Melissa making notes for Harriet
I was in New York last weekend, first participating in a panel on the business of calligraphy on Friday night [the video on this link is not currently working, stay tuned], and then spending ten hours on Saturday and Sunday teaching an enthusiastic group of calligraphers from the Society of Scribes everything I know about making a ketubah. We covered:
- deciding on a design and lettering styles
- laying out and copyfitting the text
- collage, painting, drawing, paper cutting, paper sculpture and gilding techniques
Pointing out the finer points of paper cutting
And a whole bunch more!
I love love love to teach, so this trip was a real treat. I’ll admit I was anxious about this class – I really wanted it to go well, and it was challenging to figure out how best to structure the info. But if the feedback I got is any indication, the students got a lot out of it.
Today I got this lovely note from the VP of the group, who was also my gracious hostess for the weekend:
Hi Melissa:
Transferring delicate loose gold leaf onto Mylar
I wanted to send a note and tell you that I have received many positive comments in reference to your weekend workshop (Big Text Blocks, Borders and Letters, Oh My!). You did a wonderful job explaining detailed tools and techniques so that we could understand the processes you use to create your amazing art. However, the biggest impact of this workshop on the class was the expansion of artistic possibilities for the calligraphers. Most of the class has been involved with the art of beautiful writing for years. This experience allowed the group to focus on complementary decoration and layout of written text blocks instead of practicing letter forms.
We enjoyed the computer e-presentation of your work, detailed answers to all of our questions, your preparedness for the class, and the bonus of hearing your jazz DVD while we worked. Thank you again Melissa, your workshop has been a wonderful addition to our class offerings.
Warm regards,
Susan Steele
Vice President
Society of Scribes, Ltd.
New York, New York
All in all, a fabulous weekend! I look forward to my next itinerant teaching opportunity.
Burnishing gold leaf
