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Newsletter Team Editor
Barbara Qualley
Proofreader
Eleanor Harris
Meeting Programs
Margaret Kells Linda Yaychuk
Journal Issue #6 June 2022
Inside this issue
Previous Newsletters ended at Issue #66
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic All 2021-22 meetings were held online via ZOOM
Regular monthly meetings are held on the Second Wednesday of each month from 8:30am to 12:00pm (no meeting in July and August) Pearmine Room, Exhibition Grounds (Exceptions are Pot Lucks in December and June)
Executive Meetings are held on the First Tuesday of each month at a member’s home from 9am to noon All members are welcome!
Playtime is held on the Fourth Wednesday of each month from 9am to 12pm Pearmine Room, Exhibition Grounds Annual Membership in Warmland Calligraphers includes online and print copy of Journal. Dues are C$45 for Canadian residents and US$45 for US/Int’l. Warmland Calligraphers of the Cowichan Valley (the Guild) is a non-registered non-profit group formed to facilitate the exchange of information between calligraphers and to promote interest in and appreciation of calligraphy as an art form within the community. Membership is open to calligraphers at all levels of expertise as well as those with a love of beautiful writing. Contents of this journal are copyrighted by the authors/artists. Requests for permission to reprint any part must be made through the Editor. The views of contributors are not necessarily those of the Executive or members of the Guild.
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June 2021 Wind-up Meeting Outgoing President’s Message / Guild Executive 2022-3 Incoming President’s Message / September Meeting Program September 2021 Galleria October Meeting Program / November Meeting Program October 2021 Galleria Book Club - Reading Recommendations November 2021 Galleria Pat Wheatley Tribute 2021 Christmas Cards December Meeting Program January 2022 Galleria Nancy Hays Hills Workshop January Meeting Program / February Meeting Program February 2022 Galleria March Meeting Program / April Meeting Program March 2022 Galleria April 2022 Galleria May Meeting Program May 2022 Galleria
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The Gift by Pat Wheatley
Members are invited to submit concise pieces for publication as well as to alert the Editorial Committee to conferences, papers, speeches and other matters of interest to our readers. The Editorial Committee reserves the right to make editorial changes in material accepted for publication. These include such revisions or additions deemed necessary to ensure correctness of grammar and spelling, clarification of obscurities, brevity and conformity to the Reflections journal.
Contact us at: P.O. Box 2, Duncan, B C, V9L 3X1 Canada www.warmlandcalligraphers.ca
A Tribute to Pat Wheatley From the front and back covers Pat Wheatley is remembered as a friend and calligrapher. We miss her smile, warmth and many contributions to our Guild. 2
June Wind-up Meeting This month, in lieu of our traditional pot luck luncheon, a Zoom meeting celebrating our vintage galleria pieces was initiated. The meeting commenced with a booklist for summer reading, recommended and described by the members who submitted each book title. The list was emailed to all members. Jeanette Rawek
Second on the agenda was a photographic showing, and discussion of Weathergrams, which were created by members following last month’s meeting. Interesting stories were related by the members about their Weathergrams.
As with all Galleria displays there were new techniques to be learned from the pieces shown. Judy Lowood gave a brief demonstration as to how she catalogues her calligraphy work, thereby having a quick reference to the history of each piece. As a wind-up to the meeting a few business items were discussed: President Ruth Rutledge mentioned a conversation she had with member Cathie Harrower about the horrific
find at the Kelowna Residential School, and suggested that if anyone wanted to offer condolences, they could write something to be given to First Nations people here on the Island who have suffered in a similar way. Anyone wishing to do so could submit no more than one page of words to Cathie Harrower and she will deliver them to the Cowichan Tribes Band Office. Other items of business included a request from Debbie Craig for more program ideas for next year (she has four already); information that Scriptors will continue to operate throughout the summer, and that the Guild library would be open all summer. - Margaret Kells
Judy Lowood
Next on the agenda was a “World of Wheels” item where all our names were printed in circular fashion on a wheel. The wheel was spun, and winners were chosen when the wheel stopped on three names of members who were present. Three prizes were donated – two by Ruth Rutledge (two full sheets of Arches Text Wove paper) and one by Carolynn Dallaire (a handmade notebook). The lucky winners were Judi Hopewell, Judy Lowood and Chris Vanier. Following this we conducted the main part of the meeting, the “Vintage Galleria Celebration”. Fifteen pieces were submitted and we all enjoyed hearing the history of each piece. Cathie Harrower
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Outgoing President’s Message - Ruth Rutledge I am grateful for the support of the Executive attending to many details that see our club humming . After two years of COVID Pandemic, our membership has not dropped, programmes continue to be an opportunity to learn or refresh old skills and I am always impressed by the variety ,vitality and inventiveness of our Members who contribute to the Monthly Galleria. You will see evidence of this in the pages of this 2022 Reflections Journal.....an opportunity to amaze each other!
I am impressed always by the energy and willingness of our Members to take on roles new to them, yet they are willing to serve. If a position or task comes up there is always someone who says “I’ll do it!” or “I’ve never done that before , but I’ll try!” I look forward to being Past President and seeing the Warmland Calligraphers of the Cowichan Valley evolve and challenge each other!
I have missed the in-person general meetings but what may come of that is even better with a hybrid format where Members can attend by Zoom or in-person.
Ruth
Executive Members 2022-2023
President Past President Vice President Meeting Programmes Secretary Treasurer Journal Editor Librarian Workshops Membership Webmaster
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Diana Carwithen Ruth Rutledge Lucy Hylkema Caroline Morrison Paullette McLaren Carolynn Dallaire Barbara Qualley Tricia Field/Cathie Harrower Marilyn Boechler/Betty Locke Chris Vanier Diana Carwithen
Incoming President’s Message - Diana Carwithen
I strive to be a lifelong learner. My meditation guru encourages us to do a vision board each year. I enjoy anything ‘techy’ and so, of course, hopped on my computer and found some images that spoke to me. My guru, Emily Fletcher, then suggests tucking it away and forgetting about it and letting the cosmic waitress deliver your order when and how she sees fit. Yep, it all sounds “hippy dippy” Emily admits, but I must tell you, it was after this vision board was made
that we found our place here in Duncan on Quamichan Lake and honestly, we weren’t even looking in Duncan! Kind of gives me the chills! Fast forward to when Ruth asked me to take on the VP role and the cosmic waitress seemed to know what was best for me! I initially thought NO NO NO! I’ve never been on any Board, and I doubted my competence. But then…I remembered my vision board and thought about my words “Dynamic” and “computer savvy seniors” and knew it was my chance to believe!
members to our meetings on zoom. I’m excited to grow and learn together as I take on the President’s role. I thank you for your confidence in allowing me to continue in my lifelong learning journey. I have surrendered to the outcome and timing of my ‘cosmic order’ and trust my waitress knows best. - Diana Carwithen
I have learned SO MUCH thanks to my colleagues in the guild and of course google. I have found such a passionate group of calligraphers that are so inspiring to me that I would love to download all your talents to access at my will. We’ve all heard a lot about Covid and staying close to home and secretly I’m grateful for the opportunity to include some far away
September Meeting Programme - Caroline Morrison Our September program was a very interesting demonstration given by Caroline Morrison on painting trees with watercolours. During her demonstration she gave us a number of informative techniques. When setting up your page for painting, the horizon line should lie somewhere below the middle. Different trees have different shapes and the foliage is often three times the size of the height of the trunk. It will vary depending on the species and age of the tree. There are two ways to paint in the sky. The first is to wet the paper and apply a cool blue, such as cerulean or phthalo blue, over the surface leaving white spaces for clouds and the tree. Allow the paper to dry before painting the tree. The second method is to paint the tree first, allow it to dry completely and then brush on diluted blue colours in the sky again leaving white spaces.
To draw a tree Caroline suggests taking photographs of various trees and choosing your favourite to paint. Using tracing paper outline the tree and trunk and transfer the shape to your paper placing it above and below the horizon line. Determine where your light source is coming from. Begin by placing diluted light paint on the foliage closest to the light source. Caroline favours Azo yellow or Cadmium Yellow for fall or spring trees. Add a little red to the yellow and continue to dab on the leaves leaving white spaces and working down the foliage. Continue adding darker colours of orange paint adding more dabs on the outside of the foliage to emphasize the leaves. The lowest part of the foliage should be the darkest. Using a light brown such as Raw Sienna, paint in the trunk and then add a darker brown on the side of the trunk away from the light source.
The grass is painted using various colours of green. Once the grass and tree have dried add a shadow on the ground for the tree using dark green or ultramarine blue paint. Finally using a very thin brush and dark brown paint add a few branches to the tree. Members were very pleased with the pieces they produced. Thank you Caroline for a most enjoyable experience. - Linda Yaychuk
- Caroline Morrison - Carefully observe the main shapes and measurements of trees, especially the ratio of trunk to foliage.
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September 2021 Galleria - Trees Using the subject of TREES create a calligraphic piece.
Violet Smythe
Violet Smythe
Carolynn Dallaire
Caroline Morrison
Ruth Rutledge
Marion Craig Judi Hopewell
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Ria Lewis
Jeanette Rawek
Betty Locke Judy Lowood
Susan Miller
Marilyn Boechler
Diana Carwithen
Anne Atkinson
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October Meeting Programme - Cuneiform letters The October Zoom presentation by Violet Smythe, was titled ‘Cuneiform with a Twist’. Cuneiform is a system of writing first developed by the ancient Sumarians of Mesopotamia around 3500-3000BC. Though cuneiform inscription began as pictures, it became increasingly abstract, eventually becoming the world’s earliest form of writing. The writings were made by inscribing wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets, with blunt reeds used as a stylus. The clay tablets were eventually kiln-fired in order to preserve them. Cuneiform writing was replaced by alphabetic writing during the Roman era. For this presentation we received an exemplar of cuneiform writing. We had previously been asked to acquire appropriate wooden pieces from the dollar store to enable us to make the
cuneiform shapes on paper, using Sumi ink. Violet demonstrated how to develop cuneiform shapes using the flat wooden pieces, and encouraged us to do the same. She created a block of alphabetic text, then turned the page 90 degrees, writing the alphabet again over the first block. She recommended doing this twice more to create a dense pattern. We used different thicknesses of tools to add interest to the texture of the piece: as an art piece, texture is more important than legibility. The use of colour pencils in specific shapes within the text added an interesting dimension to the work. Violet referred us to “Calligraphy - a book of contemporary inspiration” by Denise Lach, as a valuable reference, should anyone wish to follow up with this form of writing. (A copy is in our Library - 0.028) - Margaret Kells Barbara Qualley
November Meeting Programme - Brush Stuff This program was presented by Betty Locke who demonstrated the use of a 1/4” flat brush to create various decorative strokes. For the first stroke Betty started with a small dot on the page. The end of the brush was moved to the dot and after a slight turn using the thumb, the tip was moved away from the dot creating an arrow shape. Various arrangements of this shape in different colours and sizes can create lovely decorations for cards or envelopes. The next stroke started by placing the tip of the brush at 0°. As the brush was moved down the paper we turned the brush slightly with our thumb and then returned the brush to its original position. This created a stroke with a narrowed waist which could be used for making candles. The “ballet slipper” as Betty called it was a bit more difficult. The tip of the brush moves up the paper and around 8
at the top with a turn of the wrist and then returns to the beginning. Another shape can be made by placing the brush in an erect position. It is then moved down the paper and pressure is put on it and then released. This creates a petal shape. Next, we lightly drew a letter (heart) in pencil and with our brush and various colours of paint created small squares around the shape and radiated them outwards.
deeper colour paint was used to make the next layer of petals and the leaves. This was definitely a fun program with members able to ask questions as we went along. Betty did a great job of clarifying the more difficult movements of the brush. Once again Betty, thank you for a great learning experience. - Linda Yaychuk
Then we moved on to Christmas trees. After lightly drawing an outline we used the shapes Betty had shown us to fill it in. What a beautiful result! Betty finished the program by demonstrating the strokes needed to create a poinsettia. The first strokes (petals) were made with a wetter brush. A
All drawings by Betty Locke
October 2021 Galleria Do a piece of ten words or more about motion. Use undulating lines and flourish but NO graphic
Caroline Morrison Anne Atkinson
Betty Locke
Violet Smythe
Marion Craig
Carroll McLaurin
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Carolynn Dallaire
Margaret Kells
Marilyn Boechler
Paullette McLaren
Jeanette Rawek Ruth Rutledge
Diana Carwithen
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A List of Recommended Books for Summer Anytime Reading Ruth Rutledge: Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Kimmerer Cosmos - Carl Sagan Violet Smythe: Burial Rites - Hannah Kent The Paris Seamstress - Natasha Lester The Violets of March - Sarah Jio The Way of the Gardener, Lost in the Weeds along the Camino De Santiago - Lyndon Penner Debbie Craig: A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles Mary Nelson: The Jane Austin Society - Natalie Jenner The Evening and the Morning - Ken Follet. This is a prequel to The Pillars of the Earth. Jeanette Rawek: Rules of Civility - Amor Towles Cathie Harrower: The Island of the Sea Women - Lisa See The Weight of Ink - Rachel Kadish Julia Lowood: Diana - Ingrid Seward Betty Locke: American Dirt - Jeanne Cummins Marion Craig: Book I, Nothing Ventured - Jeffery Archer Book II, Hidden in Plain Sight - Jeffery Archer Book III, Turn a Blind Eye will be published next year This is a new series of books about Detective Constable William Warwick who works at Scotland Yard. He tracks down thieves that steal paintings from galleries and partakes in capturing a leading drug dealer in London. Tricia Field: Jean-Luc Bannalec (pseudonym for a German author, Jorg Bong who divides his time between Rhineland and Brittany!) who had begun a mystery series about a detective superintendent, Georges Dupin, formerly of the Surete, but demoted to the Brittany outpost. It's a delightful series! I've just finished #5, The Killing Tide, and will soon be looking for Book #6. The author weaves travelogue and mystery masterfully with wonderful characters. Excellent! The second series is by a Vancouver author, Iona Whishaw, formerly a social worker and award-winning school administrator. Both her parents were spies in WW II, and she writes mysteries often with elements of espionage. I'm now on Book #8, "A Lethal Lesson", featuring Lane Winslow, an English spy who was dropped behind enemy lines in France. Lane has come to Canada in 1946, and bought a home in Balfour, near Nelson, in the Kootenays. And mystery and mayhem are always attracted to her, as is the local Detective Inspector! It's well-written and also an outstanding series.
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November 2021 Galleria Using only the letters in the name we know you by, make an interesting and intricate design. Colour and texture could also be a part of this presentation.
Carolynn Dallaire
Renate Wortington
Paullette McLaren
Ria Lewis
Tricia Field
Paullette McLaren Violet Smythe
Diana Carwithen
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Barbara Qualley
Denise Rothney
Caroline Morrison
Renate Worthington
Judy Lowood
Marilyn Boechler
Jeanette Rawek
Betty Locke
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Margaret Kells
Anne Atkinson
Ruth Rutledge
Judi Hopewell
Joyce Gammie
Marion Craig
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Pat Wheatley Pat Wheatley died peacefully, at her home, on the evening of September 30. She bravely battled cancer for the past three years.
Lucy Hylkema interviewed Pat for the May 2008 edition of our Journal, Here are some words paraphrased from that article.
She fought hard to stay with us for as long as she could, but we are relieved to know she is finally at peace. Pat was an accomplished calligrapher and a cherished member of Warmland Calligraphers. She served on the executive for many years in several capacities. Through her dedicated representation to the Cowichan Valley Arts Council she shared with information on local art talent with us. She had incredible artistic talent and loved using her own words for quotes. Pat was a positive influence in our Guild and freely shared her expertise with those less skilled. Her husband John mentioned that calligraphy provided her with immense joy.
“Pat always says ‘everyone has a story’. One of her lifelong passions is the spoken word. She was very involved in Speech Arts and has been part of many theatre groups. Pat has definitely made the connection between the spoken and written words which is obvious in her calligraphy. She mentioned her fondness for obituaries—not in a morbid way, but as an acknowledgement of what someone can accomplish in their life. She does admit that not every obituary is an inspired celebration of human spirit, but she finds enough life stories that are encouraging that they are worth looking for and celebrating.” Pat‘s family captured her life story in her own obituary. She is celebrated and missed by us all.
I am so sorry to hear this news of Pat – a lovely woman who will be so missed. - Lorraine Douglas I shall miss Pat greatly. She was a special person, so kind, generous and giving in her spirit, thoughts, creativities and continued generosity and contributions to the Guild and its members. My heart and mind go out to Pat as she makes her spiritual transition from this life. Pat and I shared thoughts regarding our spiritual paths and beliefs which had the common ground of compassion. - Simone LaVoie Pat was such a talented person who shared her expertise quietly with those less-skilled. It is so sad that COVID has robbed us of the chance to see her and add support to her struggle. - Bridget Bruneski Pat and her smiling face welcomed me to my first ever Guild meeting and she never stopped spreading her warmth. She was always encouraging, inclusive without exception and, in the last years, an inspiration. I will miss her strength and gentleness of spirit. - Debbie Craig I loved her enthusiasm. Her most beautiful voice as she talked about her piece or about the activities of the Arts Council was such a pleasure to listen to. She gave many hours of devotion to the Guild and its activities which were so appreciated. - Betty Locke Pat was faithful about contributing a piece for our monthly galleries and several for our yearly exhibitions. What always impressed me was her curiosity to learn, and try, new techniques. The result was a layout and design that was 'out of the box' and very interesting.... with an unusual quote or her own wise words. - Carolynn Dallaire
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Christmas Cards 2021
Geri Arkell
Jeanne Ralston
Carolynn Dallaire
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Joyce Gammie
Margaret Kells
Judy Lowood
Judi Hopewell
June Maffin
Susan Miller
Diana Carwithen
Caroline Morrison
Tricia Field
Marilyn Boechler Debbie Craig
Ria Lewis
Marion Craig
Denise Rothney
Carroll McLaurin
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Jeanette Rawek Violet Smythe
Anne Atkinson Valerie Hodgins
Betty Locke Cathie Harrower
Ruth Rutledge
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Renate Worthington
April Obersteiner :Linda Yaychuk Barbara Qualley
Cleverly folded card—Charlotte Whiteley
December Christmas Programme As Covid-19 restrictions still apply, this meeting was again held under Zoom format. In her introduction to the meeting President Ruth Rutledge described a morning consisting of several activities. For the first activity, thirteen questions relating to Christmas carols were presented, requiring certain words or phrases to be identified from each named carol. The teachers in the group appeared to do very well in answering the questions, but others (this writer included) did not fare as well! Much hilarity and singing of the carols served to refresh everyone’s memories.
The second activity consisted of a scavenger hunt in which members were required to identify twenty items in their home, all of this within ten minutes. The list included three very humorous riddles, which caused much laughter, and some groans, when the answers were given. The list had been very thoughtfully compiled, and it sent members rushing around their homes in an effort to identify the articles within a very tight timeframe. The third activity involved a spinning disc with all the members’ names on it. When the disc ceases spinning, the person whose name was indicated by
the arrow, won a prize. The prizes were hand-made books donated by Carolynn Dallaire; art supplies donated by Muriel Heggie (who has since retired from calligraphy), and two prizes donated from the purchased door prize collection, which we have not been able to use because of the lack of in-person meetings. The final activity was a showing of twenty-seven Christmas cards, again demonstrating the inspirational calligraphic/artistic skills of the membership. - Margaret Kells 19
January 2022 Galleria Do a piece about birds using complementary colours or analogous colours.
Kathy Bedard
Diana Carwithen
Jeanette Rawek
Carolynn Dallaire
Tricia Field
Margaret Kells
Marion Craig
Judy Lowood Ria Lewis
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Caroline Morrison
Ruth Rutledge
Marilyn Boechler
Betty Locke
Denise Rothney
Violet Smythe
Judy Hopewell
Anne Atkinson
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How On Earth Did She Do That? - Nancy Hays Hills An overnight snowfall of nearly 12 inches provided the perfect morning to begin our 4-day workshop with Nancy Hays Hills. Nancy, an episcopal deacon in Wisconsin, was employed for 35 years as a graphic designer and ad manager. She began her journals in 1997 but an illness in 2020 reframed things for her and retirement provided the opportunity to teach her style of journal writing. She works on her journal whenever she feels inspired, governed by the philosophy that a journal represents human life. It is “a dialogue between you and your heart and your mind”. A slide show of Nancy’s beautiful journal pages began the workshop. Each page was divided into many parts, which were then embellished with intricate drawings, inspiring quotes, travel references, doodling and a lot of colour. The items included all held personal meaning, some reminding her of specific events in her life. She spends hours to weeks on a page, often completing only an inch at a time, with her design experience always showing through. The materials needed for journalling are straightforward. Nancy creates her own journals by binding together sheets of Arches Text Wove paper and so she suggested we use it in the workshop. Also suggested was a 0.5mm mechanical pencil, eraser, ruler, a size 2 or smaller pointed brush with watercolour paint and a selection of pens. Nancy recommended a black Pigma Micron 005 or 01 pen, a white Uniball Signo or Sakura Gelly Roll pen and any coloured gel pens that we might have. Nancy’s particular favourite set of gel pens is Sakura Moonlight 06 series. Two other useful tools are a fountain pen containing carbon ink and a Kemper Fluid Writer. Following our discussion of materials, Nancy turned to address a main theme of the workshop, how to overcome a fear of the blank page. She had several strategies to help us deal with this common problem. All of them involved techniques to divide the page into manageable sections. 22
We began with a scribble. Nancy counted to ten while we closed our eyes and made a large pencil scribble on the page. We followed this, eyes open, with a pen line on either side of it and then erased the pencil line. By overlapping some areas of the lines and adding shadows, we produced the impression of a rope going over and under itself. This created a framework of negative spaces waiting to be filled. Nancy then led us through two more ways to approach a white page, starting with the creation of a grid. Leaving a border around the page, she drew two random vertical lines followed by four also randomly spaced horizontal lines. She painted the squares lightly with three different colours brought into harmony with each other by adding a touch of one colour to the next. Then she moved on to a fresh sheet of paper and painted wavy lines of varying widths. In the end there were numerous areas with which to work. Much creativity came into play filling the now available spaces. Nancy packed them with an assortment of letters, text, characters, random shapes, spirals, dots, circles and stripes. Some of the letters in the block of text were joined and the resulting negative spaces were coloured in. “Dust” was placed where lines came together. The wavy lines were filled with text and imagery. Detail upon detail was added. Here is where design considerations became important. Nancy gave some tips on creating a feeling of balance. Not all spaces need to be filled and if a texture is added on one side, perhaps it would look good on the other side as well. Colour can be added here and there to help simplify and reduce busyness. It’s also helpful to look at the overall piece and make any adjustments appropriate for producing a coherent look. Up until this stage, Nancy had us working with spaces that were joined. To teach unity she moved on
to unconnected ones. After painting a series of separated shapes, she used a dark line of varying widths to go around and join them. This gave a very dynamic look. A different look appeared in her next demo. She painted more shapes but this time joined them with fine, curving lines, adding stylized leaf shapes and giving the impression of vines. To this she added ribbons of dots creating a delicate appearance. A finishing technique Nancy demonstrated was to take a page with a grid of squares, each already full of images and textures, and draw a double line around the entire piece. This brought all the parts into a whole. For more interest, she added tassels on the corners giving it the look of a carpet. There was space in the class to practice many of the techniques Nancy showed us and with our homework assignments the participants indicated they had taken the instruction to heart. We saw many lovely, very detailed pieces. It was clear that a lot of time had been spent producing them. Nancy was very generous in her comments on the homework, giving direction and encouragement. Our course with Nancy was filled with examples of her work, demonstrations on how she works, instruction on design and much practicing. Nancy brought a friendly, thoughtful approach to the class. The homework she assigned left us detailed examples to come back to for reference in our future work and we definitely learned not to fear diving into a blank sheet of paper. – Kathy Bedard
Kathy Bedard
Margaret Kells
Cathie Harrower Jeanette Rawek
Caroline Morrison
Nancy Hays Hills
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January Meeting Programme - Square Round Lettering
Our own Carolynn Dallaire presented a lettering style from Lynn Slevinsky’s Marker Lettering, Vol. I. The Square Round Alphabet is useful for cards requiring formal or masculine pieces. It can also be used in a variety of ways such as light or dark pieces or for unusual backgrounds that can be enhanced by colouring the letters. A variety of tools can also be used such as Pigma pens, pointed pens, markers or pencil crayons. Carolynn provided a guide sheet made up of rows of squares separated vertically and horizontally by 1/8-inch
spaces. She demonstrated the formation of each letter using the guide paper underneath her work. Carolynn drew each letter in a slow methodical way making it easy to follow the steps. After making the “I” she moved her paper over the guide to maintain the proper spacing. This was also done with the “W” and “M” as they are drawn larger than the square on the guide sheet. The “S” is on a slant so Carolynn likes to bring it into the next square.
moved the guideline to accommodate the placement of words and letters. Finally, we added weight to the strokes. Each letter was drawn and then the corners and ends of the lines were darkened giving weight to the letters. The last thing we did was to write our name. It became part of an address for an envelope using other hands as well.
The second part of Carolynn's presentation was to write a pangram. She placed a dot after each word and
The response to Carolynn's program was very positive. “I like learning new letters” and “This was the best program” were some of the comments afterwards. Thank you Carolynn for a most enjoyable session. - Linda Yaychuk
February Meeting Programme - The Empty Space
We were initially issued with two exemplars of Ms. Soria’s work as a precursor to the demonstration. The theory behind the work is that there is beauty in the empty spaces around calligraphic letters. The work can be performed with any kind of calligraphic hand, and the exemplars (by both Diana and Ms. Soria) showed ways that the space between letters can be utilized to create interesting designs. In the demonstration a small quote had been used, and photocopied as a primary exemplar. Diana explained the technique. Using a light box and a primary copy, other papers were placed on top, one at a time. The first copy had the spaces around the letters coloured in, leaving the letters white. Subsequent copies were made as follows: by omitting the centre letters, 24
but colouring in the border; colouring around the centre letters, but omitting the border; omitting a third of the letters either horizontally or vertically and colouring around the remaining letters; eliminating some letters and colouring around the rest, or leaving white space between the lines. The spaces can then be filled in using
marker pen, coloured pencils or watercolour paints. Diana displayed samples of work from her fellow students, as well as her own work. The results of this demonstration showed the many intriguing designs that can be achieved using this technique. - Margaret Kells
Diana Carwithen
Marina Soria
Member Diana Carwithen gave a demonstration based on her on-line class “The Empty Space”, facilitated by Marina Soria.
February 2022 Galleria Pen a quotation from an artist whose work you admire in which you try to use colours and style of that artist to enhance the presentation of your words.
Diana Carwithen Ruth Rutledge
Karen Hoffman
Joyce Gammie Marilyn Boechler
Judi Hopewell
Marion Craig
Jeanette Rawek
Violet Smythe
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Margaret Kells
Carroll McLaurin
Caroline Morrison
Betty Locke
Judy Lowood Ria Lewis Anne Atkinson
Ruth Rutledge
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Paullette McLaren
March Meeting Programme - Foundational Hand The March program was an introduction to the Foundational Hand presented by Marilyn Lundstrom. At the beginning of the 20th century, Edward Johnston developed a new form of calligraphy and named it the Foundational Hand. Up to this time teachers used the Italic Hand, which is based on the oval, to teach calligraphy to new students. Because of the many variables it is difficult to maintain a consistency when learning the hand. Edward Johnston studied 10th century manuscripts containing the Uncial script which is vertical and rounded. Children use ball and stick printing before being introduced to cursive writing. It made sense to base an introductory hand to calligraphy on vertical strokes and round shapes. Marilyn demonstrated the initial half moon stroke of the O. This stroke is
used when making letters such as c, p, d, and n. She then showed us how to make the beginning stroke or ‘brackety’ for downstrokes as well as the finishing serifs. The letters are made holding the pen at a 30° angle except for letters containing slanted lines such as w. The angle used for these strokes is 45°. These letters are usually four pen widths high. Marilyn showed us works by well known calligraphers like Sheila Waters and Reggie Ezell. Reggie uses a pen height of three which gives his pieces a lovely dense texture. Marilyn's presentation was thorough and easy to follow and gave us a good grasp of how to form the letters for the Foundational Hand. Thank you Marilyn for a job well done. - Linda Yaychuk
April Meeting Programme - Warmland Scriptors This month’s activity consisted of a viewing of the work produced by members of Warmland Scriptors, a sub-group of calligraphers within the larger body of the Guild. The expectations of, and challenges for, Scriptors are that each member will submit two pieces of work each month through a private Facebook site.
as their twice monthly tasks. The slideshow was extremely inspiring, and encouraging in terms of the range of ideas demonstrated, and showed how previously learned calligraphy ideas can be utilized. - Margaret Kells
The meeting was hosted by Violet Smythe, with sixteen members showing a selection of their work for a total of 46 pieces of highly original calligraphy. Each piece was showcased via slides, and each submitting member was asked to explain why they chose their particular works as their favourite ones to be shown. The members described the challenges encountered during the creation of each piece; what they learned in the process; and how much more confidence they had developed by participating in Scriptors. The slideshow portrayed our members’ incredible talents and the amazingly artistic interpretations of the unusual words they were given
Kathy Bedard chose hand drawn letters to present a visual rendering of a traditional Meerschaum clay pipe design.
Charlotte Whiteley learned how to paint beautifully accurate iridescent bubbles for this piece.
Diana Carwithen certainly captured the essence of the delightful film Mary Poppins with the cascading letters and umbrellas spelling out supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
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March Galleria Celebrate with the Irish by penning one of their insightful proverbs. You may wish to use Celtic decoration.
Judi Hopewell
Caroline Morrison
Jeanette Rawek
Violet Smythe
Diana Carwithen
Margaret Kells
Carolynn Dallaire Ruthe Rutledge Ria Lewis
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Jeanette Rawek
Betty Locke
Renate Worthington
Marion Craig
Renate Worthington
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April Galleria Remember back to your childhood and your skipping songs. Use a childhood play song for inspiration for your work.
Ria Lewis Caroline Morrison
Carolynn Dallaire Kathy Bedard
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Jeanette Rawek
Marion Craig
Diana Carwithen
Betty Locke
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May Meeting Programme - White Vine Letters
What a wonderful program we had in May. Lucy Hylkema showed us how to decorate White Vine Letters which were used in the Fifteenth Century. These decorative initials embellished many kinds of manuscripts. Lucy provided exemplars of the letters S and T with various patterns of vines and guided us through the steps of decorating them. The letter stood out by being painted black. We isolated each vine by starting at the root and colouring each with different coloured pencil crayons in order to make them stand out and identify how they intersected. Since the vines were to remain white in the final product, Lucy used this method to help us train
our eyes to identify how each vine grew and twisted around the others. The next step was to fill in the spaces behind the vines. Lucy said that the same colours, red, green and blue were always used with these initials. Red was the predominant colour in the background and blue was used around the outside or coastline as well as within. More elaborate letters had flowers growing from the vines. These consisted of wave-like shapes growing out of each other with bumpy scrolls along the outside edge. Lucy did a great job of guiding us step-by-step in decorating these complex initials. Thank you, Lucy. - Linda Yaychuk
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May Galleria Using this quotation from Kahlil Gibran to create a calligraphic piece. “Yesterday is but today's memory. Tomorrow is today's dream.”
Jeanette Rawek
Ria Lewis
Renate Worthington
Diana Carwithen
Ruth Rutledge
Marion Craig
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Karen Hoffman
Judy Lowood
Violet Smythe
Caroline Morrison Carolynn Dallaire
Betty Locke Anne Atkinson
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The Gift Pat Wheatley
One frigid day near Christmas We walked along the bay, And far among the rocks we spied Old clothing, wet and gray. Then, as our interest prodded us And we got nearer still The gray mass moved and we perceived Matted feathers and a bill. It launched itself toward the sea And floated just off shore, It had no strength to fly or fish, No strength for any more. We walked back down the beach again With many a backward glance, The wretched bird was motionless, It would not stand a chance. Why would the silly bird be here Far from its native sea, Far from its mates and food supply, Where it was meant to be? We got back home and phoned the ARC They said that they would try To get the bird before the night ‘Cos it would surely die. The next day when we phoned to find If they’d achieved their quest We were overcome with joy, The bird was safe at rest! One brown pelican that day Was saved to live some more, A child of nature lost and found Upon a foreign shore.
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