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NEWS FLASH!
DUES ARE DUE!!:
Join FOTA or renew your membership for another year of instruction, opportunity and camaraderie Download and print the membership form to join or to make changes to your listing in the directory, and turn this in to Bill Allen at the next meeting. Contact Bill if you have any other questions. |
REFRESHMENTS REMINDER! SEPTEMBER MEETING:
Emily Canter, Darlene Sisk,
Hilde Friese |
There's a Trick In Every Trade:
Online Calligraphy Tutorials!
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Can't find a calligraphy class to fit your schedule? This month, I looked at online offerings for brushing up on calligraphy basics, and while they're no substitution for real, live workshops, these lessons can go a long way to perfecting your own practice.
Here are a few of my favorites:
- Kinetic Calligraphy - A tremendous tutorial in Textura Quadrata. by Matthew Mercer. Requires Macromedia Flash Player
- Beautiful Lettering - Six easy lessons in Chancery Cursive. Simple, easy-to-follow pages and some additional alphabets without the step-by-step instruction. From Chuck McGavren.
- Weekly Alphabet Lessons - A good resource for reprints of calligraphy lessons and a FANTASTIC source for printable guidelines for various hands!. This week, it's Scroll Gothic. From Margaret Shepherd.
- Calligraphy Lessons Online - A thorough explanation of letter heights and the compositional aspects of Foundational Hand.
- The Elegant Pen - a lavish, florid site with wonderful basic lessons in Spencerian and Zanerian Script. From Daniel J. North & DottieAnne Knudsen
- Calligraphy Primer - This site teaches more than just Italic pen strokes. It includes basic planning, some history, layout and a variety of alphabets. From Christopher Smith in the UK
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Our Next
Program:
Confluence: A Review of the Conference of Calligraphy and Lettering Arts
Monday, September 13th 7:00pm
Hilde Friese shares her experiences from this year's St. Louis conference with photos and examples from the workshops she attended.
ALSO AT THIS MEETING:
CALLIGRAPHY "ESTATE SALE"
Following Hilde's presentation, we'll be having a sale of the wonderful supplies and equipment left to the guild by our lately departed member, Lucille Overall. We were the fortunate recipients of a large donation by Lucille and hope to remember her and her generosity in finding good homes for her things. Proceeds will benefit the guild.
More Meeting details
Field Trip:
Pitts Theological Library
Saturday, September 11 / 10am to Noon
The Pitts Theology Library, of the Candler Theology School at Emory University will be the site of the September field trip for the Friends of the Alphabet.
Pitts Library is the second largest theological library in the country (after General Seminary's library in New York). The library contains over 520,000 volumes, including manuscripts and incunabula (books printed before 1500), with an emphasis on the development of Christian history and thought. The library also acquires materials in contiguous areas that are related to the history of other religious traditions (especially Judaism).
While most materials are in English, German, French and Latin, the collection contains many items in Asian and African languages. The library holds many distinct collections including, the Kessler Reformation Collection documenting the history of the Protestant Reformation in Germany down to 1570, English and American Hymnody and Psalmody, and a collection of Thomas Merton material.
Not only will the members of FOTA be able to see some of the gems of this international treasure, but the director, Dr. M. Patrick Graham will speak to us about them. Dr. Graham is an extremely knowledgeable and engaging speaker. This is a FOTA expedition you won't want to miss!
Directions and details on the FOTA site.
— Marcia Watt
Online Directory:
FOTA Calligraphy Services
A new online directory of calligraphers for hire will soon be posted to the FOTA web site. If you would like to be included, please let Emily know.
The basic, free entry will include a descriptive introductory paragraph of your styles and skills, as well as two images of your work. These must be supplied by you in digital format. For an additional $20 fee, you may have a link to an entire personal web page listing longer descriptions and displaying up to 6 images (which must be submitted in digital format). It's the best deal in town, and a great way to establish your web presence, if you don't already have a professional site.
Awareness:
National Calligraphy Week
Saturday, September 17 - 23
The third week in October has been designated National Calligraphy Week, as entered into the Congressional Record on October 21, 2003.
A movement has begun to flood Oprah Winfrey's mailbox with decorated envelopes the week of August 23 to 28. The intention is to WOW her into becoming a spokesperson for National Calligraphy Week (October 17-24). The wheels are already in motion to prove to Oprah that there are more than 'just a few' people doing calligraphy.
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