mean not taking it seriously.  I haven\’t used my dip pens, nor pulled out any of my instruction books, nor worked with my calligrapher\’s drawing table more than a couple times.  Instead, I\’ve been doing the calligrapher\’s equivalent of sketching – drawing designs on the page with quotes, or poems, or other things.

    Quite by accident, I stumbled on something that I\’ve been calling mandala; though, strictly speaking, it\’s not really a mandala (the word in Sanskrit that means wheel).  My designs are usually square or diamond-shaped, and are composed of words rather than shapes.  But they are meditative, ask questions, or seek to answer something.  Take this image, for instance:  I was seeking what meant \”home\” to me, and trying to answer the question of \”what makes a dwelling a home\”.

    What about you, Dear Reader?  What craft did you play with as a child or youngster that you either have already rediscovered now, or might want to play with again?

     

  • Happy Autumn!

    Happy Autumn!

    Inspired by Calligrapher Margaret Shepherd\’s daily calligraphy blog, and her entry #223 Celtic Color and Line, I drew this up for our family\’s dinner celebration today.  In honor of J.R.R. Tolkien\’s characters, we\’re even having elevenses and afternoon tea!

    Happy Autumnal Equinox for those of you above the equator and Happy Spring for those of you below it.  May your cup runneth over and your nylons wear without runs, may your internet be hiccup free and your stove hoods avoid birds (long story, that).

  • Kalos Graphe

    Kalos Graphe

    ©2013 A. Catherine Noon. All Rights Reserved. 

    There is something magical about using a calligraphy pen.  We see the nib, and the paper, and the quality of the writing is changed, elevated.

    I haven\’t been practicing lately, for whatever reason.  Today, while reading Week 6 of FINDING WATER by Julia Cameron, I thumbed through the chapters I\’d already read and came across the quote above.  I decided to play with the size of the words and my gosh if it didn\’t turn out pretty spiffy!

    \”We cannot change anything until we accept it.  
    Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.\” 
    ~ Carl Jung ~