Issue #5
October 2009
THE B I RM ING HAM C ALLI G R A P HY G U I LD ’S N E WS LE T TE R
Mike
Kecse
g
www.birminghamcalligraphy.org
We had a wonderful workshop with Master Penman Mike Kecseg of Chicago, IL the weekend of October 3rd and 4th. There were about 20 members in attendance with our meals catered by the incomparable Mary Raines Harper! As always, the food was fabulous! The subject was “Pointed Pen to Pointed Brush” with the first day being all work with the pen and the second with the brush. The style of lettering he taught was one of his pointed pen variations called “informal pen”. It is written at the same slant as copperplate and involves the use of similar pressure and release techniques and loosely resembles an italicized copperplate. As an added bonus, after regular class on Sat. Mike gave a detailed 1 hour lecture and slideshow on his certificates and resolutions. On Sunday many of us had our first intro to pointed brush lettering! We worked on the same informal pen that Mike taught on Saturday and he taught us the basics of how to load and palette our brushes and said it was more important to have good “spring” in the brush bristles than to spend a lot of money on a brush. Synthetic is fine as long as it has good spring and a nice point. Mike likes Pentel Colorbrushes for practice and sumi stick ink for any finished pieces – either with the pen or brush - or to use after the ink in the color brush runs out of ink. Controlling the brush was challenging but rewarding and I think everyone in the class was told we had better results than we thought we were getting. Mike’s tips for good lettering: (1) always line your paper AND draw in your slant lines for best results, (2) use a 2 or 3B soft sharp pencil for lining – don’t press hard – use the weight of the pencil to draw your lines, (3) work slowly and deliberately – these are made to look fast, not write fast! (4) Pencil in smaller titles first to get spacing correct – this is not practical for larger portions of text however. What a great weekend! Mike was a fantastic and patient teacher and I can’t wait to have him back to Birmingham again soon! -Melinda Sapp
Mark Your Calendars Upcoming Events: November 14 & 15- Lisa Engelbrecht Lettering and painting on fabric Saturday, December 19- Holiday Brunch and Card Exchange at Bettie Perkin’s home in Huntsville Monday, Feb 8th - 6:30-8:30 PM Meeting with Hands-on-project Sat. March 6th- 8:30-noon: Barbara Mitchell’s Amazing Uncials March 15-19- Jacqueline Sullivan Monday, April 5th - 6:30- 8:30 PM -Meeting with hands-on project Saturday, June 5th- 8:30- noon Jim Davis “Bill Lilly tips for enhancing and embellishing your lettering” Saturday, August 7th- Meeting with hands-on project
Reggie Ezell’s “Primitive to Modern” Class 2 SPOTS OPEN!!!!
Contact Dana Jacobson (967-1489) An in-depth study of blackletter, vellum and gilding. You do not need to have taken the first Reggie class to succeed! (1 weekend every other month)
MINUTES Birmingham Calligraphy Guild October 12, 2009 Members present: Mark Cenczyk, Eve London, Louise Meredith, Kathryn Murray, Bettie Perkins, Ann Phillips, Sharon Phillips, Ann Steves, Alexandra Wadley, Wendy Wadley, Deb Warnat President Bettie Perkins presided. Treasurer’s Report (Ann Steves) To date the Guild has 35 members who have paid dues for 2009-2010. Mike Kecseg workshop:
Fees collected Expenses
$1550.00 $1529.53
The checkbook balance is $3765.71 Of this amount, $107.50 is earmarked for the Tina Motoyama Fund. Seventy-seven dollars and 50 cents were collected for the fund from the silent auction of the materials donated to the Guild by Rosemary Kenney. Newsletter:The Guild publishes a newsletter four times a year. Bettie Perkins stated that relevant information about members should be sent to Eve London for inclusion in future newsletters. Eve London reviewed the contents of the upcoming newsletter and requested additional items including recipes. Recruitment Brochure: Eve London suggested that a brochure explaining what the Guild is about be produced for distribution at Alabama Art, Forestall’s, and other venues. She volunteered to work on a design for the brochure. Holiday Brunch: Bettie Perkins encouraged early responses to her December 19th brunch invitation so that she can let members who are developing cards know the number they need to make. She also suggested that someone coordinate a carpool for the event. Member Profiles: A form was distributed to collect information (short bio sketch, favorite calligraphy tools, etc) about each Guild member. The information will be used to feature various members in future newsletters. Submitted by Ann Steves
Nibbler Bits Who Do I Contact? For workshop details? Suzan Bishop, 326-3926 sofbishop@gmail.com Meeting Information? Bettie Perkins, 256-881-6198 bettiejoyce@bellsouth.net Workday Information? Marsha Lassiter, 967-0969 mml4205@charter.net Join or pay dues to BCG? Ann Steves, 956-5493 p47ams@yahoo.com ($25.00 to BCG) Congratulations Deb! Deb Warnat received first prize in the Mixed Media category at the First Annual Juried Art Exhibition sponsored by the Shelby County Arts Council on September 3, 2009. The ceremony was held at the Arts Council exhibition space in Columbiana. Meet Mark Cenczyk Mark is a new member of the Birmingham Calligraphy Guild. In an effort to get to know our new members, we will feature a short bio about a new member in each newsletter! Welcome Mark! Mark was born and raised in Buffalo, NY. After college in Boston, Mark met his wonderful wife, Anastasia in D.C. and followed her back to Birmingham. He is a self proclaimed “Carpetbagging Yankee”. Mark first became interested in calligraphy at the young age of 9, but did not pursue seriously until he calligraphed his wedding invitations. His favorite hands are uncial and foundational. Mark prefers Speedball nibs and is a huge fan of the Pilot Parallel Pens. His favorite calligraphy book is The Art of Calligraphy by David Harris. He is enthralled with large medieval scrolls and certificates.
We have always been facinated with Bill Lilly’s writing style and presentation. Below are two examples of envelopes sent to Jim Davis (founding member of the BCG) from Bill Lilly. The calligraphy is inspiring as well as beautiful! Thanks Jim for sharing these spectacular envelopes!
W O R K S H O P S Barbara Close Workshop
How much fun can you have in two days?
Eliza Holliday Workshop
10/10-11, Gulfcoast Calligraphy Guild, Pensacola, Florida “Windows and Tomatoes – Brush Uncial and Blackletter” Eliza offer so much in just one weekend and was an extremely valuable experience. Day one we learned basic brush strokes and made quilt patterns out of them and then lauched into the Uncial hand. Day two we worked in blackletter all day and even had a few minutes at the end of the day to do brush lettering on fabric. It was a perfect tie-in between Mike Kesceg’s pointed brush lettering and Lisa Engelbrecht’s writing on fabric. You’ll see some of the quilt patterns in the group picture. All twelve of us had a great time and are looking for Lisa to come back soon. Deb Warnat
Want to Carpool to Huntsville??? Contact Eve London! londone@bellsouth.net or 205-870-5418
Nibbles Ambrosia Crunch
Mary Jane Wooten Southern Lady magazine
3 cups Rice Chex 3 cups Corn Chex 3 cups Cheerios 2 Cups stick pretzels 2 cups peanuts 1 (12 oz bag) plain M&M’s 1 12 oz bag peanut M&M’s 1 (12 oz bag) white chocolate morsels Mix all ingredients except white chocolate in a large bowl. Melt white chocolate according to the package directions. Pour white chocolate over the mixture and toss well to coat. Spread on waxed paper and let sit until the white chocolate hardens. Store in an airtight container. Note: Bettie reports that she had difficulty getting the white chocolate chips to melt to a good consistency. She had much better luck substituting a 16 oz bag of vanilla bark squares
CARROT SOUFFLE 2 lbs carrots 1¼ cups sugar 1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk 1 cup melted margarine ¾ cup flour 4 eggs 1 tbsp vanilla extract Cook carrots. Process in food processor until creamy. Let cool. Add milk, sugar, margarine, flour, eggs, and vanilla. Process until mixed. Coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and pour carrot mixture into it. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 min. Increase temperature to 400 degrees F and bake another 30 min or until brown. Makes 10-12 servings.
Officers of the Birmingham Calligraphy Guild (Les Elumineurs*) President- Bettie Perkins Vice President-Marsha Lassiter Treasurer/Membership- Ann Steves Recording Secretary- Melinda Sapp Workshop Chairs- Suzan Bishop, Deb Warnat, Barbara Mitchell and George Dorsey
The Birmingham Calligraphy Guild welcomes both amateurs and advanced calligraphers. All you need is an interest in hand lettering. If you would like to join: Contact Ann Steves p47ams@yahoo.com Dues are $25.00 to Birmingham Calligraphy Guild (September 1- August 31) Mail your dues to: Ann Steves 5637 Hampton Road Birmingham, AL 35210 205-956-5493 Being a member keeps you up to date with events and workshops! Don’t hesitate... Join today!
* founded 1987