Lettering art and other society

[scarlettina]

I've learned that there are conventions for everything. shellyinseattle, who is becoming quite an accomplished calligrapher, invited me to join her for the local calligrapher's convention, Letters of Joy. I was only able to attend the keynote on Friday evening, but it was quite good, a speech and slideshow by Louise Grunewald, a prominent calligrapher and artist (beautiful work!). I also got to troll the dealer's "room", 5-6 tables full of the sort of things that made the crafter and amateur artist in me just swoon: fancy papers, inks, calligraphy pens of all sorts, paint, string (for book binding), and books, books, books. The art show was also small but quite lovely. Oddly, the largest part of the show was the silent auction (which was raising money to offset conference costs). I didn't win the one thing I bid on, which was fine. Nice evening, overall; glad I went.

Spent yesterday afternoon with wanton_heat_jet at a barbecue with his coworkers. Good food, fine company, evening if the weather wasn't as cooperative as we would have preferred. I had been stressed about attending for a number of reasons and, while my reasons were fairly well-founded, in the end I needn't have worried.

Comments

[miss-swamp.livejournal.com]

Yes, but what the world wants to know is: what splendiferous creation did you cook for the barbecue(, Little Lady)?

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Heh. I didn't get splendiferous. In fact, he ended up picking up one of those four-flavored cheesecakes and that's what we brought. My plan had been simply to buy a premade angelfood cake or shortcake with strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. The most effort would have been in the slicing of the berries. As I have said, my culinary fu is not strong. I don't regret the lack of homemade dessert for our contribution. And there will be other opportunities for me to show off my meagre skills.

[steve98052.livejournal.com]

That sounds like it would have been fun. It would be cool to have a nice illuminated manuscript from the time when manuscripts were the only way copies were made, just as a piece of art, but they're pricey. A cool alternative would be a modern replica, with real animal parchment, period-accurate inks, and so forth.

But with a replica, I'd have to figure out what I wanted, rather than just choosing the prettiest thing I can find that's available in the market for historical manuscripts. The abundance of choice can make the decision more difficult.

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Did you see my post about the St. John's Bible project (http://www.saintjohnsbible.org/)? Real parchment, period-appropriate inks, the whole nine yards. Absolutely gorgeous--and pages are coming to the Tacoma Art Museum this summer (http://www.tacomaartmuseum.org/page.aspx?hid=287) if you want to see the real thing. Beautiful reproduction volumes are available on Amazon (http://www.saintjohnsbible.org/) at significant discounts.