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-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.

  

Studio Sunday-Lettering Projects

Back in the studio after our trip to Costa Rica with several lettering projects underway. T.S. Eliot quote that will start my Masscribes talk on March 24, quote from the Black Panther movie, and New England Haiku, poems by seven poets.

End of the Year Gratitude

Making art is an act of faith. You have to believe that art matters and makes a difference. The current state of affairs has taught me how much I do believe art matters. I am thankful for all the people who agree and who have helped me reach out beyond my studio. Here's a chronological presentation of this year's events (one of my most productive) and supporters.

The Power of Words: Live Calligraphy & Exhibition 

Clare Gallery, Hartford, CT, January 2017

Thanks to Chair of the Clare Gallery Nancy Wynn, Franciscan Center for Urban Ministry Pastoral Associate Pat Curtis, and John Neal for including my article in Bound & Lettered.

Women's March, January 2017

Thanks to all who printed and shared the pdf of the booklet at marches around the country and world.

The Spirit Books & Artist's Talk 

Brush Art Gallery, Lowell, MA, April–June 2017

Thanks to Brush Director Jim Dyment and artist Cindy Hughes.

Pretty As A Picture: Tusinski, Roy & Gaylord

and Art Stop Saturday Talk and Live Calligraphy

Paula Estey Gallery, Newburyport, MA, June–July 2017

Thanks to Paula Estey for all her support of my work and for all the work she puts in to make Newburyport a place where Art Matters.

Reading the Past: A Calligraphic Installation

White-Ellery House, Gloucester, MA, June 2017

Thanks to Leon Doucette of the Cape Ann Museum and to Karen Battles who introduced me to the space and encouraged me to pursue an exhibition.

Book As Object Talk

G.A.R. Memorial Library, West Newbury, MA, July 2017

Thanks to Susan Babb for being the first to book this talk and to my friends who came for telling me "Book As Object" is not a great title. New title: A Celebration of Books and their History.

Words For Our Time Open Studio

Newburyport, MA, September 2017

Thanks to all my friends who helped me both before and during the Open Studio.

Words For Our Time Posters

Tiny Gallery Under The Stairs, First Religious Society, Newburyport, MA, October 2017

Thanks to Ann McCrea for suggesting the space and gallery Director Bettina Turner for her support.

Article: In the Absence of Words

Merrimack Valley Magazine, January 2018

Thank you to writer Michelle Xiahros Curran and photographer Kevin Harkins. 

And thank you to my husband Charlie without whom none of these things would have happened.

Studio Sunday-Greens and Words

Holiday preparations get a folding table in the studio overseen by the Words For Our Time posters.

Studio Sunday for Masscribes Talk

I'll be speaking about my work at this coming Saturday's Masscribes Holiday Gathering in Norwood, MA. This quote from T. S. Eliot's poem Little Gidding will be the opening slide. I did the calligraphy with the folded pen I made in Carol DuBosch's wonderful Folded Pen Adventures workshop at Masscribes.

I'll be talking about how and why I fell in love with calligraphy almost forty years ago, how and why I fell out of love about ten years later, and how I have come back again with a new and joyful spirit. As with my work, I like to have my talks evolve organically. I never write anything down. I build the presentation by talking to myself and pairing the talking with images. I may also try to put these thoughts into an essay but that is a separate process. 

Studio Sunday-Yellow Holly

A friend gave me some yellow holly yesterday. It replaces the bright orange berries of bittersweet in my old ink bottle. It's perfect for this transitional time. Thanksgiving, the last of autumn, is past, but I'm not ready for Christmas decorating. The holly leaf speaks of the days to come and the berries remind me of the days left behind.

Studio Sunday-Sneak Peek at Solstice Card

One of the squares for this year's card, a tribute to my recently departed mother-in-law who taught me to love Latin plant names.

Video: Spirit Book #93: Winding Sanctuary

I'm getting ready for a solo exhibition of the Spirit Books at the McCoy Gallery at Merrimack College in North Andover, MA in January. For their safety and longevity, I can't let people touch them when they are being shown. It's a frustration for me, and for viewers, that they can't be experienced fully. I doubt I'll get it together before this show, but at some point I would love to be able to have a video to accompany the Spirit Books on display. I did this quick experiment in the studio with my iphone. The music playing tin the background is from Breath of Prayers II by E. J. Mills Brennan. 

Studio Sunday-Graphite and Letters

On a recent trip to Artist & Craftsman in Saugus, MA, I bought this block of graphite from Portugal. I didn't have to to experiment, but had to try it out. I wet the graphite and wrote this quickly with a brush. I look forward to playing with darks and lights with both brush and pen. I am storing the block in an old slide box with cut pieces of sponge underneath.

The bittersweet berries have opened. They are, by the way, extremely invasive. I dispose of them in tied plastic trash bags with household waste rather than with garden waste. The pretty sight of the orange berries (Celastrus orbiculatus) along the roadside is actually a view of an invasive species engaged in the slow strangulation of the trees they climb and encircle.

Studio Sunday-Bringing Autumn In

I prefer to gather bittersweet berries before they open. It's less messy and I get to watch them open. In the house, I've got vines on mirrors and mantles and in vases. In the studio, on my desk, is a little pitcher of bittersweet stems and the ID sign I made for the grilled carrots I brought to last week's Newburyport Horticultural Society meeting. On my tech shelf they are in an old ink bottle.

By my computer are Sheffield Mums in an old bottle. These flowers are a lovely light salmon color, bloom late in the season (there are still buds outside), and last well in the house.

Studio Sunday-A Couple of Shelves

Studio Sunday-Ed Karr

I've written about Ed Karr before. He was a calligrapher from Boston who had a studio on Boylston Street. Thanks to Tom Costello, I am lucky to be able to spend some time with Ed's work before it goes out to the Letterform Archive in San Francisco. I thought I'd share some samples with you as well as a few photographs.

Ed at work

Ed in his Boylston Street studio

Ed with Gudrun and Hermann Zapf

 Completely hand-lettered book of hymns

 Logo for restaurant in Quincy Market

Getting samples of one's work has always been a struggle

Studio Sunday-Spirit Book #94 Underway

I was gifted a couple of pieces of Harry Lauder's Walking Stick by Gay Tracy, an artist at the Brush Gallery in Lowell, when I had a small exhibition of Spirit Books there in the spring. I've started a new piece. Spirals are my favorite pattern to stitch and here they seem to echo the twists and turns of the wood. The gray handmade paper is from Paszkowski Paper from the Ukraine. The thread is DMC floss (2 strands) and DMC metallic gold (one strand).

Studio Sunday-Spirit Books review

I will be having an exhibition of the Spirit Books at the McCoy Gallery at Merrimack College in January 2018. I expect to make at least six new Spirit Books and hope to make more. They take a lot of time and I am committed to their growing organically. I often need to spend time with the cradle and the paper before I am ready to start stitching the pages.

Last week I decided to get out all the Spirit Books in my possession, except the ones that are in my personal collection. The last time I looked at them as a group was in 2014 when I was photographing them for the catalog I published. When I do this, I often make changes. I want the harmony I seek in the individual pieces to extend to the entire body of work.

Here's what's happening this time: Spirit Book #8 is getting the cradle of Spirit Book #77 which is being taken apart and possibly reused. The cradle of Spirit Book #8 and its base are being permanently retired. Spirit Book #20 and #49 are switching bases and some new paper is being added to #49. Spirit Book #28 is either getting a new base or a second layer is being added. Lately I've been making more cradles of two pieces of wood. The cradle of Spirit Book #57 is getting a second layer—logistics will be handled by my husband. I will be on the lookout for a new cradle for Spirit Book #52. I'll share some before and after pictures as I make the changes.

Studio Sunday-Pencils

When I visited my daughter in NYC last month, we went to CW Pencil Enterprise, a delightful shop on Forsyth St devoted to pencils. In addition to a collection of pencils, I bought a sharpener that does two sizes. When I sharpened one of the pencils the other day, I realized that I needed something to catch the sharpenings. Yesterday I found a little pewter cup to hold them at the Cushing House in Newburyport during the Garden Tour.

I also got a pencil with a hole for string that I am hanging on the wall with a push pin. If I remember to put it back, I'll always be able to find a pencil.

Here's few pictures of the shop.