Happy New Year!

'tis the Season to be Jolly!

Note to Self

Never wait until Dec. 23 to do your Christmas shopping. It is not wise.

Never accept new work after December 15.

Never plan on doing Christmas cards after 'the rush.'  You will not get them done.  You will feel frustrated.

Remember, I warned you. . .

An Exquisite Example

From Letters of Note, an exquisite example of a Lover's Knot:

Popular amongst a small section of Pennsylvania Quakers in the late-18th and early 19th century, the 'True Lover's Knot' is both an undeniably romantic form of love letter and an impressively intricate, labyrinthian work of art of which very few examples still exist. Handcrafted using quill, brush and compass, the stunning knot seen below was written in 1801 by an itinerant Quaker schoolmaster named Hugh Pugh - then aged 54, approximately - and sent to one of his pupils, 20-year-old Mary Fisher. Its various geometric shapes are filled and surrounded by poetic messages in Pugh's copperplate script, and can be read fully, in any order, by rotating the paper.

You can learn more about this rare example of the True Lover's Knot at Letters of Note.

Another try

Number Two

This image is disappointing--I used all metallic inks and it just doesn't show up very well when scanning.  The leaves are green--really they are!  And the lines don't show up at all 'in real life' but there they are in the scan.  But imagine crisp, glittery, metallic color--white, gold, bronze, green and blue.

I'm happier with the arrangement in this one, but I still see clumsy execution and things that I would change.  

I made this for my friend, Emily, who is the daughter of my dear friend, Dorothy.  The Antiqua Baroque Concert is the ensemble she plays with.  We attended their concert on Sunday afternoon and it was marvelous!  The instruments played by the four musicians included the recorder, the Baroque trumpet, Baroque horn, the cornetto, violin and viola da gamba, and the harpsichord, played by Emily.  

My First Attempt at Flourishing

Sad. . .

I've lost an old friend today.  My gray Ziller oblique pen shaft developed a crack.  I noticed it was beginning to develop a rocking motion as I was working. 

I've already (over)spent my supply budget this month so I'll have to wait a while to order a new one (or two!)  In the meantime, I'll use my beautiful Century Oblique.

Pangram Three

Carolingian

Black Sumi Ink

Mitchell #2

White Scrap paper

Digitally reversed colors

Pangram Two

Uncial

Sumi Ink

Scrap Paper

Mitchell Nib #1

Update on Sunday, October 10, 2010 at 5:32PM by Kim

(. . . just noticed I didn't get this one right.  Should be 'the quick brown fox jumpS over the lazy dog.'

Too lazy to do it over.  Maybe I'll just add an 's' on the end of dog. . . )