May Workshop with Peter Thornton

This was the second time we had Peter Thornton come to lead a workshop and we were all really looking forward to the experience!

We had chosen to have Peter teach us about Creating Texture - a selection of variations.

The only pressure is to know more about creating texture at the end of the day than you knew in the morning.  pt

We watched demos and then tried the different techniques, building a portfolio of possibilities, remembering that there are basic elements that one can change in order to create a contrast and the texture of a piece of lettering.

Size
Form
Weight
Colour
Direction or
Movement
Structure
Texture

We started out going for legibility, lettering in pencil - 

WRITING IS MEANT TO BE READ CALLIGRAPHY IS MEANT TO BE LOOKED AT.  pt   

WRITINGISMEANTTOBEREAD
CALLIGRAPHYISMEANTTOBE
LOOKEDATWRITINGISMEANT
TOBEREADCALLIGRAPHYISM
EANTTOBELOOKEDATWRITI

and then change one element to create some visual interest - 

WRITINGISMEANTTOBEREAD
CALLIGRAPHYISMEANTTOBE
LOOKEDATWRITINGISMEANT
TOBEREADCALLIGRAPHY
ISMEANTTOBELOOKEDAT

Clarify your intentions.  Irene Wellington

If you have taken a class with Peter you know that quotes and Peterisms fly around the room constantly. Our workshop was no different!

I prefer my letters to be burdened with affection rather than perfection. pt  

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED.
Pick a number - 1 to 5 and emphasize the number of word you chose.

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED
LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED
LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED
LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED
LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED

Peter had made some folded pens and we were able to watch him assemble a couple for future reference.
It was very interesting to see him write with the pen once complete. It looked so easy! 


Good letters will not support indifferent design, whereas good design will support indifferent lettering. pt

A thing created is loved before it exists. Chesterton


On the second day we spent a good portion of our time working on re-creating a piece from Peter's poster that many of us purchased. Not easy!! but as you will see in the photos, some were doing some very good preliminaries!

Artistic creation springs from the formative impulse and the craving for emotion.  Aristotle

In no particular order, these are some photos of students' workspaces and what they were working on... 

Peter offered to letter our cover page of the book we would bind of our work...

Follow your bliss but have some skill behind you. pt


You can see we were a busy bunch! There was still time for visiting but for the most part, we were on task, something almost unheard of for us!


Art and Life are one.

"You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence therefore isn't an act, it's a habit" Aristotle
 
and the best for last..........

"I'm as mad as a rattle snake who fell in love with a garden hose" 


And there you have it, an overview of the two sunny days we all spent indoors, well worth it! Watch for it! I am working on having Peter come again, hopefully sooner rather than later.


photos by Bev


  
   

 

May meeting

Getting Tangled up with Fay!

Zentangles®© have become a huge hit amongst art circles.  Our own Fay has played with them since taking a quick class at Letters of Joy awhile back. If you have received one on an envelope or a card, you know she's taken them to another level. It was a no brainer to have her lead a meeting program about them!

We were each given some Canson mi Tientes paper cut to size 3¼" X 3¼" and instructed in some of the most used doodle bits!   and encouraged to come up with some of our own as well.

 
Some of what came out of the afternoon were elaborate........

Some were in familiar shapes.......

others were fun!

Some were formal looking!

 And I think we all agreed that the art of "tangling" is entertaining, relaxing and quite an enjoyable thing to do.

Photos by Eileen. Thank you!!
Next up......Workshop with Peter Thornton.....