Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing all my readers a truly wonderful Thanksgiving! May you be blessed today, as you share time with family and friends, and recall all the reasons to be thankful.

Here is a favorite quote I'd like to share with you. The author is Rebecca Harding Davis.

For, after all, put it as we may to ourselves, we are all of us, from birth to death, guests at a table which we did not spread. The sun, the earth, love, friends, our very breath are parts of the banquet...Shall we think of the day as a chance to come nearer to our Host, and to find out something of Him who has fed us so long?

Job Completed!

Woohoo! The Joliet Fire Dept. job was delivered today! Here are 2 of the 6 framed, final prints. They will be presented at a special retiree's dinner in a couple of weeks and will hang in a hallway in the main Joliet fire station.

CCC Study Group Today!

The CCC's West Side Study Group met today.

Rita demonstrated a simple bookbinding

technique using Tyvek paper and acrylic paints.

She brought pre-cut strips of Tyvek, along

with pre-cut pages, which we sewed into signatures.

We painted the Tyvek and set it aside to dry.

Then we assembled the books, adding mat board

pieces as hard covers. We then covered the mat

board with the painted Tyvek. This photo shows

our finished products.

Thanks, Rita!!!

This is a close-up of my book opened.

The cover is tipped in and attached

with a thin strip of glue.

Then it was time for show and tell. Barb and Luce took a class in Ireland with Denis Brown and brought along some goodies to share with us. They learned a technique that involved throwing waterproof ink on watercolor paper; then covering it with a layer of PVA. Alkyds were used paint over the ink; and gouache was used to write over the alkyds. This process is repeated many times in order to create a layered piece. The two pieces at left (top and bottom) are Barb's. The two pieces at right are Luce's. Both are still in progress. You may see more of Luce's work on her blog.

Aren't these just gorgeous?!!!

Calligraphy and Design Project

This is something I've been working on for a while now and is almost finished. The Joliet Fire Department hired me to design this project to honor their retirees from as far back as the early 1900s.

When we initially began talking about it, we realized that to do a hand-done masthead for each of the 7 sheets would bust their budget. So, I came up with the solution to design a masthead in Illustrator, include their historical logo, and typeset a special fireman quote on each of the 7 sheets. We decided that I would hand-letter the almost 400 names. (The names in ochre designate the rank of chief.) I chose a simple Uncial form for the letters. (Photo 3)

Each sheet was then printed as a 19" x 31" giclée print. There were designed with the lines for lettering printed in a 10% shade of gray, so they are very faint. We decided that it would be better to have those lines there (instead of erased) to minimize damage in the future. Because this is an ongoing project, there may be other calligraphers involved as more people retire. The less handling of the paper, the better.

There is also gilding on each one of the seven sheets. In the second photo, you see a close-up of the masthead. The stars that flank the word "Joliet", as well as the JFD logo are gilded with real gold leaf. You may not be able to see this in the first photo, but the stars that flank "List of Retirees" are also gilded.

Each one will be double-matted (soft white for the larger; gold for the inner thin mat), then framed in a very simple, classic black 24" x 36" frame. (I'll post some pics of the framed pieces some time this weekend.)

Adirondack Alphabet

Last year, I posted some photos of some "letters" I found in the snow while on a hike in the Adirondacks. I never did post the whole alphabet because the photos were making the blog too slow when loading.

Well, now that I've discovered Flickr I can share the whole alphabet with you. If you'd like to see it, go to my Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/19685473@N06/sets/72157622615091911/

Just in time for winter! Yayyy!!!

Artist Trading Cards Trade on Thursday!

If any of my readers are in

the Highland, Indiana area

tomorrow, come on out for

an ATC trading night!

Our local art supply store,

Hoosier Highlander, is

hosting the trade from 5 - 7pm

Thursday night. Refreshments

will be served.

(This is one of my older ATCs.)

Inspired by the Workshop

Here's a little piece I did for my friend's daughter's birthday card. I used the technique that I did in Carl's workshop.

A Commission!

I'm so excited to share this with all of you.

I asked Carl Rohrs to make a piece for me,

using our last name, with our first names

at the bottom. Here's what I received

this week!!!!