October 2015 Scribnote  

COMMENTS FROM OUR CHAIRPERSON 

It seems that I always bring up the fact that my kids come to Elkhart in July for a couple of weeks and I don’t get to see my art room for that time.  This year my daughter from Texas decided to come to Elkhart for 5 weeks!  Yikes!! Then she had a conference in Philadelphia for 3 days and I got to spend three fun-filled days with my 5-year old grandson, Torin.  

Then it was off to Dayton, Ohio to see my 12 year-old granddaughter in her ballet recital.  Two days later, 7 of us were on the way back to Elkhart.  The following weekend we were in Chicago to go to the Shedd Aquarium and, on and on. 

 I love having my children here, but when they leave, I go to my art room to just look around and see what I want to do.  There is plenty of paper, nibs, ink and, of course, many books and magazines that I can peruse for days on end.  Do we ever tire of our many fine art supplies! Nope, not me.  I love the summer visits, but when they are gone, I can get the right side of my brain thinking of what I can create. 

 Hope you all had a great summer and made some time to create something extraordinary! 

We decided in our planning last year that we would forgo the July meeting this year since so many people are busy with gardens, trips, family, etc.  By August 1 we were ready to gather together for our annual picnic at my home.  Fifteen ladies filled my screened-in porch where we could conduct our meeting, have our raffle and exchange handmade books.  We had a challenge a few months back of doing a new style of bookbinding that you hadn’t done before and the results were exciting.  Barb Fedder has gotten skilled at making an explosion book and Pat West was the recipient.  Pat and Lauren Matacio both made flag books, one with writing and one with pictures of a recent trip to Lake Como, Italy.  There were a couple of Japanese Stab Binding books and one with a leather cover and binding.  They were all treasures to behold and I am sure everyone was proud of their creation.  It was fun to do something we hadn’t done before. Lauren Matacio was the recipient of our annual raffle which was a free Zentangle workshop in October.  

After our meeting, raffle and exchange, we had our lunch which is always delicious.  There were quinoa salads, tabbuleh salad, angel food cake, potato salad, salmon spread, sandwiches, strawberry pretzel salad, lemon curd muffins, lemon biscotti and chocolate chip cookies, lots of fruit salad, watermelon, avocado salad, lettuce salad, chicken salad and I am sure I must have missed something, but I assure you it was all very tasty.  Guess we need to do a recipe exchange again, in calligraphy of course.   

Our September meeting brought a few new faces.  We want to welcome Janine Stump, Kathy Doyle, and Diane Collins to the guild and hope they find us warm and welcoming as well as enjoying the meetings and workshops.We had 17 ladies on September 12, 2015, which was a cool, fall like day.

  We asked the newbie’s what they would be interested in doing next year as far as demonstrations and workshops, and the results were Design and Layout, Pointed Pen, Lettering, Backgrounds and Bookmaking.  We will certainly try to accommodate all those ideas for 2016. 

Angie West gave a great demonstration on the foundational hand and even

some of the seasoned calligraphers learned something new.  Thanks Angie for the demo.  We also honed in on our playing cards we are creating to make a deck of cards for Christmas.  That should be a fun project for all who are participating. All 52 cards will be accounted for and the designs should be great.  Those who participated will receive a deck of the cards that we will have printed.  There will be a charge if anyone wants to purchase a deck to be announced later.  Marty Mitchell is in charge of this project and she would like to have the finished cards by the November meeting.  

Four members of the MCG are taking an online class by Harvest Crittenden on Illuminated Letters which is a four week class.  Harvest is a great teacher and this is my fourth class with her.  I am joined this time by Renee Tuveson, Marty Mitchell and Barbara Fedder.  Looking forward to seeing everyone’s finished project from Harvest who teaches a class once or twice a year online.  If anyone is interested in her classes, please check acornarts.org to see what she offers.   

Maureen Trubac is coordinating a book display at the Frances Branch Library for the months of October and November so please bring a handmade book or two to the October workshop or make arrangements to get them to Maureen.   

Happy creating everyone!! 

Ginny 

Cindy Bowles

 Cindy Bowles of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has recently become a certified Zentangle instructor and has offered to come to South Bend to teach us the art of zentangling.  Some of us have dabbled in this art form, but now we are going to have some real instruction.  The Zentangle one-day workshop will be on Saturday, October 3, 2015, at Christ the King Church from 9 till 4 Cost will be $40. for members and $55. for non members.  This class is now full!! 

Policy for MCG 

Our workshops seem to have people sign up and then decide not to attend. We have been very generous in returning monies paid for the workshop if someone decides not to attend at the last minute, but we are going to have a change in this policy.  There will be a nominal fee if you drop out of the workshop.  If there would be an emergency, for instance, a birth of a child or grandchild, illness, etc., then the board will take this under advisement to decide on a course of action regarding a refund.  Also, if the workshop is filled and there is someone to take your place, that would also quality for a refund. So please, if you want to sign up for the workshop, make sure that you put that date on your calendar as a commitment.  We have a small calligraphy group and we struggle to fill workshops at times.  We need all of you to attend as many as possible so that we can continue to have quality instructors.   

Are you on Facebook? 

If so, look up your favorite calligraphers because they are on Facebook also.  I like to look at Barbara Close, Reggie Ezell, Julian Waters, John Stevens, Rachel Yallop, Pendragons, Capital City Scribes, Yukimi Annand, etc.  There is a lot of beautiful calligraphy on these pages that will get your inspired.  Also look at Joanne Fink and Barbara Lever’s Facebook Page.  And then, there is always Pinterest.  Oh my, so many places to be inspired! 

PO Box in South Bend – Due to a lack of much mail at our Post Office box in South Bend, we have suspended any mail sent to that address.  If you have anything to send to the MCG, please send to Maureen Trubac 50685 Mercury Drive, Granger, IN 46530 or Ginny VanderHey 51854 Stoney Creek Drive, Elkhart, IN 46514. When monies are due for a workshop or dues, they will now go to one of these addresses.   

/WEBSITES TO ENJOY 

Lindaphancock.com 

http://www.brunocorsinipens.com/Gallery.html 

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=seb+lester+calligraphy+you+tube&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-003 

http://www.booooooom.com/2015/09/11/an-interview-with-master-calligrapher-seb-lester/ 

I enjoy sharing new websites that I have come across in our blog.  If you come across something that you think would interest the whole group, please email them to Ginny or Renee, and we will get them on the blog for the next quarter.   

American Frame – Just a reminder that if you order from American Frame, please mention MCG, and they will give us a small stipend. 

MCG Meetings for 2015 

October 3 –     Zentangle workshop with Cindy Bowles and Bring 2 handmade books to give to Maureen for a display at the Francis Branch Library 

November 7 – Write out a Thanksgiving Quote using Foundational that we learned in September.  

December 5 –    Exchange and Christmas get together at Christ the King Church (Our exchange will be the deck of cards we designed) 

Cut the schedule of dates in the newsletter out, and put it on your fridge for future reference. 

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP Annual dues of $15 are due at the July meeting. Our annual dues have not changed in many years and are put to good use for supplies for our make it/take it meetings, annual raffle in August, and, at the end of the year, we give to local charities. Please remember to bring your dues to the July meeting or send it to Maureen Trubac, our treasurer.  

OFFICERS Ginny VanderHey, President 574/262-1345 gvanderhey@hotmail.com Sharon Esmont, Vice President 574/272-5481 Sesmont@aol.com Maureen Trubac, Treasurer 574/272–0733 maureentrubac@hotmail.com Pat West, Secretary 574-612-9328 pwpatwest@gmail.com 

Jo McPherson, Study Group Chairperson, jobakestwo@centurylink.net Renee Tuveson – Blog Coordinator  If ever you would like to add to the newsletter/blog, please contact one of the officers, and we will get that information to Renee Tuveson. Something you have done or have seen would be welcomed into our information. 

July 2015

July 2015 Scribnote 

COMMENTS FROM OUR CHAIRPERSON

Our April meeting, which was held on the second Saturday due to Easter weekend, was attended by only 6 members, but 5 of them brought their marbling papers to the meeting so there was plenty of eye candy for the one member who didn’t attend the workshop, but also for the rest of us who did not get to see everyone else’s papers.  I made a couple of accordion books and two cards with my papers and am delighted with them.  

On April 23, Pat West, Connie Wendt and I got on the South Shore and went to Chicago for the day to see the calligraphy exhibit at the Newberry Library downtown.  The work is always inspiring and jaw dropping!  We had a great day together and got on the express train to return in two hours.  Unfortunately for two ladies sitting near us from Kalamazoo, they missed their stop at Dune City and had to ride to South Bend and return on the train to get their car two hours later!  


We had 11 members and one new to be member, Kathy Doyle, at our May 2 meeting. Pat West gave a demonstration on watercolor trees which we got to try.  Pat gave us lots of ideas and suggestions on how to first draw and then paint them.  Now we need to go home and practice, practice! Thanks Pat!

At our June meeting, Barbara Fedder did a demonstration of a pamphlet book.  She was pressed into service by Maureen who had to be out of town for her granddaughter’s graduation. Thank you Barbara! We also discussed who we would like to have for our next instructor and came up with a few names that Anna Schlemma and Renee Tuveson will research.  It is very difficult to bring in an instructor that is very far because of the cost of flying them here, but possibly we can piggy back onto another guild that is having the same instructor and share the cost of the flight.  We will keep you posted!


As mentioned in a previous blog, former member Henni Akkerman passed away in February.  Her daughter, Ellen, called Maureen Trubac to see if the guild would be interested in taking some of the supplies that Henni hadn’t used.  There was watercolor paper, frames, mat board, nibs, etc. Those supplies were offered to the guild recently and the monies gleaned from those items will be put into either a scholarship or something we can buy in Henni’s name.  The board will discuss the pursuit of that item. 


We decided at an earlier meeting not to have a meeting in July.  There are too many things during that month including vacations and visitors vacationing at our houses, as well as the holiday weekend in early July.  Our next meeting will be at my home on August 1, 2015 with a picnic and book exchange.  This is always one of the highlights of the year, so plan on joining us.  There is always a surprise raffle as well and you don’t want to miss it!


See you in August.

Ginny

Cindy Bowles – Cindy Bowles of Grand Rapids, Michigan,  has recently become a certified Zentangle instructor and has offered to come to South Bend to teach us the art of zentangling.  Some of us have dabbled in this art form, but now we are going to have some real instruction.  The Zentangle one-day workshop will be on Saturday, October 3, 2015, at Christ the King Church from 9 till 4 Cost will be $40. for members and $55. for non members.  Supply list will be distributed at the August meeting to those who register.  Maureen will take reservations accompanied by a check at the August meeting.

Policy for MCG

Our workshops seem to have people sign up and then decide not to attend. We have been very generous in returning monies paid for the workshop if someone decides not to attend at the last minute, but we are going to have a change in this policy.  There will be a nominal fee if you drop out of the workshop.  If there would be an emergency, for instance, a birth of a child or grandchild, illness, etc., then the board will take this under advisement to decide on a course of action regarding a refund.  Also, if the workshop is filled and there is someone to take your place, that would also quality for a refund. So please, if you want to sign up for the workshop, make sure that you put that date on your calendar as a commitment.  We have a small calligraphy group and we struggle to fill workshops at times.  We need all of you to attend as many as possible so that we can continue to have quality instructors.  

Are you on Facebook? If so, look up your favorite calligraphers because they are on Facebook also.  I like to look at Barbara Close, Reggie Ezell, Julian Waters, John Stevens, Rachel Yallop, Pendragons, Capital City Scribes, Yukimi Annand, etc.  There is a lot of beautiful calligraphy on these pages that will get your inspired.  Also look at Joanne Fink and Barbara Lever’s Facebook Page.  And then, there is always Pinterest.  Oh my, so many places to be inspired!

PO Box in South Bend – Due to a lack of much mail at our Post Office box in South Bend, we have suspended any mail sent to that address.  If you have anything to send to the MCG, please send to Maureen Trubac 50685 Mercury Drive, Granger, IN 46530 or Ginny VanderHey 51854 Stoney Creek Drive, Elkhart, IN 46514. When monies are due for a workshop or dues, they will now go to one of these addresses.  

WEBSITES TO ENJOY

Marbleart.com
Yokepencompany.com (This site has pen holders for sale, but also has lots of links to different calligraphy blogs and has a drawing every month for oblique pen holders.  They also have practice sheets to download)

http://janefarr.blogspot.com/p/calligraphy-lessons.html

http://ashowofhands2016.com/ (2016 International Calligraphy Conference in North Carolina)


I enjoy sharing new websites that I have come across in our blog.  If you come across something that you think would interest the whole group, please email them to Ginny or Renee, and we will get them on the blog for the next quarter.  
American Frame – Just a reminder that if you order from American Frame, please mention MCG, and they will give us a small stipend.

MCG Meetings for 2015

July 11 – There will be no meeting in July
August 1– Annual Picnic and Book Exchange at Ginny VanderHey’s. The exchange will be a handmade book. Bring a dish to pass.           
September 5 – Angie West will be demonstrating Foundational Writing
October 3 –     Zentangle workshop with Cindy Bowles
November 7 – Write out a Thanksgiving Quote using Foundational
December – Exchange and Christmas get together


Cut the schedule of dates in the newsletter out, and put it on your fridge for future reference.

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP 

Annual dues of $15 are due at the July meeting. Our annual dues have not changed in many years and are put to good use for supplies for our make it/take it meetings, annual raffle in August, and, at the end of the year, we give to local charities. Please remember to bring your dues to the July meeting or send it to Maureen Trubac, our treasurer. 

OFFICERS

Ginny VanderHey, President 574/262-1345 gvanderhey@hotmail.com Sharon Esmont, Vice President 574/272-5481 Sesmont@aol.com Maureen Trubac, Treasurer 574/272–0733 maureentrubac@hotmail.com Pat West, Secretary 574-612-9328 pwpatwest@gmail.com Jo McPherson, Study Group Chairperson, jobakestwo@centurylink.net Renee Tuveson – Blog Coordinator If ever you would like to add to the newsletter/blog, please contact one of the officers, and we will get that information to Renee Tuveson. Something you have done or have seen would be welcomed into 

April 2015 Scribnote

COMMENTS FROM OUR CHAIRPERSON

I think this has happened two years in a row, but Mother Nature has other ideas about the MCG holding a meeting in January.  The weather was much too icy and too cold to have members drive from Elkhart, Niles or New Carlisle, so we canceled the meeting and used the time at home to create something, especially when you can be lettering during football games!

My husband I spent three wonderful weeks in Ft. Myers, Florida as we always do at holiday time, and my daughter from Ohio and her family joined us as we enjoyed the sun, beach and pool.  I do not have any lettering tools with me when I go to Florida, but will start collecting from my supplies and have a calligraphy box to take there every year.  I did manage to buy an inexpensive sewing machine and actually took it out of the box and read the directions before sewing a button on my husband’s shorts.  I do miss my art room when away though.  When we returned home, I was happy to be in among my art supplies again and had already started a new online class with Harvest Crittenden on Advanced Spencerian.  I thought I would be practicing these new letters every day, but, two days later a friend of mine that I had worked with, play cards with and have known for 28 years had a double stroke.  When I went to the hospital to say hello that first day, I found the husband all alone and no family or friends there with him.  His family is in Missouri and her parents are in Bremen, so I asked if he wanted me to come back the next day and I did so for the next several weeks until she started healing and went to a rehab center in Mishawaka. Two weeks later, she had pneumonia and was back in the hospital, so, not much in the lettering department for me as planned.  Now that she is improving, I can get back to what I love to do, but sometimes you are where you need to be.  I am glad that I was able to be helpful to my friend and her immediate family. 

Ginny and Pat at our February meeting

We were all so happy to be together for our February meeting.  It had been a long two months since we were all together talking about calligraphy and art in general. Postponed from January, we brought our exchange pieces we did in December and described our methods in creating an animal themed piece. Then I briefly took the group through some Spencerian lettering, not as a class, but as a taste for this beautiful lettering. Harvest Crittenden is a wonderful teacher, online and in person, and supplies you with as many sample sheets as possible to help you wander through the endless possibilities of Spencerian letters.  Check her out at Acornarts.org.  She has a few online classes a year. I have taken three of them from her and would take more whenever possible. 

I was not at the meeting in March, instead spending two weeks in Ft. Myers going to Spring Training games with my daughter and her family. I find that sitting in the bleachers in the hot sun is not my cup of tea, but the standing room only tickets, which are much cheaper, allows me to stand in the shade with a cool breeze blowing my way. The games are fun and my 5-year old grandson loves the game so it is fun to watch him.

At the March meeting, members pulled a name of a book that you probably have not made before, and will make that book by the August meeting for our annual exchange. I know some of you will be challenged by something new, but there are so many tutorials on the internet that you can pick one that works for you.  Enjoy and have fun with it.  I look forward to seeing all the different books you come up with at the August picnic. 

Luce Zolna

March also brought Luce Zolna to Mishawaka with her marbling talents for two days.  We learned how to alum and then marble the paper in carageenan on the first day and on the second we went wild with some new designs.  Luce was a patient and encouraging instructor and I can’t wait to see some of the things that will be created with our marbled papers. It is so inspiring to be with friends of the same likes and have uninterrupted time creating something new.  Thank you to Maureen Trubac for housing Luce and to Sharon Esmont for securing the venue and opening the doors for us each day, as well as those who stayed and helped to clean up and put back together the chairs and tables at Whispering Pines!

It’s spring here in the Michiana area, but as I am writing this newsletter, it is snowing outside and has been most of the day.  There isn’t much accumulation, but that 70 degree day we had last week is in our rearview mirror for now.  Spring gives us a new start for the year, so take out some calligraphy or painting tools and create. 

Cindy Bowles – Cindy is a member of the MCG and has recently become a certified Zentangle instructor and has offered to come to South Bend to teach us the art of zentangling.  Some of us have dabbled in this art form, but now we are going to have some real instruction.  The Zentangle one-day workshop will be on Saturday, October 3, 2015, at Christ the King Church.  More information and list of supplies will be coming in the next newsletter. 

Paper Marbling Workshop with Luce Zolna - Renee Tuveson

The marbling workshop was a long awaited and very special experience for me. I had dabbled a couple of times with small success and mediocre results.

We mixed 2 level tbsp of Carrageenan to a gallon of water using a blender, mixing about 5 cups and a time and pouring into an empty milk jug. We used an 11 X 14 plastic “photo box” (or its equivalent) as our tray.

Luce explained the importance of covering the entire sheet of paper with alum. If you missed a spot you would not have the proper coverage of paint and a white spot in your design. Sometimes that would be OK and sometimes NOT. After applying the alum (1 ¼ tsp per cup of water), we allowed the paper to dry and as long as the shine was gone we could “print” our image.

We used Golden Fluid Acrylics, diluting a tbsp of paint with a few drops of water and dropping it into the water with a whisk and/or eyedropper. We used various tools, “combs”, “rakes” and skewers to push and pull the paint to make our designs. Then gently laying the paper on top of the paint, and  pulling it out over the edge of the tray “Voila” we had a beautiful piece of art!

Luce had a wonderful handout showing the different techniques for making designs, the basic stone, snail, gel git, chevron and nonpareil to mention a few.

It was wonderful going around and looking at every ones designs. The colors were wonderful. We tried various papers including arches text wove and arches black cover. Absolutely beautiful papers and everyone had great results due to the care of our wonderful instructor Luce Zolna!

A good time was had by all and I was blessed with a wonderful back-rub by Ginny

Policy for MCG

Our workshops seem to have people sign up and then decide not to attend. We have been very generous in returning monies paid for the workshop if someone decides not to attend at the last minute, but we are going to have a change in this policy.  There will be a nominal fee if you drop out of the workshop.  If there would be an emergency, for instance, a birth of a child or grandchild, illness, etc., then the board will take this under advisement to decide on a course of action regarding a refund.  Also, if the workshop is filled and there is someone to take your place, that would also quality for a refund. So please, if you want to sign up for the workshop, make sure that you put that date on your calendar as a commitment.  We have a small calligraphy group and we struggle to fill workshops at times.  We need all of you to attend as many as possible so that we can continue to have quality instructors. 

Are you on Facebook? If so, look up your favorite calligraphers because they are on Facebook also.  I like to look at Barbara Close, Reggie Ezell, Julian Waters, John Stevens, Rachel Yallop, Pendragons, Capital City Scribes, Yukimi Annand, etc.  There is a lot of beautiful calligraphy on these pages that will get your inspired.  Also look at Joanne Fink and Barbara Lever’s Facebook Page.  And then, there is always Pinterest.  Oh my, so many places to be inspired!

PO Box in South Bend – Due to a lack of much mail at our Post Office box in South Bend, we have suspended any mail sent to that address.  If you have anything to send to the MCG, please send to Maureen Trubac 50685 Mercury Drive, Granger, IN 46530 or Ginny VanderHey 51854 Stoney Creek Drive, Elkhart, IN 46514. When monies are due for a workshop or dues, they will now go to one of these addresses. 

In February we lost longtime member, Henni Akkerman.  Henni was a talented artist whose work was displayed in the South Bend area frequently.  Her love of the arts included painting, calligraphy and jewelry.  Henni had a dry wit that was enjoyed by all.  We extend our deepest condolences to Henni’s family. 

Also, our condolences go out to Anna Schlemma who lost her mom, Anna Schmidt, on December 27, 2014 and to Diana Stamper who lost her husband, Larry, on February 25, 2015.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you. 

/WEBSITES TO ENJOY

Marbleart.com

http://www.poets.org/text/poems-spring

http://monicadengo.com

 http://www.ted.com/playlists/170/kickstart_your_creativity

I enjoy sharing new websites that I have come across in our blog.  If you come across something that you think would interest the whole group, please email them to Ginny or Renee, and we will get them on the blog for the next quarter. 

American Frame – Just a reminder that if you order from American Frame, please mention MCG, and they will give us a small stipend.

MCG Meetings for 2015

April 11 – Marbling Workshop Show and Tell

May 2 –      Pat West will be demonstrating some watercolor trees

June 6 -   Maureen Trubac will be demonstrating a Pamphlet Book

July 11 – There will be no meeting in July

August 1– Annual Picnic and Book Exchange at Ginny VanderHey’s house

September 5 – Angie West will be demonstrating Foundational Writing

October 3 –     Zentangle workshop

November 7 – Write out a Thanksgiving Quote using Foundational

December – Exchange and Christmas get together

Cut the schedule of dates in the newsletter out, and put it on your fridge for future reference.

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP
Annual dues of $15 are due at the July meeting. Our annual dues have not changed in many years and are put to good use for supplies for our make it/take it meetings, annual raffle in August, and, at the end of the year, we give to local charities. Please remember to bring your dues to the July meeting or send it to Maureen Trubac, our treasurer.

OFFICERS
Ginny VanderHey, President 574/262-1345 gvanderhey@hotmail.com
Sharon Esmont, Vice President 574/272-5481 Sesmont@aol.com
Maureen Trubac, Treasurer 574/272–0733 maureentrubac@hotmail.com
Pat West, Secretary 574-612-9328 pwpatwest@gmail.com

Jo McPherson, Study Group Chairperson, jobakestwo@centurylink.net
Renee Tuveson – Blog Coordinator

If ever you would like to add to the newsletter/blog, please contact one of the officers, and we will get that information to Renee Tuveson. Something you have done or have seen would be welcomed into our information.