Paper, paper, paper - I do love it, and am constantly striving to find the PERFECT paper.  Do help me out - which papers do all my fellow calligraphers like?
 
I've been trying Fabriano Rosapina - it is without doubt my favourite paper for writing on - soft, just the right amount of sizing, makes colour looks amazing..... BUT.... major problem... I have so far completely failed to rub pencil lines off it.  Have tried all the tricks I know - putty rubber, white bread, Blu tack - I just can't do it without fluffing up the paper surface.  Any tips would be most welcome - for now I'm re-doing the piece on Fabriano Artistico which is OK but not nearly as lovely to use.

I know it doesn't look too bad in this image - but look just below the h and e of "the" - that bunny tail really catches the light and makes the whole piece look  

OK... "meteorological" is a difficult word to spell.  It's one of those tricky words with a letter repeated in the middle ("o") that allows you to think you're further on in the word than you are when you're writing very slowly.
That's how this happens!

Rules when disaster strikes.
1.  Don't panic. 
2.  If going for an attempted rescue, write the correct letter in place, then once everything's really dry, only the "wrong" strokes need removing.
3.  Learn from your mistake.

Anyway, this piece continued to grow (it's very large), but in the end other factors meant this version got abandoned - more on that in another blog entry, I feel.  So the right thing to do was to rule up and start again.

Surely I wouldn't make the same mistake again.....?

Oh no - I managed to make it WORSE!

I'll let you know how the sorting out of the mess goes....

(And tell you all the other tales of woe, and maybe even show you a finished piece!)

I thought I'd share a photo of a test of fugitiveness (light fastness) I've done this year - using art pens in a variety of colours.
One strip has been in my studio window for 6 weeks - so although it's had sunshine, it's only been winter light - the other tucked away (OK - lost in a pile of papers until today!)
Look at the purple and pinks, plus the palest grey - all my hard work on my calligraphy or illustration would have been for nothing if I used those colours.
It's an easy but informative exercise!

Hope everyone's having a day filled with happiness!
It happens to be my dog Toby's birthday today too - he's 10!

In all three of my classes (Nottingham, Lincoln and Newark)  this week I've been talking about ways to rescue a nib that isn't behaving, as most problems can be sorted if you know what to do.
However my teaching didn't stretch to what to do when your pointed nib falls off the table onto a tiled floor....

That nib and I have been through a lot together too :0(

(Confession - I rarely manage to throw a nib away, so it'll go and join all the other nibs that are beyond repair and have been "put out to pasture" !)

I'm currently teaching 3 classes plus two individual tuitions, and everyone is doing gothic!  I had been put off teaching it because it's not a hand I use too often, and having taught it once quite a few years ago, it was not well loved by the class!

_What I'm finding this time is that people get to grips with the letters very quickly, and are therefore pleased to have real calligraphy, in a matter of a couple of lessons.  And they're enjoying finding ways to use it that can move it away from its dark, medieval look if they want to.  I have also found I've enjoyed it more - but then always enjoy whichever hand(s) I'm teaching - lucky me.  In some senses it's great having everyone doing the same, but of course different groups learn at different rates.  Have only found myself trying to hand out an examplar to a group that received it the previous week!

My tile Christmas cards seem to have been well loved, so I've made a few Valentine cards too, some of which are going to be on sale in the Seed Gallery in Crich (I love saying that!)
I know there's not a huge amount of lettering on them, but they're fun to do and keep me creating things!.

Just spent a great day with friends at Nottingham Calligraphers, enjoying a workshop on Layout and Design.  It was run for us by Sue Sinclair who is a professional graphic designer, sharing her skills and knowledge with us.  Plus, we got to cut shapes out of pretty coloured paper!  The photo below is an exercise in trying different things with the pieces of space that are not the letter - good fun!

I've just started my Making Little Books course again - a delightful mix of people who came last term, plus new starters - a very sociable group I think!
We did concertina books, with cuts to make pop out bits.  These were the examples I took, but they were soon joined by many more creative examples made by the group.

I've been rather busy getting various courses underway this last week, but today was a great treat - travelled over to Halifax with my friend Jane to view the SSI 90th Anniversary calligraphy exhibition.
Wow wow wow wow wow! 
The exhibition is in the Piece Hall which is a beautiful place to visit anyway, and although I'd seen the catalogue of work, full of excellent photos, they cannot capture the brilliance of the pieces when you see them for real. 
Add to that seeing many good friends - what a great day!