Winnie the Poohism

I lettered this to honor my good friend, Jane. RIP dear friend!
I am breathless by your passing... my loss. What will I do without you!?

Latest Wedding obstacle solved....

When the bride ordered her wedding invitations, she overlooked the fact
that she didn't have a return address printed on the back flap of the invite and
on the response card envelopes....

I guess she thought that the calligrapher would do a couple hundred,
very tiny writing of the same address, over and over again....

So, what I suggested to the lovely bride, after she asked her printer if they could
take them back and print the addresses on them for her and they told her "YES, but
for an exorbitant price", was that I could calligraph a stamp in the same hand which
I did her envelopes with of her mother's address and she can use that after the invitations are done.

I chose an acrylic, self inking stamp, but since this was my first time...
lessons learned, I would have ordered the traditional, wood handled stamp
and inked it myself.... with Colorbox pigment ink.  This was an oil
based ink....

I think it was largely due to the absorbant envelopes that the impression wasn't as
crisp as I wanted it to be, because the actual stamp was cut perfectly and very clear.

It depended on how much pressure you put on the stamp as to whether it
was a little too dark or spotty...without enough pressure on the stamp handle.
There were some things I had to work through and I ended up having to rub
gum sandarac all over the surface of the paper before stamping...
which helped a lot!

Here is the ensemble with my hand lettered envelope on the left.

After all these years... I am still learning... and growing.

I will now have another item in my stash of treasures to call on if
I need a stamp for the future. 

We gave a great, local company which does a bulk of stamps and has
been around for as long as I've lived here.... a long time!

Gone from my sight, that's all!

This is my latest piece for a client who heard this poem read at a
very close friend's memorial service.... It's very beautiful, by Henry Van Dyke.

Here it is .. framed and in the happy recipient's home.

This is a close up....
All done on paste paper.... with gouache for the blue lettering as well
as Copperplate Gold for the gold lettering.

Video of my Copperplate in action

Hand rendered quickly for my friends in Oregon Click on this lettering for video to appear

Outside the box....

From this.... to ON the SKIN....

This!   Satisfied Customer!  Whew!

The Road Not Taken... Robert Frost

This piece was created for a client of mine recently. 
He secretly contacted me and told me a story of his wife and daughter
reading this poem together.  His wife mentioned that it was one of her
Favorite poems (Mine, too). So, he asked if I could create a calligraphic
piece with illumination in time for her birthday, April 23rd, 2013.

The pictures don't do it justice, really, as it turned out even nicer than what
it shows.  I used Instacoll and 23K Patent gold for the "T", watercolors for
the vines and Ziller Black Powder Ink for the lettering.  We discussed what
he wanted and he liked the traditional qualities of Black on White so we stuck
with that adding a little color as a meandering border.

When it was all said and done, my client loved it and also emailed me
later, saying how much his wife had loved the surprise, too!  I will quote his
exact words:
Trish,

Thank you so much for all your hard work and talent.
I want to let you know that my wife, Wendy, loved! her birthday gift. 
We will both enjoy it for years to come.

I would recommend you very highly!
I'll send you a pic once we get it back from the framers.
Best,
Steve

I hold this poem near and dear to my heart because this was at the
top of the hill where I lived and grew up at my grandmothers' house
The Rockwell Homestead, in Hadley, New York, for most of my life
and it still stands on the green today! It says,
"I took the road less traveled and that made all the difference!"

..........................

As an addendum... the client sent me pictures of the piece after they framed it.
I had to alter it a little due to the flash, but here is it's final look.

Newlyweds....

Created for a newly married couple

Perfect "gift" when you cannot be there in person! 
Let me do the "impressionistic" work for you!

Poem for a loved one....

Dimensions: 22 x 30 inches

I recently was contacted by a client who saw a piece I had done about
7 years ago that I had posted here on this blog.  He wanted specific
ramifications but when it came right down to it... he mainly wanted it to be
very "organic" and raw looking with emphasis in certain places using a different
script or bolder lettering.  Ultimately, he let me take the reigns and go with it, but I
needed to convince him that I would ensure the quality he entrusted me with.
I sent him this photo, still with the lines on it to get his opinion and his exact words were:
"You have exceeded my expectations". 
When I met with him to deliver it he mentioned that
"it was even more beautiful than the picture, if that was possible."
Of course, I cleaned it up and erased the lines first.
I aim to please!