Our new president, Jane Hales, welcomed us to our January UCA meeting.  The room was full of excited calligraphers, ready to begin a new year.  We had several projects to complete as well as the review of Roman proportions and the practicing of pressurized Roman caps.  Jane explained the morning would be dedicated to the making of paste papers for the covers of the envelope book we would be making.  We each received a lovely zippered bag in which to carry many of our calligraphy supplies.  There was a supply of fabric markers, and this project was the decorating of our bags––making them our own.  Making our Folded Envelope Book was the third project of the morning.  All the projects were scheduled for the first half of the meeting.  We were divided into three groups, and off we went to make our paste paper, decorate our bag, and make our Folded Envelope Book––all before noon!
                                                                                                        UCA President Jane Hales gets us going!

PASTE PAPER

Judy Sommerfeldt was prepared to tell us how she made the paste for the paper (recipes can be found under the "Houndouts" tab on the upper left side of this web page).  She then demonstrated how to dampen the Arches Text Wove paper slightly and how to apply the paste.  Everyone had a wonderful time creating fascinating papers full of color and texture.  Remember, don't let the paste get too thick on the paper.  It will crack when folded.

Judy brushes on the colored paste,then adds texture with tools.   Judy says this is cornstarch paste.

    Susan Dawes' paper turned out to be a stunner!       This lovely paste paper belongs to Brecken Cook.


      Here are more glorious paste papers.  What fantastic book covers all these papers will make!

CANVAS BAGS

Many people had a great time decorating their bags.  However, there were those who decided to do their decorating at home, but here are some bags that were started at the meeting –––––––

Check out the left corner.  Someone has begun.       Look at the lovely letters on Bonnie Fisher's bag!

Marge Jensen works enthusiastically on the project!   D'Arcy Grenz knows just what she wants to do.


Great design! Yuko McGuire has the right idea.      Using a single color, Brecken has created a beauty

THE FOLDED ENVELOPE BOOK

This attractive and versatile book was taught by Jane Hales.  Using 9 envelopes, two pieces of mat board, paste paper, some ribbon, a glue stick and bone folder, Jane showed us exactly how this book should be constructed. Most of us will be making this at home, since we had to wait for our paste paper to dry and had no more time at the meeting.  However, with Jane's clear and precise instructions, we shouldn't have any trouble.  The nine envelopes are intended to hold monthly handouts and there is a place for our yearly schedule and Shakespeare quotations to be added in.  We will be interested to see all the different books at our February meeting.

Jane prepares to show us how to make the book.     Ribbon ties added to close the book as seen here.

ROMAN MONOLINES + "SHAKE IT UP" PRESSURIZED PENCIL ROMANS

After a short break for lunch or just a little stretching, Mary Wells began her presentation of the Roman Caps and their proportions.  She explained that the letters of the alphabet are divided into 5 groups––H, A, V, T, U, X, Y, Z, & N are 3/4's of a square wide.  The letters O & Q fill the entire square.  Taking up 7/8's of the square are the letters C, G, & D.  The more slender letters are B, P, R, E, F, J, K, L & S––these are 1/2 a square wide.  The wide letters are M & W.  These two are a square plus in width.  The letter I is very  slender.  

Mary wrote these letters out for us at the front of the room on a piece of paper she had lined and attached to the white board.  It was great to practice these proportions once again, and for several, it was their first time.  We used a pencil which was good, since many letters benefited from a few erasures. 

We then began to "shake it up" by learning the art of Pressurized Pencil Romans.  It is easy to do with a very dark leaded pencil––such as a 6B or higher.  Applying pressure - release - pressure to each stroke we have a very interesting, stylized letter that makes for some lovely pieces of art.  We went over these letters carefully and then tried putting them together in words.  Although these letters require practice they are very doable. Mary showed us a charming cupcake piece she had done using a lead pencil, Pressurized Roman caps and a quote from Shakespeare's As You Like It.  Our homework assignment is to choose a Shakespeare quotation and letter this with Pressurized Pencil Roman Caps.


These cupcakes look good enough to eat, Mary!        Holding her piece for all to see, Mary shows how.

All the Handouts from our January Meeting can be found by going to the "Handouts" tab at the top left of this page.  This includes Shakespeare quotes and instructions for the Envelope Book.