fota 2010 october
DESCRIPTION
Friends of the Alphabet NewsletterTRANSCRIPT
October 2010
By Victoria Lansford
Fraktur, tape nib with liquitex ink, gouache, pearl-ex
powder, and gum arabic on Canson layout paper
2 ATLANTA FRIENDS OF THE ALPHABET—October 2010
www.friendsofthealphabet.org
The word “calligraphy” comes from the Greek Kallos gra-phe, meaning ―beautiful handwriting‖. The Atlanta Friends of the Alphabet (FOTA) is a group of friends who love let-ters and the printed word. Most of us are calligraphers, others are printers, graphic designers, bookbinders, and some just love letter forms and are content simply to ad-mire. All are equally
Friends of the Alphabet!
MEMBERSHIP You need not be a professional or amateur in the letter arts to be a Friend—simply share the love of letters. An-nual membership dues are $24.00 from September 1 to August 31. New members may join after March 1 for $12.00 Address membership inquiries and directory changes to Carol Gray, 58 Wiltshire Drive, Avondale Es-tates, GA 30002. MEETINGS FOTA meetings are on the 2nd Monday of each month and begin at 7:00 p.m. Programs at these monthly meet-ings include demonstrations, lectures, mini-exhibits, and panel discussions. We have an informal holiday gathering in July and December. Meetings are held at Trinity United Methodist Church, 265 Washington Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303, 404/659-6236, located at the intersection of Trinity and Washington Streets in downtown Atlanta.
OFFICERS & COMMITTEE CHAIRS:
President: Katy Burge— 678-910-8273 [email protected]
VP/Program Co-chairs:
Emily Canter – 404-633-8740
Second Vice President & Workshops:
Hilde Friese – 770-380-7593
Treasurer:
Lori Rausch— 770-740-1247 [email protected]
Corresponding Secretary:
Carol Gray – 404-288-8749,
Recording Secretary: Cindy Corless— 770-483-9843 [email protected]
Librarian: Mary Lou Kohnle— 770-924-3116 [email protected]
Membership & News Letter/Bulletin Editor:
Julie Cashin – 706-355-3289
Web Page Editor:
Emily Canter – 404-633-8740
Birthday Card Exchange: John Tiernan— 828-389-1346 [email protected]
Site Coordinator:
Mary Renshaw—404-294-4970
NEEDED!
A newsletter or bulletin editor!!!!! We have so many talented members in our guild, and some of you have
far more knowledge about publishing that I do!
PLEASE consider taking the position of
Newsletter or Bulletin Editor! Call Julie Cashin with questions:.
706-355-3289
What’s Inside
Message from the President 3
Islamic Calligraphy and the Qu'ran 3
Barbara Calozari Workshop Review 4
Mike Kecseg Workshop Review 5 & 7
Message from Mary Lou 6
Universal Penman Review 6
Member’s Art Calligraphy
8 & 9
IAMPETH 2010 10
Meet Mamie Velez 11
2011 Proposed Slate of Officers 12
HAPPY
HALLOWEEN!
3 ATLANTA FRIENDS OF THE ALPHABET—October 2010
Message from the President The November 8th meeting
has been cancelled. Instead, on Saturday, November 6th at 11:00 a.m.,
please meet at Emory for a tour of the exhibit, Islamic
Calligraphy and the Qu’ran! FOTA member, Kathy Kinev is a docent for the Carlo's Museum and has gra-
ciously offered to give us a guided tour. Kathy secured
a $6.00 fee instead of an $8.00 fee to get into the Car-
los Museum for this tour. Please be prepared to pay
with check or cash. We‘ll walk to one of the fun res-
taurants for lunch afterwards.
Everyone needs to go to the front desk and check
in. We will assemble on the Third floor, in front of
the exhibit.
We will be exploring two of the current exhibits at the
Michael C. Carlos Museum.
Islamic Calligraphy and the Qu'ran.
Islamic Calligraphy and the Qu'ran combines Traces
of the Calligrapher: Islamic Calligraphy in Practice, c.
1600–1900 and Writing the Word of God: Calligraphy
and the Qu'ran, and will be on view from August 28 to
December 5, 2010.
Both exhibits are curated from a private collection and
presented by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and
the Harvard University Museum.
Traces of the Calligrapher shows the utensils used to
create calligraphy from the reed pen to the bookbinder.
There are fabulous ink wells and pen boxes on display.
The objects in the exhibition come from Iran, Turkey,
and India, and include reed pens, penknives (used to
cut the nib of the pen), and maktas (used to hold the
pen during this process), in addition to inkwells, scis-
sors, burnishers, storage boxes, and writing tables.
Writing the Word of God exhibit has fabulous finished
manuscripts as well as practice alphabets collected by
calligraphers in the past. The calligraphy provides a
look into a fascinating world of the Islamic calligra-
pher, the piety involved as well as the variety of scripts
employed by calligraphers spanning from Spain and
North Africa to greater Iran from the seventh to the
15th centuries.
There is a video that shows a master calligrapher at
work. www.carlos.emory.edu
Questions? Please call Kathy at 404-634-8355. You
can find directions on the web site.
{Continued on Page 12)
What a well-named group this is! I have found friends by
every definition of the word here. During life‘s ups and
during life‘s most challenging downs, I have seen members
of this group reach out to help one another. Each one of
you is, I know, on a quest for Truth and Beauty. The Al-
phabet is our shared tool. Each one of us seeks to find ex-
pression for our warmest thoughts, highest ideals or our
most heartfelt condolences using not only letters, but also,
the perfectly written letter for the occasion.
I have been blessed indeed as the President for the last two
years to work with my friends:
Hilde Friese, as Workshop chairman, has brought us
amazing world-class calligraphers to share their skills.
Workshops at Hilde‘s are not merely classes, they are re-
treats from the everyday and a chance to spend quality time
with friends doing what we all enjoy…making beautiful
letters! The word that comes to mind is of course, Gemuet-
lichkeit. Please thank Hilde for agreeing to continue on as
Workshop chairman.
Cindy Corless has served our group in different capacities
through the years. She is a past President . Cindy is cur-
rently serving as Recording Secretary. She has wisely sug-
gested that this is the perfect opportunity for someone to be
on the Board, who has limited time or experience….as the
job‘s requirements are that you take the notes of the Board
meeting.
Lori Rausch has been a friend in so many ways. Our paths
happily cross often. Lori is our Treasurer and I am thankful
that she has agreed to continue for another year. She, and
her husband, Jim, have done an outstanding job keeping
our books straight through workshops, dues, program ex-
penses and our occasional Paper & Ink sale.
Mary Lou Kohnle as many of you know, is not only my
friend, she is my Mom. She has done a wonderful job or-
ganizing our fantastic Library for the past two years. I am
so grateful that she has passed along her love of beautiful
letters and wonderful books. She is passing the baton of
Librarian to George Dorsey.
Julie Cashin is another past President and is currently
serving as Membership/Directory chairman, as well as
Nametags (our new ones are gorgeous!). Julie has also
been pulling together our newsletters…in short, she has
4 ATLANTA FRIENDS OF THE ALPHABET—October 2010
www.friendsofthealphabet.org
FRAKTUR
With Barbara Calozari
August 21 & 22, 2010
Hilde met Barbara at IAMPETH in 2009, where she gave
a presentation on her work and then taught a workshop
on Fraktur. We fell in love with her. Hilde, our ever
working workshop chairman, started talking to her about
scheduling a workshop in Atlanta, following IAMPETH
in 2010.
Barbara is a very talented young lady who has done work
for the Pope and the G8 that was held in Italy last year.
She is not only very talented, she is an excellent teacher.
At the close of IAMPETH this year, Hilde and I were
privileged to drive Barbara back to Atlanta, not a dull
boring trip.
Barbara made exemplars of her Fraktur alphabet and
taught us the alphabet broken down by families – basic
strokes the same. She showed us that most of the
lower case letters fit in the same space as the ‗n‘.
This article is being written months after the workshop
without notes and totally from memory. For others
that attended, please forgive my lapse of memory of
some of the details.
By Donna Dow
Barbara gave a lecture at Kennesaw University on Au-
gust 19th. She showed pictures of her commissioned
works for Pope Benedict, the Italian President (gifts for
attending presidents at the G8 summit in Italy), and her
most recent commissioned work, a book on Catarina
diMedici, that is now at the Library of Congress.
5 ATLANTA FRIENDS OF THE ALPHABET—October 2010
COPPERPLATE AND BEYOND
With Mike Kecseg
September 18 & 19, 2010
This was another very exciting month for FOTA! Work-
shop Chair, Hilde Friese, graciously coordinated and
hosted the long awaited two day Copperplate workshop
by Master Penman Mike Kecseg. The Sept. 18 & 19th
workshop occurred at Hilde's restaurant, The Village
Corner German Restaurant. This event was well received
by all FOTA members in attendance. Participant's skills
varied from beginner to advance. Each and every one of
us learned many valuable tips and techniques offered by
Mike. Julie Cashin sent an e-mail blast to all FOTA
members seeking feedback and tips that were helpful to
them. The e-mail responses were shared and they were
very positive with many wonderful tips and highlights of
the workshop.
Mike has been working with Copperplate for more than
30 years and has a successful lettering business in Chi-
cago. Additionally, he is booked with future workshops
until 2015. How fortunate we were to have the opportu-
nity to be taught by Master Penman Mike Kecseg! Need-
less to say, we have been inspired and reinspired.
By Mamie Velez
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FROM MIKE:
A great tip was thinking oval on all 'rounded' letters, and
starting them at "3 o'clock" so the join would get covered
by either the filled in 'dot' on the o , or the covering
stroke on a ,d, g or q. So, you complete the whole 'o' be-
fore adding the down (weighted) strokes. Michael Smith
As much as I don't want to, I have to line the paper. No
cheating!! Dede Adams
Mike Kecseg was worth waiting for! An awesome, can-
did teacher who seemed to put everyone at ease. I en-
joyed how he differentiated between "production" work
(envelopes) and "good" work.
I also took away a great respect for "slant" lines - it's easy
to think that they are really not needed, but what a differ-
ence it makes to have them there! Mike suggested that
the slant lines should be pointing to the middle of your
body if your paper is turned the right way (right-handers.)
-Proper spacing between words - the width of the letter
"o."
-Lower case letters: start release of downward pressure
at the halfway point.
-White space of ascender/descender bowls should match
white space of lower case letters.
Now if there was only more time to practice!
Katy Mizerowski
Mike was a great teacher. He was able to translate his
actions into words and thereby explain what we need to
do to achieve good letter forms.
3. Down stokes for the thick lines
4. Upstrokes for the thin lines
5. Use a nib that "works for you" "Develop a feel of the
pen". Mamie G. Velez
I guess as a relative newbie I liked the comment that the
rule is that there are no rules - do what feels and looks
right to your eye. Karen DeBrot
I think, the best hint, especially for new Copper-
plate learners was, that Mike suggested to try different
nibs, and different nibs for different situations. No one
shoe fits all. And don't get hung up on some antique nib
and then it's not readily available any more. Hilde
Friese
The Mike Kecseg Workshop was "Great"......I think two
things I came away from the Workshop was Persistence,
and Time on Task i.e. 'Practice".... George Dorsey
I mixed bleed proof white and color gouache today and
WOW! What a difference that makes in the color on
white or dark paper! Donna Dow
:
6 ATLANTA FRIENDS OF THE ALPHABET—October 2010
www.friendsofthealphabet.org
Message from Mary Lou…..
I would like to express my appreciation to the
members for allowing me to be their librarian. It
was always a pleasure. Our library is one to be
proud of', both in quantity and quality. I want to
thank all of the members who have been so gener-
ous with donations of books. Thank you, George,
for accepting the nod as our new librarian. May you
enjoy your term as much as I have mine. Long live
the written word..especially if it is calligraphy or
about calligraphy! ! !
Thanks to all of you, your ex bookworm, Mary Lou
The Universal Penman Book Review
By Mamie Velez
I was very excited to visit the FOTA library for the
first time! Wow, what a treasure trove of calligra-
phy related books!
Inspired by the recent IAMPETH conference and the
upcoming copperplate workshop by Mike Kesceg, I
checked out THE UNIVERSAL PENMAN by
George Bickman. This was a book that many master
penman had brought up as a wonderful reference
guide for their lettering.
In review of this book, I agree, it is a wonderful re-
source book with many lettering and flourishing
ideas. In review of each plate, the script is so con-
sistent, perfect and visually pleasing to the eye. So
inspired by this book, I purchased one via ama-
zon.com for $14.95. I highly recommend this book
for reference resource for the copperplate hand.
Now, if I can only achieve such perfection,
hmmmmm.......Mamie Velez
Happy, Happy Birthday
Mary Lou!
7 ATLANTA FRIENDS OF THE ALPHABET—October 2010
(Continued on page 7)
(continued from page 5)
1. Always look at the white space inside the letter.
2. Go on line and look for web sites with type faces. Print out the
ones you really like and use for exemplars. This is particularly help-
ful for capitals. One web site he mentioned was fonts.com.
Julie Cashin
1. The nib is at a slight slant when making a beginning a downward
stroke, to get the flat edge go back and retouch.
2. Exit to the left of the beginning dot of a letter.
Barbara Mitchell
I liked the tip about using the Dr. Martin's Pro White mixed with
gouache to write on dark colors. It really did seem to make it pop!
Carol Gray
Your eye should follow the pencil line and the pen will go where
your eye goes. Sharon Reynolds
When you cross over at the top for
the capitol B and P and R, you do
not need to cross at the top of the
line. Rather touch the top of the
line with the bubble and then cross
afterwards so it makes a V or Val-
ley between the first loop and first
line. (Does this make any sense?)
Lucinda Eaves
Mike Kecseg’s Workshop
Envelope and Invitation by Mike Kecseg
8 ATLANTA FRIENDS OF THE ALPHABET—October 2010
www.friendsofthealphabet.org
"L" -- by
Denice
Nitschke-
Cover of
birthday
card for a
friend.
Water-
color,
gouache,
gel pens.
(July
2010)
CAROUSEL: Acrylic and brush lettering on canvas.
18"x24". This piece represents a lot of "firsts" for me. First
brush lettering on canvas. First ANYthing on canvas. First
"real" painting... ever. Now hangs in my granddaughter's
room! (April 2009) - Denice Nitschke
By Jane Radman
―Yes‖ by
Anne Elser
book cover
painted with
acrylic.
Member’s Art
9 ATLANTA FRIENDS OF THE ALPHABET—October 2010
By Marcia Watt (at Hilde‘s request)
By Anne Elser
Thanks to all who contributed to this news-
letter. Articles were submitted by Kathy Ki-
nev, Donna Dow, Mary Lou Kohnle, Mamie
Velez, and Katy Burge. Photos and art were
contributed by Victoria Lansford, Denice
Nitschke, Maria Turk, Anne Elser, Barbara
Mitchell, Sharon Reynolds, Lucinda Eaves,
Marcia Watt, Michael Smith, Lori Rausch,
Jane Radman, and Mamie Velez.
Ideas for Envelope Addressing: I love this blog to get ideas for addressing en-velopes. Jean Wilson, the owner of this blog, uses different US postage stamps to create and inspire addresses on her envelopes. She updates designs nearly every day and it is all FREE! (I've been getting ideas from this blog for several weeks and there are no catches that I've found). You can google the site pushing the envelopes blog or better yet, here's ad-dress:
http://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/
Cindy Corless
10 ATLANTA FRIENDS OF THE ALPHABET—October 2010
www.friendsofthealphabet.org
IAMPETH was held at Disney World, Orlando, Florida
this year. Nine of our guild members attended and had a
wonderful time taking classes and mixing with calligra-
phers from all over the nation and some from other coun-
tries. We all had to make choices of morning and after-
noon classes. These classes are not meant to thoroughly
teach the hand or subject, but to give a good taste for you
to pursue once you get home.
The evenings were always special as the Master Penmen
were available to demonstrate their talent or to work with
you one on one to improve a particular hand. One eve-
ning Hilde and I watched Rick Muffler, a White House
calligrapher, work with a very talented young lady on
copperplate/engrosser script. We only watched Monica
and Rick and did not pick up a pen, but we learned so
much. It was so beneficial to me and helped me to im-
prove the squared off tops and bottoms without retouch-
ing. In fact when I got up the next morning I said to
Hilde ―Guess what I dreamed about last night?‖ We both
had dreamed about what we had been watching the night
before. As another treat, Michael Sull was on the other
end of the table demonstrating drawing birds. On other
nights calligraphers were demonstrating different arts
that pertained to calligraphy – pen drawing etc.
In one of the first classes that I took, I met Mamie Velez
who lives in Gwinnett. I told her about our guild and she
has now joined!!! You never know what contacts you
will make or where they will be made. So, promote the
guild and the art of calligraphy wherever you go.
At the closing banquet on Saturday night, a new Master
Penman was inducted – Harvest Crittenden. There are
now ten living Master Penmen. The Master Penman
has a year long study that they go through and upon
completion they write their own certificate. They are
given the wording but the rest is up to them. Several of
the Master Penmen Certificates were on display for us
to see. Oh, the talent these people have and they are so
willing to share their knowledge with others.
Next year‘s IAMPETH convention will be held in
Phoenix. Arizona, July 11-16.
By Donna Dow
I A M P E T H 2 0 1 0I A M P E T H 2 0 1 0I A M P E T H 2 0 1 0
Barbara Calozari and Michael Sull
11 ATLANTA FRIENDS OF THE ALPHABET—October 2010
Meet Mamie Velez
I was born and raised on an agricultural farm in Suisun
Valley, CA to parents who immigrated from China (dad)
and Hong Kong. When I was 13 yrs. old, we moved to
Hawaii. My parents became wholesalers of snack items
such as dried fruits, nuts, and jerky. They are now retired.
When I turned 18, I moved on my own to Los Angeles
with a blue Samsonite suitcase and a cardboard box of
personal belongings, determined to make in on my
own. I did. While working for the State, I was taking
various classes involving Administrative Justice. I
worked for the State of California
for a total of 27 years. I received
my 25 years of State Service rec-
ognition signed by Arnold
Schwarzenegger himself, along
with many other recognitions
from the CA Lt. Gov. and the CA
State Senate Committee; L.A.
City Mayor Villaragoso.
I began my career with the State
as an administrative assistant, and
eventually became a State Investi-
gator II with the Dept. of Alco-
holic Beverage Control. I worked
as an investigator for 23 years and con-
ducted many undercover operations. I
loved my job; I had a Mustang GT to drive around, and
worked throughout the State. (What a way to discover
the state!).
As much as I loved my job, I‘m also very content with
retiring from law enforcement; along with my husband
Ray. Ray worked as a Detective III with LAPD and re-
tired after 25 years of civil service. We have one daugh-
ter (my step-daughter) Lynette, who‘s 29 and we have
two granddaughters (Alexia age 8 and Mya age 5). Lyn-
ette and the girls live in Atlanta GA.
Upon retirement, Ray and I moved to Orlando FL for 4
years. Because of the heat and humidity, we started look-
ing for a home in S. Carolina or Georgia. We found one
that is walking distance to Lake Lanier, in Gainesville
GA. and moved in February 2010. Georgia is a very
beautiful state and we are happy to be much closer to
Lynette and the girls.
I have always been interested in calligraphy. Years ago,
I purchased a Speedball calligraphy pen and italic hand
calligraphy book. Due to a very busy work schedule, I
did not have the time to pursue any classes or guild.
As I now have the luxury of time, I am pursuing my in-
terest in Calligraphy. I've always had an appreciation and
fascination for Copperplate and Spencerian, but simply
didn't know what the hands were called. It wasn't until I
was on vacation this past March in Berkeley CA. that I
discovered a wonderful store and various calligraphy
products by Dr. Vitolo and Michael Sull. It was also at
this shop where I learned about IAMPETH in Orlando,
August 2010! This is where it all began for me. I've
been loving it ever since.
My interest in calligraphy is personal, self gratification,
doing the best that I can with the Cop-
perplate and Spencerian hands. My
goal is to become proficient with
both, and continue to pursue future
workshops offered by FOTA and any-
where throughout the country (i.e.:
Spencerian Saga by Michael Sull). I
find that this newly found venture has
expanded my card making and scrap-
booking skills. I also enjoy volunteer-
ing and I like sharing my enthusiasm
with a nursing facility that I had
worked part-time/volunteered while in
Florida.
As a part of my current enthusiasm,
Ray has inspired me to attempt creating
oblique pen holders. He is getting me the nec-
essary equipment for turning wood. So, let‘s see how far
this challenge will take me!
OTHER INTERESTS:
I've always been involved with crafts of some sort: floral
design (fresh, dried & silks for weddings & special
events), card making, and scrapbooking. I had a spe-
cialty ribbon store back in 2000 in Sacramento (Emphasis
on Vintage; European & American made ribbons). I sold
the store, due to my career transfer back to Southern Cali-
fornia.
I love various foods of different origins. Love to cook
too!
I enjoy volunteering, as volunteering is important. It's
my share of giving back to society
I was in a movie (as an extra) for two months with Tom
Hanks, Rita Wilson (that's where it all started for them)
and John Candy. It was filmed in Oaxaca Mexico, and
the movie was called "Volunteers".
By Mamie Velez
Mamie and Ray
12 ATLANTA FRIENDS OF THE ALPHABET—October 2010
www.friendsofthealphabet.org
done it all! She wants to give some of our newer mem-
bers a chance to be a part of the excitement. We are look-
ing to fill her spot for Membership/Directory. This is a
great chair because you get to know everyone.
Carol Gray is a gentle friend in every sense of the word.
She is the most recent past President and is currently
serving as Corresponding Secretary. I want to thank her
gratefully, for her service to our Guild and her good
counsel and example.
I am thrilled to recognize two old friends in new posi-
tions:
Donna Dow will bring her multi-talented organizational
skills to fantastic use as our new President.
Maria Turk’s enthusiasm for all things calligraphy and
her hospitality will make her an outstanding Program
Chair.
Mamie Velez is a brand new friend who has agreed to be
Assistant Program Chair. I knew from the moment I met
Mamie a couple of months ago, that she would be a great
addition to our group…her eyes truly light up at the men-
tion of calligraphy.
Katy Burge
Note from Editor: How can we ever thank Katy for two
great years of service as President? She has admirable
leadership skills and it has been a pleasure to work with
someone so organized! I’m glad she isn’t going very far
away! She’ll be our new Web Master!
Message from the President Continued from Page 2
2011 Proposed Slate of Officers
FOTA Officers serve for a 2 year term. The proposed
slate of officers will be presented to the membership
and voted on at the December meeting (Holiday
Party).
Slate for 2011-2112:
President: Donna Dow
1st Vice-President (in charge of programs):
Maria Turk and Mamie Velez
2nd Vice President: (workshops) Hilde Friese
Treasurer: Lori Rausch (will continue for one
year)
Corresponding Secretary: Carol Gray
Facebook: Laura Boston
Librarian: George Dorsey
Membership: Meshelle Callahan
Recording Secretary: Nancy Truluck
Newsletter/Bulletin Editor: Open
Webpage: Katy Burge
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!
Mark your calendars for the Holiday Party
Monday, December 13, 2010