CONNECTICUT VALLEY CALLIGRAPHERS

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2012 EVENTS

 
 

Schedule coming soon


GENERAL MEETINGS


Meetings are free & open to the public.
They are held from 7:00 to 8:30 pm.
West Hartford Public Library
20 S Main St, top floor


March 12
Linda Famely will be sharing her experience with the Reggie Ezell "Primitive to Modern" Class. This is a newer class being offered by Ezell, so Linda's presentation will be a great opportunity to get a glimpse into his new course. Ezell has taught all over the country for over 20 years and offers classes that allow for extended, in-depth study of calligraphy.


June 11

September 10

November 12


 
 

What's Already Happened!

March 2011

Secret of Kells logo
We will be showing the acclaimed animated film about the Book of Kells
watch the trailer

June 2011
Presenting the results of our 30-day experiments. We hope you'll participate in our experiment with us! Many gifts can be gained by setting guidelines for yourself and then having to work within them multiple ways. Here are the parameters we suggest:

1) pick a short quote, letter, word or if you want to take a drawing approach, a drawn image
2) draw 30 versions of your subject
3) do it in consecutive days as much as possible (Mr. Lemoine took weekends and vacation days)
4) keep it manageable, don't expect to create a Mona Lisa every day!
5) come share your results and what you learned at our June 13th meeting

Our meeting is inspired by an experiment done by Louis Lemoine. Click here for his website. After taking a class by Yves Letterme, Mr. Lemoine lettered his favorite word, magic, 101 different ways over 101 days. Here is a video of his experiment:


 

Sept 2011
Featured speaker: Andrea Leshinke
The Book of Kells
Building on our March meeting which features the animated movie, The Secret of Kells, we will delve further into the rich history of this amazing manuscript.

Here are samples of work done by Andrea Leshinke and a brief bio:

Leshinke Artwork

Leshinke artwork

My name is Andrea Leshinskie. I first tried calligraphy in around 1983, mostly as a stubborn defiance to my appalling handwriting, which to be honest is a barely legible scrawl. Calligraphy, however, is drawing more than it is writing, and I gradually found it to be fun.

I became a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism about the same time. The Society studies the arts, sciences, and entertainments of the European Middle Ages, and has a subculture that is dedicated to the study of medieval manuscripts and the creation of artistic documents in that style. Here I found friends willing to share knowledge and teach things like calligraphy, painting, gold leaf, and  so on. It’s a friendly and yet competitive environment, as we constantly try to one-up each other even as we share knowledge and resources.

I developed a passion for re-creating calligraphy hands from a variety of sources. I learned how to examine a manuscript page and then copy the calligraphy style. In time, my hobby reached a level of skill that was rewarded and recognized with my being honored to be awarded the rank of Laurel within the Society. (This and three bucks will get me a cup of coffee, but it means something to me, and to those in the SCA. Pardon my diversion.)

The Insular hands of the books of Kells and Lindisfarne and several other Saxon manuscripts are some of my favorites, both the majuscule or uncial hands of the text and the minuscule hands of the glosses. I look forward to sharing my interest with Connecticut Calligraphers, and I hope you enjoy trying out the calligraphy.

 

Monday, November 15th
Calligraphy & the Family Tree

West Hartford Library, 20 S Main St
Learn more about family trees and how calligraphy is a beautiful, graceful way to celebrate each unique lineage.
Family Tree Image

 

Monday, September 20th
Remembering Boston

West Hartford Library, 20 S Main St
Come get inspired!

Sample of Art by Debby
We are so fortunate to be in the backyard of this year's international calligraphy confernece at Stonehill College near Boston. At this meeting, members will be sharing what they learned in their workshops. Come to share your learning or hear about what others experienced!

 

Monday June 21st
If you can't fix it, feature it!!

West Hartford Public Library, 20 S Main St, West Hartford
We are going to talk about all the tricks on how to avoid making mistakes while you are lettering, and OOPS! how to fix them when they inevitably happen! Please bring works that have mistakes so we can talk about the options to correct them.

Click here to get your membership form to renew or join the CVC and if you bring your dues to this meeting, you'll receive a free x-acto blade holder and #10 blade (the kind of blade you need for making corrections).

Our membership year starts July 1 and we've reduced our dues to $20 per person or $25 per family this year. That's a mere $5 a meeting! Plus lots and lots of information on staying connected to calligraphic news and more.

 

Monday, March 15th
Stone Carving by Adam Heller & Tracy Mahaffey of Samaritan Carvers
West Hartford Main Library, 20 S Main St
carved sample
Adam & Tracy will be bringing samples of their work, demonstrating and sharing with us a glimpse into the lives of their lives as stone carvers. Further samples of their beautiful work can be seen at: http://www.samaritancarvers.com/

Here's what we did in 2009...


Monday, March 16th
A showing of the video, "The Music of Ink"
This movie documents the live performance and multimedia presentation given by world renowned Irish calligrapher, Denis Brown, gave at the International Conference of Letter Arts in Chicago 2008.
Click Here for a flyer with details

Monday, June 15th
Yankee Swap &
Presentation about Chinese Calligraphy
by Lorelei Chang
West Hartford Public Library
20 S Main Street

Lorelei Chang grew up in Beijing, China as a professional dancer.
Besides her early age vigorous dance training, she also studied Chinese
calligraphy and continued her passion on both careers ever since then. At our meeting she will be discussing Chinese calligraphy & sharing samples of her work.
http://dancenlight.org

Monday, September 21st
Presentation by Esther Glahn about Ketubahs (Jewish Wedding Contracts)
CVC members will receive a free copy of Letter Arts Review

Esther Glahn is a local calligrapher and watercolor artist raised in Austin, Texas and Petach Tikvah, Israel. Winner of the Francis Hook Award, Esther has been creating one-of-a-kind commissioned Judaica in watercolor and ink since 1988. She specializes in illumination of ketubot, Jewish marriage contracts.

Glahn Ketubah

Ms. Glahn will talk about ketubahs,
Jewish wedding contracts. She will show us samples of
contracts, including her own, as well as the rules around
ketubahs and their significance.

Presentation about Islamic Calligraphy by Elinor Holland

Elinor Holland at work

Elinor Holland of New York City, working on an educational panel at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Calligraphy in Arabic Script: Lifting the veil

This will be an excursion out of our usual world of Roman letterforms. Imagine yourself in medieval Spain in the year 1100. The continent of Europe is in darkness but there is a great light shining in the Muslim lands to the south and east. A whole civilization is flourishing and from its pen flows the beautiful Arabic script.  Translations of Greek philosophy and science, which later inspired the Renaissance, are being translated and copied in Arabic! Thousands of miles away, in Baghdad, a school of calligraphy is developing and forming the basis for the tradition of Arabic script calligraphy, which continues to this day.

This traditional art form is the highest form of art in Islamic culture and is an essential part of a civilization that exists from Morocco to Indonesia. The beauty of Arabic letterforms transcends culture and can be appreciated by all who view it. This lecture/slide show is meant as an introduction to those who have a little or a lot of exposure to this art. We will survey the important styles and developments and discuss method and materials, and view many beautiful masterpieces of calligraphy, with an emphasis on the great Ottoman tradition.

Elinor Aishah Holland is a professional lettering artist. Her passion and enthusiasm for calligraphy began during a visit to Istanbul as a teenager and has not ceased for many years. As a free lance lettering artist in Roman and Arabic scripts, her work includes all aspects of involvement with the art, including exhibiting, teaching, doing commercial and commission work. She has been a student of Master Calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya for many years, and travels to Turkey for additional tutelage as often as possible.  Ms. Holland has also studied with top teachers in the Western tradition as well, and continues to further her craft and knowledge of calligraphy and related book arts and illumination at every opportunity. She teaches, presents and exhibits throughout the US and Canada. Clients include the Smithsonian Institute, The NY Public Library, Clinton Global Initiative, NY Society of Scribes, Long Island University. She resides with her family in the suburbs of New York City.