INSPIRATION

[FrenchBlue Joy]

Hello all!

I'm procrastinating about starting on some lettering work for today, and I've been thinking about calligraphy inspiration!  More interesting stuff than a stack of envelopes to address, black on white...   So anyway, here are a few of the inspirations dancing in my head today:

1) I'm absolutely obsessed by the work of Italian calligrapher Barbara Calzolari.  Does anybody here know her personally?  I dropped her an email at her website, www.GentlePeople.it, just to tell her how much I admire her!  She has serious chops-- EVERYTHING she does, from very classic to-die-for Spencerian, to gestural, folded-pen sort of stuff...   Pure beauty.  Here's her flickr stream:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/8764890@N04/

2) Flipping through the pages of Molly Suber Thorpe's sweet "Modern Calligraphy".  So many adorable projects!  I love her TS Eliot "Coffee Spoons" written in the round, in coffee!  I think it was on her Instagram feed that I saw another quote she'd written in beet juice!  I'm going to try a little writing in masking fluid one of these days, like she's done on her place cards. Here's her website: http://www.plurabellecalligraphy.com/

3) Open Ink Stand's Schin Loong.  This girl is truly gifted with the pointed pen.  She's also an amazing fantasy artist.  Something else I really appreciate about her blog-- she can get a little saucy!     I can sometimes get a little bored by the sea of inspirational quotes that one sees when flipping through Calligraphy collections on pinterest, or blogs.  Schin mixes up love poetry with Led Zeppelin lyrics, and Shakespeare and Browning with something like this!!  I've re-pinned it to my own Tumblr blog.   
http://joyfrenchblue.tumblr.com/


Ok, I'm getting to work now.  :-)

[HarvestC]

Hi Joy. Barbara has been a member of Iampeth for many years now and has taught at some of the annual conventions. She won't be attending this year but she will be teaching at the Dallas conference this summer. She has taught in the US and I'm sure she will be in the future. She is on Facebook and usually keeps her teaching information up to date there. Harvest

[FrenchBlue Joy]

Hi Harvest!

Thank you!  I'm following her, but haven't seen anything so far for classes.  I will keep my eyes peeled. 

Are you offering your Roundhand class again anytime soon?  I've been recommending it to everybody! 

Have a lovely week teaching the Sisters!

[ewigginton]

Thanks for asking about Harvest's classes, Joy. I'm hoping she does something a newbie like me can take! It's just killing me she's right down the road from me....


Ellen

[Erica McPhee]

Ooh - such fun things to check out! Joy - your spencerian is GORGEOUS! Barbara is my new favorite calligrapher! I've been admiring coveting stalking her work on Pinterest.

[Roseann]

Joy and Erica,
I am obsessed with Barbara Calzolari too.  I took a Pointed Pen workshop with her this past July in North Carolina, and I learned so much from her.  I was able to spend a lot of time with her during a very early, private lesson before the second day of the workshop.  She is just amazing. She is such a passionate person and an excellent teacher.  She is a lot of fun to be around too.  She absolutely loves lettering, and is so inspiring.  It was a wonderful experience. 
And Schin, oh my.  I love her work as well.  So inspiring.  She is a sweetheart.  So kind and generous, always willing to help a fellow calligrapher.  Just like the both of you   

Love,
Roseann

[Roseann]

Hi Joy,
I noticed on your twitter feed that you used watercolor ink for calligraphy.  It looks so pretty. 
Can you please tell me what brand of watercolor works best for calligraphy?  Is it in a tube, or is it a ink. 
Do you do anything to the watercolor to prep it before use? 

Love,
Roseann

[FrenchBlue Joy]

Roseann, oh my GOSH!  Really?  How amazing.  I don't think I've ever stalked a flickr stream so hard as Barbara's!     Reminds me of when I just became aware of pointed pen, and I would look at Erica's website  20 times a day! 

As for my Instagram feed or FB (I'm not on twitter), I use all kinds of watercolor!  In the Autumn quote I'm using pan watercolors, by Sennelier.  That's a French brand.  I also use gouache, and last time I was in London I picked up a couple of bottles of Ph Martin's Radiant Concentrated Watercolor, which is thin like ink and comes in a bottle with a dropper.  That stuff is amazing!  The colors really fade, though.  Not for reproduction or archival work.

[schin]

Agh I had a heart attack to see my name there. So grateful and humbled And surprised that my blog is considered saucy, I try to keep that stuff under wraps...   

[Erica McPhee]

LOL! Your work is so, so gorgeous! I could stare at it for hours! Oh, wait, I have! 

[Roseann]

Hi Schin,
Its all true.  You are one of the first persons who answered me when I asked for help and advice and I really appreciate your generosity.  It helped me so much and in so many ways.  You really have a kind heart. 

Love,
Roseann

[FrenchBlue Joy]

Agh I had a heart attack to see my name there. So grateful and humbled And surprised that my blog is considered saucy, I try to keep that stuff under wraps...   

LOL Schin, your lettering is sooo good and your content is, too!  That post is old now, so I guess it's been pushed down in the Tumblr feed.  I was talking about your Nick Offerman quote.   

[Emily]

Thanks for the links to all the eye candy, Joy! There's been many a day I've managed to get lost in 'inspiration mode,' rather than actual practice... 

[FrenchBlue Joy]

Thanks for the links to all the eye candy, Joy! There's been many a day I've managed to get lost in 'inspiration mode,' rather than actual practice... 

Oh yes, me too!