Photo Nicole Swain. Massimo on canvas.
 

More Massimo Workshop comments.

Theresa

Massimo was a great teacher and it was a breath of fresh air for me to spend quite some time thinking about design and what makes a good one. He was helpful and brought some interesting photocopies of varied artists work. It was great to study how they moved the eye around the work, resting on a focal point and then exiting through another clever drawing out technique.

He even had an example of a Caravaggio painting which was really, really interesting and Massimo pointed out the clever way Caravaggio moved the eye into and around the work.

It has been very helpful and I can see already that re-visiting the all important basics of design has made me spend more time evaluating why things are/are not working. 

Thanks Massimo!

Bevan

An interesting and challenging three days!

Glenice

This was a fantastic workshop – one in which we used all the materials that were requested.  That it covered three days made it far more comfortable than having to rush through a two day course.  Things had to dry and Massimo has certainly stirred the creative pot for us.  I am so looking forward to spending time scrutinizing the work we covered and completing some of it.  Trish Carrick Leslie was a stalwart in taking notes, which she is collating and intends to hand on.  Massimo, himself, was the most amenable tutor and guest one could have and we all hope that we have done enough to entice him back for a future workshop i.e. there is so much of the country he has yet to see …………..

Lesley 

I found the workshop challenging as I had never used canvases/gesso before, and had done very little collage, but found the whole workshop most rewarding.  Especially liked using the balsa wood on paper - I could see it could be useful for backgrounds for calligraphy.  A big thank you to all the Aucklanders who organised the workshop, kept us fed and watered, transported us and everyone who shared so freely with knowledge and equipment.   Massimo was a great tutor and I loved the bell he rang to bring us all to attention! 

A big thank you to those that sent in photos, to those that hosted over night,  those who made ‘out of towners’ feel at home, and the back door helpers and those unseen doing their bit to help.

Photo Kate Thurston. Lunchtime break.

Welcome to 2015

Timely perhaps.

Another new year stretches out, how to get back to a calligraphy routine might trouble some, with summer diversions still beckoning, may I (Hillary) suggest some solutions.

Most of us have the internet, others have the library or their own creativity to use, do just that.

1.Subscribe to a daily post of poetry, prose, or even a word of the day, for example try this link  http://www.ayearofbeinghere.com  Each day take a few minutes to write out the words you choose. You will then have a record of useful quotes that resonate with you. If you do this you will become more familiar with your pen, or brush, maybe after a while better at layout, and even perhaps wish to develop the piece further.

2. Join a visual image site, for example Pinterest.com

Search using the word ‘calligraphy’, or for a calligrapher you admire, many wonderful works will appear, perhaps to inspire you to create your own. 

3. Revisit your calligraphy gear, look through workshop material, have your basic tools ready to use, paper, pen and ink. Nothing like a clean out and tidy before starting (especially for procrastinators).

You don’t have time! Are you in catch up mode already! The time needed is just the same amount as a cup of coffee or tea, wine or water.  There are many ways to get started back, the above is a beginning, may it work for you.

Massimo

continues

Margaret said
 ...had a fantastic time... 

Dale chose to comment 
on Massimo's workshop
 by creating with a piece
 from one of the days.

Writing on tissue.                                        Adding collage.                                  Pigment and water.

CHRISTMAS TIME, 

MISTLETOE AND WINE

'TIS THE SEASON TO PROCRASTINATE, TO FORGET YOUR DUTIES AND CELEBRATE!   PUT YOUR WORK OUT OF MIND, SIP A SMALL DRINK AND UNWIND.

Please join us for some music, calories and conversation as we wrap up another year of Calligraphy. The meeting is at Gifford Gallery, Poronui Road, Mt Eden

Tuesday December 2 at 6:30

Can you please bring with you:

A plate (with some yummy food on it) and something to drink

An interesting question that you feel the group would enjoy discussing – not necessarily about calligraphy!

Some money, 'cause there will be raffles … Massimo Polello’s art!

A Christmas card you have made yourself, to exchange

A silly Santa gift – up to the value of $10

-Ahh Massimo-

Massimo Polello has gone on South after a most instructive, motivating and exciting workshop with us and the effects of his teaching will resonate for some time. I would like to thank Margaret and Dale for their photographs, stopping in the midst of their own work to take photos for reference and for those who did not attend. We have been spoilt for choice.

Jan summed it up with this report:-

FULLNESS AND EMPTYNESS WORKSHOP

Fabulous, frustrating, fun, fascinating, fast, fatiguing, friendly fellowship, and FANTASTIC!!

Left: Massimo using the syringe. Right: More layers.

And lastly for this post some of Massimo's demonstration pieces.

Next week there will be some of our members workshop trials, tests and attempts along with (hopefully) a few more individual reports.

Margaret Woollett Calligraphy

Margaret Woollett has challenged herself with a wonderful exercise of discovery. One hundred alphabets recorded on the web. There are several ways to access this, try typing in your search engine (i.e. safari, explorer, goggle etc) 'Margaret Woollett Calligraphy' The best link is on Facebook, click on that or try this Margaret Woollett Calligraphy

Margaret started by posting day 1 on September 8.2014 using Monoline Geometric Roman Capitals. On day 67 Margaret is up to Wide Fat Square lettering with a pointed brush. It is well worth the time to look it up and be inspired. The journey is recorded well on face book and the images much larger than the few I have at the top of this post. 

This information has been forwarded to me as it might be of interest to our members. As a society we normally join in with the Association of Handcraft Printers and The Association of Book Arts in an annual get together, it's called the Waysgoose. This year it will be held at the Auckland Horticultural Centre on the 23rd November. See below for more information.

ASSOCIATION OF HANDCRAFT PRINTERS

Workshop

Handmade Books

Owhanake Barn, 57 Korora Road, Oneroa, Waiheke, Auckland

Thursday 9 October 2014, 10.30am – 4.15pm

Create your own handmade books, journals and gifts with talented book craft artist Beth Serjeant at this all-day workshop.Part of the Waiheke Book Festival 2014.

$85, all materials are supplied. BYO lunch (tea and coffee supplied). Phone 0800 289 849 to book.

Exhibitions

Proceed and Be Bold: The Pear Tree Press

Until 6 October 2014

Christchurch Art Gallery

An exhibition of beautifully crafted, designed and hand-printed books from New Zealand's most renowned private press, The Pear Tree Press.

Mark Cleverley: Objectspace Master of Craft

Until 11 October 2014

Object Space, 8 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland

Objectspace’s Masters of Craft is an on-going series of exhibitions that tell the stories of New Zealand craft and design practitioners whose practice is distinctive, enduring, influential and redefining of tradition.

Janus Press: The New Zealand Connection 

17 October – 1 November

Object Space, 8 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland

Internationally renowned Janus Press is the oldest private press currently operating in the US. Founded in Vermont 1955, by artist, illustrator and typographer Claire Van Vliet. Open for just two weeks, this curated collection features over twenty books on loan from Auckland book makers Elizabeth Steiner and Beth Serjeant.

For the Love of Books

Opens 20 October

Auckland Central Library, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Lorne Street, Auckland

This exhibition will inspire lovers of books with the inventiveness, imagination and technical skill of the work of contemporary book artists and fine printers. The books on show are a selection of the best international and national examples of fine book making held in Sir George Grey Special Collections.

Dark Arts: 20 years of the Holloway Press 

24 – 26 October 2014

Auckland University of Technology, City Campus

This retrospective celebrates the work of the Holloway Press, the fine press of the University of Auckland, which was established in 1994 by Alan Loney and Associate Professor Peter Simpson. If you missed this exhibition at the Gus Fisher then this is your second chance to see the entire Holloway Press collection on show during the ABC conference at AUT.

AHP Members Outing

B&F Papers, 33 Oakleigh Avenue, Takanini, Auckland

Saturday 1 November 2014, 10am

B&F Papers Ltd are a New Zealand owned paper supply company that have been serving the printing industry for over 85 years. They have an excellent range of specialty papers and boards, most of them cut and packed to convenient sizes. This is a trip to their warehouse to see how a paper merchant operates. There may be samples available!

Conferences/Symposiums

Art and Book/Against the Odds:

The Editing, Design and Production of Books

16-18 October 2014

Dunedin School of Art

Two days of papers and discussion from those engaged in art and book – as artists, art historians or theorists, teachers and cultural workers, and others involved in the wide constituency of the art world, as well as those engaged in the world of books – writers, illustrators, librarians, publishers and the many others whose lives are touched by the use of books in all forms – from those clay tablets to e-books, blogs, online hypertexts and any future manifestations of books. For more information visit http://www.artandbook.org/

Inside Outside – A Case for the Book

24-26 October 2014

Auckland University of Technology, City Campus

The Association of Book Crafts is hosting its first international conference, providing a platform for discussion on all aspects of book production, the bindings and contents of both traditional and innovative structures including conservation/history, exhibition of books, design, illustration, book arts, book collecting, education and so much more. It's an exciting programme of presenters, there'll also be a trade fair where book industry traders can network with the professional and amateur bookbinders, craft printers, calligraphers, librarians and specialists in other related fields. For more information and registration visit www.abc-nz.org

Storylines

For many years now AHP has participated in the Auckland Storylines - Children’s Literature Festival event and this year was no exception. Thanks to financial support from the Waitemata Local Board we were able to set up a game of letterpress Scrabble, view images here. Thanks are also due to our volunteers on the day Nathan, Amy and Brendan Laing and Graham Judd, who helped to make letterpress Scrabble a big success.

Wayzgoose

The date for your diary this year is Sunday 23 November 2014, 11am - 3.30pm. Please note the change of venue: The Auckland Horticultural Centre, 990 Great North Road, Western Springs, Auckland.

Entry is the usual $5 on the door and we ask that you bring a plate of savoury food for a shared lunch.

Vinculum

Look out for news of a Vinculum day coming up soon at MOTAT, meantime please post your submissions to Lesley Smith, 69 Paturoa Road, Titirangi, Auckland 0604 by 27 October 2014. Submissions are held until we have a minimum of 12 pages, we currently have six.

AHP Survey

Thank you to those members who have answered the AHP survey we hope to bring their stories to the website soon. For those who haven't, it's not too late, the information gathered will develop into a valuable resource and reveal the state of letterpress printing in New Zealand today. Take the survey here.

On the Web

Calcutta was the hub of India's printing trade in the 19th Century, here's an interesting picture story from the BBC of a letterpress print shop that has survived the transition to desk top publishing.

What's happening today?
Apologies about the late posting.

It's a spring catch up meeting, so people please bring something you are working on. We will also try to get the envelopes done for the Xmas magazine mail out, this also doubles as a social chat and question time. Bring along your usually calligraphy materials and cheery face. Those who are working on the collaborative books could share if they wish or discuss issues and problems.

Yukimi Annand is a calligrapher and text artist that I found on Pinterest one day and thought that her work was interesting and experimental. Perhaps it is something we could try with the flotsam and jetsam we all collect when we go to the beach, bush or mountains. If you would like to see more of her work here is the link to her website Yukimi Annand. Maybe we could even see it displayed in the collaborative pages, that some of us are working on. She very kindly gave me permission to use her image on the blog.

Psssst!

Have we quietly got your attention?

Our next night class (Tuesday 7th Oct) we are going to try and get ahead and arrange something for Christmas, starting with some festive words. Bring along your usual calligraphy gear. That includes your  pencil, ruler, eraser, practice paper (zeta) pen holder and assorted nibs, gouache, water colour, ideas. Speaking of ideas it might be one to practise before you come with some words that you may consider using at Christmas. Let's get a little ahead of the frantic rush in the summer heat (fingers crossed that summer will come).