October 2017 Scribnote

 

October 2017 Scribnote

COMMENTS FROM OUR CHAIRPERSON

Summer comes and summer goes all too quickly.  I hope everyone had some creative time to write, paint, make books, etc. Again this year, my daughter from Texas comes to Elkhart with my 7 year-old grandson for 5 weeks.  There isn’t a lot of time to make some beautiful letters, but somehow we were able to get some creative juices flowing.  My grandson and I made two books so that he could draw some Legos or Minecraft figures in them.  Pat West spent a couple of days with her granddaughter painting and making jewelry for the Fair in Michigan.  Passing on the things we like to do to family or friends is so enjoyable when we see them smiling at their accomplishments.

For our July meeting, Pat West and I demonstrated nature printing.  Everyone brought such different leaves to paint and print with.  We learned this technique up at Lake Louise last October and it has become such an enhancement to our artwork. 

Nature Printing with leaves and acrylic paint

Barb and Jo working on their prints

Marty and her leaf printing

Also at our July meeting, Sharon Esmont, Co-Chairperson and I, Chairperson, announced that we would be resigning as of the November meeting.  Many of you know that my husband and I have a home in Ft. Myers, Florida (which made it through the hurricane with flying colors) and will be spending more time there.  This year we will be leaving in November and not back to Elkhart for a few months, so it is time for someone else to take over the reins of MCG.  Sharon and Jo McPherson will be looking for new officers, so please consider being a leader for a year or two.  Sharon and I have coordinated the meetings and workshops for at least the past 15 years so I am sure that you would love to have some new blood take over.  It has been a pleasure to be with friends every month and to share what artsy thing we are all working on as well as all the demonstrations in which we learned something new every meeting.  Anna Schlemma and I will continue to coordinate the workshops with approval of the board.  After Yukimi Annand 2018 and Heather Held in 2019, it will be time to coordinate a new instructor to lead us to new and exciting art techniques.  We are also working with Barbara Mann on a date for 2018. 

One of my favorite meetings of the year is the annual picnic at my home.  Again this year, we were able to enjoy sitting in the screened porch with the gentle breezes blowing in and keeping us cool for the day.  First we had a meeting reminding everyone of what is going on for the rest of the year, and then we had a raffle for the Jacqueline Sullivan workshop in September, which Lauren Matacio won.  Diana Stamper has downsized and moved out of her home and had lots of goodies to raffle off to all of us.  Lastly, we exchanged our handmade books which were spectacular this year.  I think that everyone is stepping up their game and creating beautiful pieces of art.  Next, we were ready to eat! We missed Sharon Esmont’s fruit salad because she was home with strep throat and Jo McPherson’s pear salad because she was not able to join us, but the food choices were wonderful.  Pat West made her “famous” hot chicken salad to start us off; Marty made one of our favorite desserts, the lemon curd cake, Linda Bigger made wonderful black pepper bread, etc.  We loved it all!  Thanks everyone for again making this year’s picnic a success. 

Laura, Barb and Marty

Angie, Diana and Lauren

Ginny, Maureen and Pat

Our September meeting was all about Zentangles which Renee Tuveson guided us through some beauties.  Renee has been doing a Zentangle a day as often as she can and printed out some new ones for us to try. It was enjoyable to see our shapes come to life with some micron pen strokes.  Thanks Renee for showing us some new Zentangles that we can try and the websites so that we can continue to experiment. 

We’ve had a great year of demonstrations and hopefully that will continue throughout the future meetings.  That old saying “It Takes A Village” rings true even with calligraphy guilds.  Without everyone working together all year, we wouldn’t have the marvelous cohesiveness that we have had for many years.  Let’s continue to keep the Michiana Calligraphy Group strong by continuing to promote the beautiful art of Calligraphy.

Happy Fall Everyone,

Ginny 

Upcoming workshops:

Future Workshops - It seems that instructors are booking their workshops way, way out in the future and we have secured two really good calligraphers for our future workshops.  Please mark your calendars for May 22 and 23, 2018 (a Tuesday and Wednesday) when Yukimi Annand will be in South Bend for a workshop for the MCG and also Heather Victoria Held for the weekend of April 6, 2019.  Both of these ladies are booked solid and these were their first available dates.  Save the dates and save your pennies because these workshops will cost a bit more since we have to fly them here from Canada and California.  Luckily for us, we will piggy back onto the Chicago Guild’s dates for Yukimi Annand so we won’t have to pay the whole airline fee.  Another guild will be looking at Heather Held’s dates to see if they can piggy back onto ours and we can again share that cost.  I have said many times that we try to keep our fees as low as possible, but when an instructor comes from a distance away, they charge us more for travel and baggage and we pass that on to you.  You won’t want to miss either of these workshops!

 Jacqueline Sullivan by Ginny VanderHey

The Michiana Calligraphy Guild has had Jacqueline Sullivan guide is in workshops several times in the past and each one gets better and better. On September 30 and October 1, Jacqueline was again with the MCG for a "Luscious Layering" workshop at Whispering Pines Community Room in Mishawaka. Jacqueline is a very knowledgeable Golden Products expert and knows her products well including how there is a swath of color over black, hand painted, on the front of each container of paint, so that you know how transparent the color you have chosen will be.

The first day of the workshop was spent stenciling absorbent ground on Strathmore 140# watercolor paper. then painting it with Golden Acrylics mixed with a bit of water and Golden Matte Medium. If there was too much paint, a spray of clear water would move the paint around. We also sprinkled silver or gold powder and scraped pastels onto the wet spots as well as putting cheesecloth and clear plastic wrap on top of juicy spots to texture the paper.

Day two we cut our large sheet of Strathmore into thirds to make into a book. The hard part is deciding which page to use as a cover and which ones to use for the inside pages. We also enhanced our pages with colored pencils, collages, ribbon, high flow acrylics, etc. working toward the end product of a finished book.

The second day was close to being over and we had little time to write inside our books, but, after we are back home and in the quiet of our studio, we can find quotes we want to pit into our books to have a completed project.

The weekend went by so quickly because there was so much to learn and do. Jacqueline gave each of us a folder with lots of information about what we were doing. Each of us came home with a treasure and a masterpiece of work we spent two days creating. Now I have to get back to real life, including a three-day watercolor workshop at Fernwood in Michigan, before I take out my book and start to write in it again. Thank you Jacqueline for leading us through a wonderful weekend learning and creating. I LOVED this workshop!

ANGELA MICHIELUTTI- One of our own members, will be having an exhibit of her work at Ivy Tech State College, 220 Dean Johnson Boulevard, South Bend, Indiana, Room 135, from October 9-27, 2017. Monday thru Thursday 9AM to 9PM. It is free and open to the public. Hope many of us can see Angela's new work at Ivy Tech.

http://www.yukimiannand.com/yukimia/galleries.html

http://heathervictoriaheld.com/

http://gallery.jacquelinesullivan.com/main.php

http://www.letterist.com/WorkshopPDFs/Calligraphy-PDFs/Duet.pdf.

Jacqueline Sullivan – Jacqueline Sullivan, who was in South Bend in late September, 2017, has a website that she posts art tips and upcoming workshops she will be conducting.  If you are interested, send in a request to Jacqueline. Go to http://blog.jacquelinesullivan.com/workshops/  and click on mailing list.  

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 Laurie Heyden, 18292 Courtland Drive, South Bend, IN 46637 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. 

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 2017

October 7 – Sharon Esmont – Celtic Knots

November 4 – Calligraphy Fair – (Calligraphy tool sale)

December 2 – Annual Christmas party at Christ the King Church

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
Laurie Heyden, Treasurer, silverbird323@yahoo.com  
Pat West, Secretary 574-612-9328 pwpatwest@gmail.com

Jo McPherson, Study Group Chairperson, jobakestwo@aol.com
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.