Inspired by pine trees...

Yvonne, of 'The Organic Writer' is hosting July's Festival of the Trees and asked for art submissions.... well, i did have a plan to do something new, but havn't put pen or brush to paper all month! This piece was done some years ago, but it remains one of my favourites, both for the words & aesthetically

 20 x 10 inches

NFS

I know a pine tree that leans over near a sea. At midday it bestows upon the tired body a shade measured like our life, and in the evening the wind blowing through its needles begins a curious song as though of the souls that made an end of death, just at the moment when they begin to become skin & lips again. One night I stayed awake all night under this tree. At dawn I was brand new as though I had been freshly quarried.
George Seferis - Greek poet, essayist & diplomat, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 1963

Both the background & the lettering is done in watercolour on Saunders Waterford Not, 190gsm. I used Brause nibs for this... not my favourites, but they were new & I had to give them a go! Brause nibs are less flexible than Mitchell's, which is useful if you prefer to press quite firmly as you write, or on paper that is too textured for the Mitchell nibs.

The various shades were used randomly in the lettering, to echo the varying colours seen in nature.

I had tested brush strokes on a separate piece of paper before doing the 'pine' & I couldn't let the resulting texture go to waste! So... thinking of a pine wood & imagining the feeling, I wrote random words & phrases across the strip of brush-marks to make a work-shop sampler. In the past I have taught workshops aimed at trying out an array of papers that aren't necessarily deemed 'suitable' for calligraphy.

I therefore used a range of pens & pencils in a variety of styles to show how they worked with this paper, at the same time trying to keep the whole thing harmonious & feeling of pine forests. Notes about what I used are jotted along the bottom. 

 This process of using gestural marks to evoke a feeling or a sense of nature, then generating the words to suit, is one that I frequently use. A few folds later and some handmade paper, gives a little booklet that serves as a record... much more likely to be kept & looked at than 'another' scrap of paper on the pile (ok, make that several piles) that I can't bear to throw away!

This simple paper scrap also led on to workshops encouraging creativity for calligraphers, but using nature as inspiration can work for everyone. I don't teach the 'try out papers' workshops anymore... I sold my paper stock to Tina of paperinc.co.uk & I think she does, if any uk calligraphy groups are interested (plus, she has some lovely papers suitable for calligraphy for sale!)

Today is a gift...

This is definitely best viewed enlarged... just click the pic!

yesterday is history

tomorrow a mystery

today is a gift

that's why it's called the present

36 x 48 inches- SOLD

Canvas's with quotations...

SOLD
never give up hope

for it is only at it's lowest ebb

that the tide begins to turn

we must treat the earth well

it was not given to us by our parents

it was loaned to us by our children

Both of these are 40 x 40 cm, and are priced at £25 each.

Chocolate Canvasses!

Sorry folks... they're not real chocolate, just in case you were thinking you could break a piece off whenever you fancy... But they are gorgeous, rich, chocolate-y colours! I've had a few goes at photographing them, but have not managed to to capture the depth of colour yet... I will keep trying!!

friends are the family we choose for ourselves

8 x 8 inches

20 x 20 cm

sold

lovers do not finally meet... they knew each other all along

12 x 12 inches

30 x30 cm

SOLD

I've used a combination of dark chocolate, milk chocolate & praline colours throughout... the 'drizzles of chocolate' are raised, reminiscent of the textures you see in the luxury chocolate shops.

believe in the power of your dreams

16 x 12 inches

40.5 x 30 cm
sold

the magical meeting of two souls

love

9 x 12 inches

22.5 x 30 cm
sold

I'm going to try a few chocolatiers... i think this series would complement their stock for any who are looking to extend their range of gift ideas. I used to have my own shop, and canvasses along these lines sold well...

everything happens for a reason

12 x 16 inches

30 x 40.5 cm
sold

I know they will sell in a retail setting, and working on a batch of the same colour at a time means I can offer a wholesale price for the lot... I just need to convince a few retailers to buy rather than want sale or return! I've got one lined up to see next week, so fingers crossed...

to love and be loved

is the greatest happiness

9 x 12 inches

22.5.5 x 30 cm
sold

These are all sold, but I can paint something similar for you if you wish

 Just email suziscribbles @ gmail.com

20 x 8 inches

51 x 20 cm
sold

I've used gloss paint for the background of these two which has a gorgeous wet-look. The drizzles contrast nicely. I need to have another go at the photographs in better light though!

15.75 x 15.75 inches

40 x 40 cm
sold

Seaside Stamps

Crafty Individuals have just released this rubber stamp with my calligraphy, available here

Please do add a comment with a link to anything you make using these stamps won't you?!

Jean at Crafty Individs is also working away at some sea-sidey background papers too...

here are a couple of teasers for you!

Free Calligraphy Rubber Stamp

I heard a rumour about some of my lettering, lol..... This rubber stamp is the 'give-away' in the July issue of 'Craft Stamper' magazine... available from uk newsagents beginning of June, or by subscription.

The magazine is also available from Crafty Individuals who will post overseas... where you can check out more stamps featuring calligraphy by yours truly!

New Beginnings

A while ago a friend asked me to produce some canvasses for her... she would be moving soon and they were to be for her new home, even though she didn't yet know where that would be. My brief? "New Beginnings"... whatever that means to me, however it inspires me to create something for her to hang in her living room....Any clues? size? style? cost? colours?.... No, just whatever you come up up with (oh, the sofa's red)

It would be quite easy to look up a few "new beginnings" quotations & slap some colours together that would match her room.... but that's not how I work.... before she even left I was already seeing a line of red amongst green... an idea of light spreading out... of a seed beginning to grow.... And that was it. For weeks the idea got no further. Just a brief glimpse of a picture, a hazy idea... of red & green & a seed.

Then a few words started to form...'who knew how this seed would grow... planted in a heart...' the idea of her heart opening... I was thinking about Karen's personal growth, her journey with Yoga, Reiki... & Love. That night she emailed with a new address & moving date... oh, how the energies move! I wasn't ready to start painting yet, & words floated around tantalizingly for a good while longer.

When I did start to paint it was with the idea of an earthly/physical heart, grounded in the earth & the physical plane, but also the feeling of higher energies & spiritual connection. I still had the picture in my mind of a red line amongst green, but didn't really know what I was actually going to do... so I took a deep breath & opened myself up to the energies that flow... walking around, letting my fingers run over various paints... thinking of Karen, asking for guidance... translucency.... aha, acrylic inks- pink & green... grounded, earthly- wood dyes, light & medium oak, ooh & some pale green acrylic... physical heart- red acrylic...

The bands of colour over-lap & blend...I used a small sponge roller & a brush randomly creating texture & blending on the canvas, moving quite quickly... another deep breath when I finished this stage, actually feeling nervous about whether she would like what I was creating (it is different from other work of mine that she has seen), but knowing that this is exactly what it should be.... It was only after this that I could start jotting down phrases & ideas for words, nothing concrete, just random thoughts...

And this is my work in progress... the canvasses are 24 inches tall, 18, 30 & 18 inches wide respectively, so take up the full drawing board... I need to work on them together as the lettering runs across them all.

The strip of paper acts as an anchor point as i write, helping to keep the lettering straight without the hardness of a fixed line... also I can test colour on it, mixing as I go... or ghost write a word to help judge spacing... and acts as a guard sheet for my hand. I pick out phrases from my notebook, turn them round in my mind & write as they come together. Sounds simple, but it took ages! Acrylic dries fast, but can be lifted out with a wet cloth if I spot a mistake within a few letters!

The lettering is done with a small pointed brush; on it's side for the thick strokes, lifted back to its point for the thins... i used white acrylic ink, randomly mixed with the pink & red (with green ink & wood dye for the lower lines) ... varying from almost translucent to nearly solid... dancing ethereally across the canvas (I hope!)... a mixture of lower & upper case... higher & lower dimensions... physical & spiritual co-existing, merging happily side by side... unified... just as we seek to unify the aspects of Self, both within & without...

And here is the full set... just click on any of the pictures to see them in more detail.

Who knew how this seed would grow, 

planted in a heart well hidden?

Heart unfolding- seed unfurling- transformed by inner magic 

& silent healing whispers calling to this soul.

Who knew where this dream would flow, rooted in this 

earthly plane & flowering in the heavens?

Mists part- veils lift- revealing this vision.

Gaze & wonder at this sight- the joy of new beginnings.

Dance The Old Ways

 More words that move me, written by Cari Ferraro

Dance the old ways

Trust the knowing

Mend and heal

Energy Flowing

For this, I used wood dyes for the background, pencil crayons for the lettering, a chalk pastel spiral and decorators filler for the 'stones'.... so I guess that qualifies as mixed media!

I originally wrote about this piece over here... remember the posts are in reverse order, so the 3rd post on that page is how it started out & the first one is my reflections at the end! 

Sisters Of The Red Moon

we have met before, you and i

somewhen, somewhere.

in time out of time, the space between,

the space where the veil thins and the mist floats across

moonlit oceans.


in the swirling chaos of now,

tendrils of light flicker in the darkness.

reminders of a lost tribe,

of ancient ways where blood was holy

and wisdom shared.

reaching across the chasm of time.

over expanse of space and the shackles of fate

there is hope that in the dreaming

of this and other things, we shall meet again.

somewhen, somewhere.

By Melanie Leavey

Mmm, I love creating textures... with lettering or with paint & I found these words so inspiring. Layers of blacks & reds with some bronze powder....

This piece is 56 x 76 cm on cotton rag paper, which with all the layers, was quite challenging to write on! I've written more fully about the process & my thoughts on the words here, at Spirit Whispers...  

If you are interested in purchasing, please get in touch....

Accordion Book: Rose

This wrap around concertina/ accordion book was made to go with a 'femme' made by ambermoggie. (they're so gorgeous!). It was a special gift for a special young lady!

I chose Saunders Waterford Not, 190gsm and sloshed (technical term, lol) watercolour all over two strips torn to the same size... basically I flooded the paper with water and brushed colour into it, using several shades to match the hand-dyed colours of the femme (whose name is Rose). Rose represents the maiden aspect of the goddess... the flowering of womanhood... the goddess within... her link to the earth and generations of her female line. To echo this feeling I used flowing sweeps of the brush... curving movements...spirals...

I didn't have any preconceived ideas of what this may turn out to be, maybe a bit of collage, definitely a book, but probably smaller than it turned out... it ended up being about 4 feet long when fully stretched out, but at approx 10 inches tall & with 4" pages, it folded up nicely... substantial without feeling bulky.

I wrote a few of the phrases that amber used to describe Rose before deciding on the final size & where to fold... once I had an idea of how the layout should pan out, I made the folds & attached a second section to make the wrap around cover... then I finished the lettering.

The book looked fine as it was, but I wanted to add some collage elements... for these I used torn off bits of the background... added a bit more colour, some gestural marks & random words. I added them to look like mini-canvasses within the book. Not as 'collagey' as I had maybe thought to begin with, but definitely enough for how it developed!