Newburyport Magazine

Last spring I was interviewed by Will Broaddus for an article in Newburyport Magazine which is a quarterly publication affiliated with the Newburyport Daily News. He spent a lot of time on the phone with me and asked insightful questions. Jim Vaikornas whose photographs I admire in the Daily News came to the studio and took photos. I am so pleased with the article that was published in the fall issue of the magazine.

Here is a link to the magazine. It doesn't take you directly to the article. If you click on the cover, you should be able to find it. 

Studio Sunday-Bittersweet

A sign of fall in the studio is a bit of bittersweet. This year it's in a ceramic cup my friend Cathy got for me at a League of New Hampshire Craftsman's Fair in Concord, NH. Unfortunately I don't know the name of the artist. Every year I gather bittersweet before the berries open and drape the vines on mirrors and mantles. The leftover bits are placed around the house. One year I used a particularly tangled group of vines for a Spirit Book (#57: Twined Salutation).

Studio Sunday-Coping with the News

Quoted at the Academy Awards by Meryl Streep. Dr. Martin's Bleedproof White, Speedball C-4 nib, Canson paper

Studio Sunday-Monastery Gallery

Last Sunday I was at the Monastery Gallery in West Hartford, CT as part of my exhibition there. The show started with what is now the traveling exhibition of The Power of Words, originally created at the Clare Gallery at the Franciscan Center for Urban Ministry in Hartford. These are the large wide banners in the photograph. There are ten all together with quotes from Mary Oliver, Eudora Welty, Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, Emily Dickinson, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Albert Camus, Jack Kerouac, and John Greenleaf Whittier.

The Monastery Gallery has two additions thanks to gallery director Kathy Parulski. One is the Spirit Books. Nine were exhibited on pedestals and shelves. I never would have thought of putting the them together with the lettering. I thought it worked really well and am so pleased Kathy thought of it.

The calligraphy from Clare Gallery was lettered live in the gallery in January 2017. Kathy asked me if I could do the same before an audience at the Monastery Gallery. When I delivered the Spirit Books, we agreed that we would use two of the pillars in the gallery which were narrow. Lucky for me, the passage she chose from Psalm 25 had short words. The longest were five letters: "Show me your ways, O Lord, and teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me." The longest words were five letters—perfect for a 12" wide banner. Here's a short video of part of the process: 

The background music is from Lammas Ladymass by Anonymous 4.

  

Birthday Morning Quote

As I turn 67 and think about the passing of dear friends this past year, I understand that another birthday is truly something to celebrate. I wrote out these words from John O'Donohue's book, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings, this morning to give me inspiration for the year to come. I've made it into a pdf for you to save or print and share.

Studio Sunday-Starting Spirit Book #101

This piece will be the cradle of Spirit Book #101. I assign a number when I start and a name when the piece is complete. The roots and stem came from the garden. I feel bad that I killed the rose but am looking forward to working with its remains.

Studio Sunday-Poetry Presentations

A recent project was two presentation pieces for the founders of Tapestry of Voices, poets celebrating the poetry of John Greenleaf Whittier with readings from his work and their own, to celebrate the twentieth year of the program at the Whittier Home in Amesbury, MA. I had always wanted to do a presentation piece that contained a quote as part of it which turned out to be a design challenge. I wanted to differentiate the quote from the presentation. I tried varying the size and the style of writing but wasn't pleased with either.

I had recently purchased 6" rounds of handmade paper from India at Artist & Craftsman in Saugus. I had used a couple for birthday cards and thought of using them for the quote. 

I liked the way the paper round gave a separate space for the quote but still allowed for the presentation information. 

One had a quote from Kahlil Gibran

and one a quote from Carl Sandburg.