NORBAG Calligraphy (Chancery Cursive) Workshop with Kathy Warren

On Saturday, October 14, we had our monthly meeting and workshop. Kathy Warren taught us Chancery Cursive which is based on Italian Renaissance manuscripts. As we said in our newsletter, this was developed as a "speed writing" technique for Papal scribes. Kathy mentioned that when she was in college and learning the various scripts, she learned three in one semester while Copperplate took a full semester to learn. With that in mind, we were very aware that we would be learning the most basic forms of Chancery Cursive and would need to practice at home.

Kathy supplied us with a sheet showing the basic strokes for each letter as well as the proper angle to hold pen and nib. A second sheet gave us resources to read and purchase. A third sheet showed us letter groups (letters that use similar strokes), related forms (where to start on letters, where the pen is picked up, the position of crossbars, etc.), spacing and some common mistakes. We also received several pages of lined paper for practicing. And finally, she gave us Zig Memory System Calligraphy fiber tipped pens to use in our practice.

Kathy brought an overhead projector that is ideal for this kind of workshop.

These are the materials that Kathy provided.

Lynne, Edge and Linda practiced with the Zig marker.

This is what the practice looked like.

It is somewhat ironic that we are practicing this delightful script and use it to enhance our daily writing while school children are no longer learning cursive in many schools.

Our entire workshop was done in black and white. No scissors or glue. Just quietly working with a pen and paper. For a bit of color, here is the table with the exchange books. Exchange book photos will be posted on Flickr by the end of the month.

Photos of May, 2016 Workshop - Basic Japanese Stab Binding by Lynne Gurnee

In May, Lynne Gurnée led our workshop in Basic Japanese Stab Binding.  We had in excess of 25 people. Lynne had us bring covers for two books and she provided pages with delightful haiku poems for one. We did two styles of stitching pattern. 

Two of the haikus:

Under the evening moon,

The snail

is stripped to the waist.

Don’t worry, spiders,

I keep house

casually.

Here are the pictures.

When we come into the room, it is empty. All of us set up tables and get ready.

Lynne had us start by folding our pages.

Then we gathered the pages and clipped them together.

And started stitching.

And stitching.

And these were the results.

January NORBAG Workshop

In January, our workshop taught us about a Leporello structure.  Instead of a single piece of paper folded as an accordion/concertina, you have separate folded sections glued to each other to form an accordion fold that is not limited by the length of a single piece of paper. 

According to Imago.co.uk: "Steeped in history, this binding technique takes its name from Don Giovanni’s manservant, Leporello, in Mozart’s famous opera.   A notorious lothario, Don Giovanni seduces so many women that when Leporello displays a tally of them all, it unfolds concertina-like across the stage, as a list of considerable length!"

Sounds quite elegant and posh. Not so for this workshop. Margaret B. from the UK sent us an exchange book that is brightly colored and exuberant. Since Margaret is in the UK, Dolores did the workshop.

Things started neatly. We started by picking five papers of different colors to make the cards.

Then things started getting a little out of hand when we started adding scrap paper and punches for the surface design.

Then the tables exploded with color.

In the bottom right, you can see that the covers were folded in half and that was the base unit used in the Leporello.

We made a WOW fold in a different color and added it to the folded card.

The next several pictures show many of our designs.

Hmmmmm

By the way, here is a picture of Ellen G. who takes and posts all of the photos of the exchange books on Flickr. She is taking pictures while the rest of us are at play in the workshop! Make sure to tap the Flickr pictures button to see the books in full color that are just black and white in the newsletter. The last photos displayed are from the December Card Exchange. The current month of pictures are usually up by the time you receive the next month's newsletter.

October 2015 NORBAG workshop - Zentangle

Judy Rishel lead us in the exploration of Zentangle. Judy's first exposure to Zentangle was at a 2013 NORBAG Zentangle workshop by Peggy Marrs. Later, Judy saw a Zentangle event at a conference she attended and was so interested that she took several classes. She feels it is "an art form that has exploded because you don't have to be an artist to do it! And there are no mistakes when doing Zentangle." No erasers, no rulers. Just a pen, a small 3.5-inch square of paper and and a pencil for shading.

Zentangle is different from doodling. Doodling is random. It can be almost anything. Zentangle is abstract and uses repetitive patterns made up of one or more of the following strokes: a circle, a curved line (like a C), a reversed curse (like an S) a straight line or a dot. A pattern is formed and then repeated. The object is to lose yourself in the drawing (Zen) without concern for the outcome.

Judy provided us with a delightful materials kit. We had an instruction sheet with patterns to use, white and black tiles to draw on, pre-drawn shapes to fill in with Zentangle patterns and even a template for a box that we could decorate and use to store our tiles.

For reference, Judy brought commercial instruction books, and a number of her own notebooks demonstrating ways to keep your own finished pieces, works in progress and pattern samples and practice.

Judy started the day with a white board. She drew three wavy lines (called a string) that we used to divide the Zentangle tile. Then she suggested four different patterns to use within those lines.

 And look at the variety of tiles that resulted.

Color, black and white and pencil. And each one is unique. 

 Judy's last words to us: "Remember, there are no mistakes, and don't forget to breathe." And then we did what we always do. We laughed and played and made tiles.

Black paper using white jelly roll pen

Using a pre-drawn shape

Using one of the commercial Zentangle books as inspiration

Using a gold metallic gel pen on both white and black surfaces

 

Creating letters with one of the commercial books as inspiration

Our October Book Exchange theme was "Falling Leaves" or "Autumn Colors." You can tap the Flickr Photos button on the left to see them in color.

Watch for the next workshop that will be shown here around the beginning of the month.