Stop Press:
A message has just arrived from Ewan Clayton.
Gemma Black has recorded an interview which will go out on Radio New Zealand National this Saturday 14th at about 13.10 NZ time. The programme is called 'This way up' Slices of life for curious minds!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

What a Merry Christmas party we had, Jan had us on the go all night and we laughed and laughed. Firstly we had a “Christmas Card - Lucky Dip” (see photo below). The aroma of the festive food and a drink couldn't be denied, and we celebrated our Christmas table. Afterwards back into it with a challenge of writing out the words “Merry Christmas” (photo below) with our left hand. There were a few who took short cuts and wrote “Merry Xmas”. A design student won first prize and her name was Kate. We then had to put two puzzles together, Jan had bought them at the $2 shop - plain white (jigsaw cut out pattern) (see photos below) and she had written calligraphic words all over them, that was a lot of fun. We had some pictograms puzzles and the one that got us all was the “circles under the eyes”. Kate our bright spark won that also. On to a quiz where everyone had to bring a question and believe me that it was hard - I only got three right, Rose Browning got eight correct and won the prize. There were about 14 of us in total, regretfully Anne Briden left before we took the photos. Merry Christmas one and all.  
Report from Dale-Cormack Pearson - thank you very much Dale.

Left handed lettering and calligraphy jigsaw puzzle. 

Selection of hand made Christmas Cards.

This is an invitation to come along to our Christmas 'Do', looking forward to seeing you.

Are you interested? 

Margaret Schmidt is coming over from Australia, possibly May 2014 depending on your interest, and offers a workshop using some of the suggestions below. Gillian Carlsson in Warkworth will be organising it. We are wanting to gauge interest by your response as funding and organising will need to be in place soon.

BEAUTIFUL BACKGROUNDS: 2 or 3 days of creating gorgeous papers you'll be inspired to write on! Covers background washes, special effects, sponging, metallic leaf, lattice cutting, embossing & sculptured letters.

CREATIVE CALLIGRAPHIC CARDS: 1 or 2 days learning lettering with a quirky flavour, and combining different calligraphic styles with colour & simple decorations to create cards with character (2 days is not as rushed and can include techniques for the parallel pen).

TRICKY THINGS: 1 day sharing all my secrets for writing on candles, christmas balls, plates, rocks & other tricky surfaces.

TINY TREASURES: 1 day, any level - how to write small, in books, in boxes to create tiny treasures.

CONTEMPORARY POINTED PEN: 1 day for confident calligraphers, or 2 days for less experienced - pointed nibs are good for more than Copperplate! Learn several contemporary styles, based on Italic & Copperplate, to create lettering with an energetic, modern feel.

FREEFORM VERSALS: 1 day - this could follow on from contemporary pointed pen for more experienced calligraphers.

GOTHICIZED ITALIC: 1 day - an elegant lettering style to suit all student levels.

If you are interested or want to know more please contact  by email, carlssonb@orcon.net.nz

Click here for Margaret's company website.

Please let us know...

Some examples of Margaret's work.

Tuesday – 5 November – Evening Class at Windmill Road, Epsom.

Roselda

Erin and Glenice

 What a wild night we had! For a starter we were downstairs, I have never been there before and we were greeted with this lovely display of shoes as we opened the doors. When we went upstairs to put books and videos back in the library we were greeted with a wonderful display of Embroidery. Believe me it was a mix of beautiful pieces of work, we came back down stairs inspired. As the night progressed the rain set in and the wind was like a howling gale all around us but outside. We were nice and cosy inside with plenty of light to work with and comfortable chairs and of course the odd cup of tea and coffee. Jan inspired us all by bringing along a page of Christmas lettering which could end up as Christmas wrapping paper but like all good things we ran out of time. I spent the evening trying all my paints to get the right red for my Christmas flowers, sorry no work to show you. However, there are some photos of the start of Christmas wrapping paper and then some pieces by other members writing,  Roselda, Rose and Glenice and Erin playing around with designs. It was a good night after getting the depressing news that we will have to move again. So we will have to look for rooms elsewhere and also cupboard space to house the library. It is such a shame as I know we have enjoyed being able to use the space and see the Embroiderer's creative pieces. The next Class is on 3 December and that will be our break up Christmas party. Same place, same time. Please bring a plate to share and make sure you make a Christmas card and then we will have a lucky dip of Christmas Cards and you will be able to take one home - that is if you put one in. Dale-Cormack Pearson.

Left: Jan's exemplar     Right: Rose

Please notice that the November date should be the 5th. 

A somewhat dodgy calendar was used for the handwritten notice for this meeting. 

Christopher Haanes Workshop

A demonstration, for all to watch every move of the pen, body, slope, pressure, relationship, shape, it's a very fulfilling way to learn. Nothing quite beats it. 

Left. Christopher showing Barbara exactly how he does it. Centre. Some of Christopher's work was available for sale. Seeing marks actually on the paper is a good way to analyse  how they were made. Right. Total concentration

Left. Christopher working with a ruling pen. Right. The group. (click on photo to enlarge) minus Bevan and Tom, who had to leave early. There will be a much fuller account with more photos in our next magazine, something to look forward to. I was unfortunately unable to attend this workshop so thanks go to Gill and Dale for the photographs.

Dale explains a little more.  I went along to the last hour of Christopher Haanes workshop to take some photos. When I arrived I was surprise that I could not hear any voices. I was very pleased when I got to the top of the stairs to find everyone hard at work. They had a tea break which gave me the opportunity to go around and take some photos for the next newsletter and to see everyone’s work. Most people said that is was a back to basics for them as they had got into bad habits, and were not looking at their spacing. It seemed that they enjoyed themselves but had to work very hard. Christopher was charming, very tall, handsome and young. He had not quite got his voice back yet and I was very lucky to watch him working on a piece of his work. He had written a piece using a ruling pen which had lots of fine lines to it. I watched and he built up on each letter retouching here and there, it was a fascinating process to watch. It looked a very interesting workshop and I am sure that everyone learnt a lot from him.  More to come in the next newsletter. Dale.

Tuesday Night in Epsom.

Roving reporter Rose Browning

Hilary Lewis gave an excellent 20 minute power point presentation about Calligrams, the definition, historical context and numerous examples which were extremely varied and interesting. We then each drew from a hat two pieces of paper, each one had a different word written on it. It was then our turn to try and interpret that word using letters only. The photos show some of our attempts. It was a fun evening and we left feeling like we'd like to explore the idea further.

Some snapshots from the Gilding Workshop in Warkworth last weekend.