Tag: calligraphy projects

A Little Letter Play

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

Travel and garden produce preservation projects have kept me from my studio in recent weeks. Today was a “free day” so I dug out my inks, pens and practice paper. I played with an alphabet learned from well-known calligrapher, Barry Morentz. (Here’s his website: https://acornarts.org/barry-morentz-gothicized.html  or you can find him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/barrymorentz/ His “Gothicized Italic” letters are his hallmark. I admire them very much. I used the Speedball Textbook with his exemplar to guide my letter play today. Also used my Westwind practice pad, calli red ink and walnut ink and a size 2 Mitchell nib to do this lettering.

Here is my “dinking around.” LOTS of mistakes, but it is fun to get back in the calligraphy saddle after a long time away.

practice lettering using “gothicized italic” letters developed by Barry Morentz

Hidee-ho, off I go. Time to get ready for “Girls’ Night Out” with a gaggle of friends.

QUESTION:

What have you neglected to do that would be fun and “good for your soul”? Will you carve out a bit of time to do that fun thing this weekend? Hope so!

Does Love Enthrall?

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

Here is another letter in my Alphabet of Love (see posts for July 12 and August 2). Check out the word “enthrall.” I’m not so great at pointed pen writing, but the word itself is fascinating.

The letter E

In preparing to letter the words for the letter E, I found the word “enthrall.” It is rather old fashioned and almost medieval in its connotations.

enthrall \in-thrȯl\ vt 1: to hold in or reduce to slavery 2: to hold spellbound: CHARM

I belong to Jesus Christ. He has made me His own by dying in my place under the curse of God on my sin. The book of Romans describes my relationship to Him this way.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?  But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.  Romans 6:8-18

 

This Scripture really impacts me. The idea of being a slave is sobering. Imagine being a servant (slave) in the household of a wealthy feudal baron. The castle is a stone structure. Your quarters are probably in an unheated attic. You must rise before dawn, dress and hurry to prepare every need for your master.  Not one hour of your day, not one day of your week not one week of your year, or one part of your life is free from the whims and needs of another. Indeed, a difficult situation if you are slave to a kind master, but utterly miserable if he is a cruel, thoughtless or demanding owner. Life is an unending cycle of work which, at best, does not enrich you one bit. At worst, your life is a grinding, miserable endurance contest.

Now, think of what Paul is saying about our relationship to sin- and ultimately the tyrannous evil lord of sin: satan. “You were slaves of sin.” (v. 17) In other words, you were “enthralled” by satan. Every single ugly word from your mouth, every mean thought, and every dishonest action was part of your slavery. “the devil made you do it” –you were enslaved by sin and couldn’t help but sin. It was part of your spiritual DNA.

Romans 6: 17-18

But hear the glorious good news! You have died with Christ so death and sin are no longer your masters. Now you are the “slave of righteousness.” You are free from the wicked, misery of slavery to sin. The shackles of shame, guilt and consequences are broken. You are free! Free Forever! Free to love God and others. Free to enjoy the perfect liberty of Christ.

Jesus’ good gift to me of His life in place of mine has me enthralled by Him. I am His Love-slave. Oh, what a happy situation! I am forgiven. I no longer bear the shame of my sin. I no longer am tyrannized and unable to keep myself from sinning. Jesus helps me live rightly and in the way of Love. I am enthralled by Jesus!

QUESTION: To whom are you enslaved? The devil? Jesus?

Alphabet of Love- Part 2

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

I’ve completed several more letters for my Alphabet of Love. (For the first two letters see the post July 12, 2019, “Alphabets”)

the letter “C”
The letter D

The letters C and D which you see here have some words that stir my thoughts about love. Listen to the definition of LOVE as a noun.

“1: affection based on admiration or benevolence. 2: warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion. 3: unselfish concern that freely accepts another in loyalty and seeks his good. 4: the attraction based on sexual desire: the affection and tenderness felt by lovers.

And hear it defined as a transitive verb.

 “1: to hold dear: cherish 2: to feel a lover’s passion, devotion or tenderness for.”

These definitions cause me to think about my relationships with God, my husband, my mother, siblings, and friends…AND with “things”.  I get a serious nudge from the Holy Spirit. I am commanded not to love the world or the things of it. Arghhh. That comes uncomfortably close! My preoccupation with my clothes, my household furnishings, my car, my “expertise” at painting or calligraphy. Anything that becomes a focus in place of my allegiance to God is the wrong way to spend my “love.”

Now that I have made these art pieces, when I look at the words I chose much comes to mind.

Beginning with words starting with theh letter C there is much to ponder.

God’s love for me will never change. He is CONSTANT. My prayer: ‘Lord, help me love You in return with constancy.’

“For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6

I continue to marvel that Beloved Spouse decided to ask me to dance in that “social dance” class at college. I am indeed CHOSEN. What a happy thing it has been these many years with him. And even greater joy is to be called the child of God. I’m CHOSEN by the Creator of the Universe! Amazing!

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are,…” 1 John 3:1

The relationship between two people who “love” each other requires COHESION to weather the storms of life. Thankfully God has blessed Beloved Spouse and me with the gift of learning to “cohere” in spite of our totally different personalities and ways of doing things.

“But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24

I am so thankful that God has promised to help me when I have no strength of my own. He will CARRY me in His bosom as His beloved lamb.

“Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.” Isaiah 40:11

God knows every thought of my mind and every trouble in my heart. He has given me His own dear presence as COMFORT in this fallen world.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4

And then there is the letter D. Let’s dive in to the ways “D” words develop our theme. (Pardon the alliteration… I love to play with words and sounds.)

Have you heard the song by Chris Rice Deep Enough to Dream?  He sings about dreaming of heaven. When I think of the love that God has lavished on me that will give me that deep and everlasting joy of His presence, I know love. His love for me is DEEP and it is such a wonderful thing to DREAM of my eternity with Him enjoying every delight of heaven.

Question: What comes to your mind when you ponder the words written by each letter so far? Can you see the connection to LOVE?

Alphabets

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey
I love Letters! 26 letters that strung together in millions of combinations make so many ways to convey what is in our mind

I am fascinated with alphabets. The various calligraphic hands have so many variations for the marks we make to convey meaning. More often than not, each letterform is a beautiful work of art all by itself. When I study an alphabet the aspects that give it its own unique character are so intriguing. When I sit down to practice my calligraphy I often write words in an alphabet list that are all of a theme, such as food: apple, banana, cabbage, doughnut, flapjack, gateau, etc. Or, animals: aardvark, bumblebee, cougar, dinosaur, elephant, flea, etc. Now, I am ready to try a new project. I want to practice the various calligraphic hands I know and use them to explore one theme, one letter at a time.  Here’s the backstory.

For my birthday, my Beloved Daughter gave me a book called Hind’s Feet in High Places: An Engaging Visual Journey by Hannah Hurnard (Author), Jill De Haan (Illustrator), Rachel McNaughton (Illustrator). It is a lovely new take on the old book written by Hannah Hurnard in the early 20th Century. The allegory, very reminiscent of Pilgrim’s Progress, has become a devotional classic. I was profoundly affected by it back in the early 1980’s when I first read it as a paperback. In this updated version, De Haan and McNaughton have illustrated and made the book a visual delight so the spiritual impact is even greater.

As I began reading again, I was struck by the following conversation between the Shepherd and Much-Afraid.

“As Love grows in you, Much-Afraid, you will come to understand many things which you never dreamed of before. You will develop the gift of understanding many ‘unknown tongues’ and you will learn to speak Love’s own language too, but first you must learn to spell out the alphabet of Love and to develop hinds’ feet. Both these things you will learn on the journey to the High Places…”    (Chapter 4)

Right then, I decided to try to make “an Alphabet of Love” and began casting about my creative crevices to think of a way to ponder LOVE in all its depth using calligraphy. I dragged out my college-days Merriam-Webster and began perusing the listings under A and B. I jotted down words that apply to love in some way. Then I started playing with various ways of presenting the alphabet and the words. As I began to letter the words I chose, I tried to use alphabets that convey something of the character of the word. As you read the words surrounding the central letter, ponder the connection to LOVE. What kind of love is implied by the word? What action does love take or cause?

Here is my first try with the first two letters. I’d be interested to know what you think. Pay attention… new letters may appear in weeks ahead.

QUESTION: Should I continue this project this way? What other ideas might work? Shoot me a comment or suggestion—I’d love to hear from you!

Envelopes, Please!

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

Have you ever received a decorated envelope?

This week I have been making a fresh set of 14 decorated envelopes because I am the organizer of the annual Decorated Envelope Exchange for Write On Calligraphers. (http://writeoncalligraphers.org/) This calligraphy guild is in Western Washington and has members from all over the northern West Coast. The participants in the Decorated Envelope Exchange attend the annual Letters of Joy (LOJ) Calligraphy conference in early May. Some sign up to be part of the exchange of decorated envelopes over the months between conferences.

The concept is simple. The list of those who sign up to participate is organized into groups of 6 to 8 people per list. Over the year each person sends an envelope to each name on the list in which they are included. The envelopes can be simple or elaborate but each is a delightful work of art. Calligraphers especially seem to relish this creative opportunity. It is a fun way to share calligraphic skills and artistic inspiration.

I often use the stamp as a “jump-off” point for my designs.

                     The envelopes I sent in 2017 were based on stamps that showcased various Hispanic foods.

This year my envelopes are designed around the Post Office’s “scratch and sniff” stamps with 2 popsicles on each one.

This year, each envelope has a colored pencil drawing based on the popsicles on the stamps so no two envelopes are the same.

Check out the archived decorated envelope designs from those entered in the annual Graceful Envelope Contest. It is sponsored by the Washington (DC) Calligraphers Guild and the National Association of Letter Carriers. https://www.calligraphersguild.org/envelope.html  This year’s theme was “Put Your Stamp On It.” You can peruse several years of past entries and it is a really fascinating “eye candy” experience! I entered an envelope this year and am waiting to find out if it made it into the honorable mention column.

Another fun place to look at decorated envelopes is in Bound and Lettered magazine. (This magazine is a publication from John Neal Books. It is a supplier to calligraphy and bookmaking artists.) John Neal sponsored a contest last year in conjunction with the annual International Calligraphy Convention called “SeattLetters.” I entered an envelope with my design based on a stamp. It made the pages of Bound and Lettered.  Check out my envelope by scrolling down in the PDF here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.johnnealbooks.com/downloads/15-4pgs.pdf

I am a wild enthusiast of hand-lettered and decorated envelopes. It is a fun way to share my love of calligraphy and my art. It also lets my friends and family know how much I love them by making their names in “fancy” letters and painting or drawing something special just for them.

QUESTION: Who could you send a decorated envelope to? Are you brave enough to add a bit of artwork to the envelope of the birthday or graduation cared you are about to send off? Don’t you think your Mail Carrier will enjoy it (not to mention the Receiver-of-the-Envelope)?