Next Meeting: December 2
7:00 PM MST via ZOOM
Instructor: Sally Towers-Sybblis
Watercolour Christmas Cards
December Letters and Lines Theme: “Dream”
What is a dream?…images, ideas, emotions, goals?…visions of sugar plums? Find a motivational quote and letter it using a folded pen or your watercolour brush. Take the word “dream” and make it sing on your page. Create a dreamy coloured background and add a quote, or your own words about making your dreams a reality.
A Little History Lesson and Lettering!
Reggie Ezell is very well-known in the calligraphy community, but many of our members experienced his instruction for the first time in our November calligraphy session. I’m guessing it won’t be their last, because his friendly demeanour and excellent teaching skills made participation in his Carolingian class a positive learning experience.
As COVID 19 continues to spread and the infection rates climb once again, we calligraphers are grateful to be one group which is able to enjoy numerous online classes. The variety of sessions being offered is astonishing, and the opportunities to learn at home are much appreciated. Be sure to share examples of the classes you have been enjoying. Send me the calligraphy instructor’s name, class title, and state the medium and paper you used. gfournier@telus.net
Membership
We give a warm welcome to our latest new members, Juanita Ott (Edmonton) and Christina Boychuk, who is a member of the Red Deer Lettering Arts Guild, but is moving to Edmonton in January. She does not know the city, so will be getting familiar with what we have to offer!
Sincere thanks are extended to our Co-Membership partner, Henry, who has worked hard to collect and coordinate all of our members’ information to create a digital directory. It was sent to you separately.
LETTERS AND LINES THEME— “A to Z”
Jeanine used Walnut ink with dry brush
Linda O’Neill
Amy Bollana
Peggy Marce
MEMBER PROJECTS
Risa Gessler’s Illuminated Letter ‘A’ by Cynthia Zimmerman
I saw a post on Facebook by Risa Gessler in which she was offering a workshop on the Illuminated letter ‘A’ on October 10, hosted by the Society for Calligraphy (San Diego). I had to become a member of the SfC which was reduced to $25 US because of COVID-19. This course was $60 US, but well-worth it. Risa emailed the template ahead of time and asked that we either trace it or photocopy it onto Arches text wove.
I’d just taken another workshop and thought I’d put my handmade tracing paper to use. After tracing, I had to go over the lines with a Micron pen. Risa also emailed individual templates of the steps to the gouache colour painting chart. I can only say that this helped immensely!
First was (Finetec) gold, followed by blue, then red, then Dr. Martin’s Bleedproof White, then orange, then green. We dipped the end of the paint brush in orange to make all the orange dots in the centre of the diamonds and then did tinier dots in Bleedproof white over top of the orange dots. Risa guided us through working on different sections so as to not work in wet paint. The final step was to outline the flowers and the creature with a black Micron pen.
Risa provided excellent step-by-step instruction and the result speaks for itself. The only drawback to the class was it was a one-day workshop, from 10-5 Mountain time. I believe any future classes will be divided into two days.
Envelope Exchange
Poppy cards done by Yogi. Used the #8 Kuretake brush pen Paul Antonio loves.
Learning Opportunities
John Neal Bookseller has many listings showing exciting classes by numerous calligraphers! https://www.johnnealbooks.com/prod_detail_list/online-classes
Acorn Arts has redesigned their website with updated classes. https://www.acornartsclassroom.org/store
The Society for Calligraphy has been posting several online classes that are open to everyone. Find them here on their website. https://societyforcalligraphy.org/
Reggie Ezell–For more information on Reggie’s classes: https://www.reggieezell.com
Calligraphy Italia–Calligraphy Italia https://shop.aliriccardo.com/en/categoria-prodotto/workshop-online/
Society for Calligraphers– https://societyforcalligraphy.org/Workshops
Sally Penley—Sally has seven online classes in the new year! https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTcL9vody6hMYlMTNBKfzEVxG1_wS02bFjPxEBihsKlwgc85Kit1ADL1wwK9dAuUwqAFea5hfzHgaUS/pub
Carrie Imai—Check out her new class, Foundation Meets Bone! http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=6klbffdab&oeidk=a07ehe1xbfl85b637aa
Sally Towers-Sybblis—Join artist Sally Towers-Sybblis every Tuesday from 10-11:30 on Zoom for a delightfully therapeutic art class! Each week we will work on a small project combining watercolour and simple lettering. This class is a drop in class. You do not require any previous experience. If you would like to join, email Sally. Her email address is sallytowerssybblis@icloud.com.
Sally will have the class description, required supplies, and photo ready by the Friday before each Tuesday class.The cost of the class is $15.75 (GST included). She accepts e-transfers at the above email. You will need to make the e-transfer prior to the start of the class to receive the Zoom invitation link.
See a selection of Sally’s sample videos on her Vimeo channel: https://vimeo.com/search?q=Sally%20towers-Sybblis
https://vimeo.com/search?q=Sally%20towers-Sybblis
https://vimeo.com/search?q=Sally%20towers-Sybblis
Also on her YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/AQ_LEn2llXc
Her first class is next Tuesday November 24. Create a beautiful blue poinsettia card!
Breaking News!!
We are hosting a “Celebrate Handwriting Day Class” on January 23rd/2021. All members are invited to share this information personally with friends and educators.
Here is the information on the Eventbrite site:
January 23rd/2021
Time: 10 am to 12:30 pm
Cost: $11.62
Description:
Join the Edmonton Calligraphic Society to celebrate Handwriting Day in 2021. This class is for everyone interested in legible handwriting. Parents, children and educators will work together in this Zoom session under the instruction of well-known calligrapher, Julie Wildman.
Using the handouts provided and a pencil, pen or fine tipped marker, you will learn a handwriting style based on an elliptical shape that eliminates the loops of conventional cursive handwriting. The model for lower and uppercase letter forms are from the Getty-Dubay® Italic Handwriting Series. More information on Getty-Dubay® Italic Handwriting Series can be found on the ECS website. (Edmonton Calligraphic Society) You can purchase a ticket to reserve your spot through Eventbrite .
Participants will also receive a recording of the class afterwards.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION!
- Looking for a unique Christmas Gift? The Getty-Dubay folks have digital gift cards in varying denominations for you to purchase. The receiver can put them toward one of their handwriting programs. https://handwritingsuccess.com/gift-cards/
2. Jeanine noticed that the Paint Spot has a new stock of the handy little Speedball Handbook in stock…another great idea for someone’s stocking? https://www.paintspot.ca/
3. For members only: Send an email to https://edmontoncalligraphicsociety.ca/contact/ if you wish to advertise your calligraphy skills in our Calligraphers for Hire
4. I have only had one submission of photos for the January Ink Drops. I’ve asked for pictures of your old/unusual inkwells and/or pen holders to put into a special issue of our newsletter. Please forward them to gfournier@telus.net.
5. Thank you to the 70 members who responded to our Fall Survey. It is very beneficial to your Workshop Committee, as it gives them direction and helps planning future sessions.
6. Please Note: We had agreed to pay an extra $50 USD for our instructors to bump up their Zoom accounts to accommodate more than 100 members. In Sept., we had 109 attendees in Julie Wildman’s class, but the numbers dropped to 86 and 87 for the next two months. Since the sessions are recorded, it seems that people are choosing that option if they have other events on the night of our meeting. We have decided not to bump up the Zoom accounts. This means that the first 100 people to sign into our meetings will experience the live session, and those who follow, will have to catch it when the recording link is forwarded to you. We feel that this is the most prudent use of our funds and hope you will accept this.
Happy Pen-Play!
Gail Fournier
ECS President
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