Reflections June 2020

Denise Rothney

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Logo designed by Judith Lovell

Newsletter Team Editor

Barbara Qualley

Proofreader

Eleanor Harris

Inside this issue Journal Issue #4 June 2020 Previous Newsletters ended at Issue #66

Regular monthly meetings are held on the Second Tuesday of each month from 8:30am to 12:00pm (no meeting in July and August) Pearmine Room, Exhibition Grounds Duncan, BC (Exceptions are Pot Lucks in December and June)

Executive Meetings are held on the First Tuesday of each month at a member’s home from 9am to noon All members are welcome!

Playtime is held on the Fourth Tuesday of each month from 9am to 12pm Stratford Room, Exhibition Grounds Duncan, BC Annual Membership in Warmland Calligraphers includes online and print copy of Journal. Dues are C$45 for Canadian residents and US$45 for US/Int’l.

Warmland Calligraphers of the Cowichan Valley (the Guild) is a non-registered non-profit group formed to facilitate the exchange of information between calligraphers and to promote interest in and appreciation of calligraphy as an art form within the community. Membership is open to calligraphers at all levels of expertise as well as those with a love of beautiful writing.

Contents of this journal are copyrighted by the authors/artists. Requests for permission to reprint any part must be made through the Editor. The views of contributors are not necessarily those of the Executive or members of the Guild.

Members are invited to submit concise pieces for publication as well as to alert the Editorial Committee to conferences, papers, speeches and other matters of interest to our readers.

The Editorial Committee reserves the right to make editorial changes in material accepted for publication. These include such revisions or additions deemed necessary to ensure correctness of grammar and spelling, clarification of obscurities, brevity and conformity to the Reflections journal.

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Scroll Nib Workshop with Judi Hopewell June Pot Luck Luncheon September Galleria - Black/white Birds September Meeting Programme - Hexagonal Card October Meeting Programme - Neuland

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Floral Metamorphosis with Connie Furgason Watercolour Techniques with Linda Yaychuk November Meeting Programme - Using Colour in Calligraphy

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October Galleria - Numbers Brush Textures with Loredana Zega November Galleria - Miniatures Dot Mandala Workshop with Barbara Qualley Christmas Pot Luck Luncheon Christmas Cards January Meetin g Programme - Elements of Art January Galleria - Mandala February Meeting Programme - Rendez-Vous 2019 Alexander Elementary School & Sunridge Place projects

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Letter Crafting 3 Exhibition February Galleria - Year of the Rat March Galleria - Selected quote Neuland Workshop with Lorraine Douglas March Meeting Programme - Non-dominant Hand

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April Galleria - Non-dominant Hand 2020 - 2021 Executive Board and Committee Heads

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May Galleria - Analogous colour theme

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President’s Message - Ruth Rutledge

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Celebrating the Love of Letters for Twenty-Five Years Contact us at: P.O. Box 2, Duncan, B C, V9L 3X1 Canada www.warmlandcalligraphers.ca

ON THE COVERS Front / Back Wrap - Betty Locke - I have always honoured the historical development of calligraphy and the trefoil design used as decoration in old documents. Variations of the trefoil are used throughout this somewhat modern piece to celebrate our Twenty fifth anniversary. It becomes texture for the numbers and is repeated as a design element in the accompanying other diamond shapes. For contrast and lightness the pointed pen was used to create forms reminiscent of the wonderful instruction of Heather Held. I thank Barb for working with me graphically to create this cover that respectfully combines my work and the use of typography.

Inside Front - Denise Rothney - Having taken a dot mandala class from Barbara Qualley, I have been interested in using the mandala tools and format in different ways to create a calligraphy piece. The snowflake seemed to combine my love of embossing with the discipline of the repetitive pattern of a mandala, with a bit of silver and blue to give it a wintry feeling.

Inside Back - Kathy Bedard - My introduction to calligraphy came five years ago with an Italic class taught by Betty Locke. Since that time I’ve taken classes offered by the Guild in a number of other hands. Calligraphy pairs beautifully with my love of watercolour painting and I’ve enjoyed the challenge of putting the two together. With this piece I chose to feature the word “dragonfly” with colour and flourishes. I used a C5 nib and watercolour paint on Arches smooth watercolour paper.

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Scroll Nib Workshop - Judi Hopewell May 15, 2019 Judy Lowood I loved how versatile this nib is. You can use it with all sorts of lettering styles.

- Another method of loading your nib with a brush filled with watercolour.

- Don’t do a whole sentence with Versals. How to position a versal in your layout.

with it in the past. Had a lot of difficulty with the writing at first but became more comfortable and successful as the day progressed. Creating the decorated letter was fun.

I am much more comfortable using the nib now.

Lorraine Hoy I think that meeting this new nib was particularly interesting and then realizing how unique and useful it was in several hands.Also how the capitals could be embellished in so many ways. A simply wonderful class in a happy congenial atmosphere.

Anne Atkinson An excellent workshop. Fast paced, short breaks. The instructor kept the class focussed. My first introduction to the Scroll Nib -- it was Fun. We studied Roman proportions, Bookhand and Uncials. My favourite -- drawing Versals Judi talked about how to sharpen a nib -- not a scroll nib though. Also, a dagger brush for fine work, a must have.

Jeanette Rawek Teaching was set at a really good pace that kept us with our heads down and concentrating on what we had to do.

Brief historical context (and mixing it up) was nice addition.

This time it was all about the scroll nib. How to load it, how to manipulate it. Care and maintenance. Paper choices. Showed use for a variety of hands and for decoration.

Judi is always willing to share what she has found out about materials and how to use them so tips are always in abundant supply.

We were able to buy our scroll nibs directly from Judi which made getting them easy. She gave general instruction on the way to use them and then showed specifically how to use them with Romans, Bookhand, Uncial and Versals with lots of helpful handouts. It was a day of learning, practicing and plenty of fun.

Judi with Diana Carwithen Jane Sheers Was not sure what to expect but learned a lot. Really enjoyed this class.

Judi came around to check our work and to give positive feedback to help improve my technique.

Really like using this nib and loved this lettering. Also liked the paper she provided for us to try. I found this very helpful because it is hard as a beginner to know what type of paper is best without buying more paper and trial and error.

Judi’s relaxed conversational approach to teaching was interspersed with tips through out… how to keep your nib clean... equal parts liquid soap, ammonia and water. Cansons tracing paper… called Marks… no bleeding and high quality… and probably many I missed or have forgotten.

Diana Carwithen I enjoyed the pace of the class and the different examples to try.

Because I am a very new calligrapher, I enjoyed it all! Even just getting my pen inked and Judi's comment about dabbing her nose, meaning the nib.

Kathy Bedard I particularly like the added touch the scroll nib gives to Versals. The extra line gives a nice finishing touch.

Linda Yaychuk Learning how to hold and use the nib was important as I have had problems Liz Moss

Jeanette Rawek Anne Atkinson Diana Carwithen 4

Pot Luck Luncheon June 11, 2019 Thanks again to Stew and Barbara Qualley for hosting this Pot Luck.

It is a great social event and the food is always amazing.

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September 2019 Galleria Black and White only.

Subject matter is BIRDS

Carolynn Dallaire Judi Hopewell

Linda Lax

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Pat Wheatley

Susan Miller

Leslie Healy

Betty Locke

Margaret Kells

Kathy Marven

Jeanette Rawek Ria Lewis

Marion Craig

Marilyn Lundstrom

Jane Sheers

Mieke van der Vliet

Linda Yaychuk 7

Janet Peters

Charlotte Whiteley

Ruth Rutledge

Anne Atkinson 8

Denise Rothney

September Meeting Programme Hexagonal Card - Jeanette Rawek During this meeting Jeanette Rawek gave a presentation on making a Hexagonal Card. A slideshow supported Jeanette’s instructions. She took us through the process step-bystep, demonstrating how to begin, by using a compass and protractor to create the hexagonal shape of the template. Advice was given about making a cardboard template, then creating a rough copy of the planned layout, before transferring to a better piece of paper for the final product. Jeanette gave lots of instruction with respect to the sequence of the folding, and showed diagrams to illustrate the techniques.

Advice was given about choosing the right kind of paper by realizing how it

folds, in order to achieve the desired result. She gave further information on the tools to use; how to divide the hexagonal shapes, and then cut them out. She also recommended the size of envelope to use before enclosing the finished card, indicating that the hexagonal shape could be any desired size when making one’s own envelope.

possible layout pattern and a prepared template were distributed at the end of the presentation.

A link to Jeanette’s photo slideshow and notes on how to create the Hexagonal Card were later emailed to Guild members.

- Margaret Kells

Meanwhile, Guild members were frantically making their own notes, and asking for repeat of information.

There were lots of questions and much laughter at some of the examples shown. Jeanette recommended books from the Guild library, with further instructions on other folding techniques. A handout showing a

October Meeting Programme Neuland Hand - Lorraine douglas Warmland Calligraphers were very happy to have Lorraine Douglas demonstrate the Neuland hand during our October meeting.

Lorraine Douglas

The creator of the Neuland letters was Rudolf Koch who was a type face designer in the 1920s. This was a time when new ideas were welcomed and his letters became very popular even though Neuland lettering was restrictive to certain situations such as posters, names etc.

However, it can be very effective when used with other hands.

Lorraine began the lesson by handing out an exemplar on which each Neuland letter was

printed in colours indicating the order of the strokes. She demonstrated each letter reminding us that it was four pen widths high and that on the down stroke the pen is turned slightly to create a flat bottom.

make a dot where the V-strokes come together. Voila- the perfect M. The W takes up a great deal of room. You can overlap the two V shapes in the middle to conserve space and end up with a funky looking W.

During her demonstration Lorraine passed on a few tips on making it easier to draw the letters. When making the T,

Lorraine also showed us how well the letters worked when bounced and closely packed in a word. She pointed out how flexible and dynamic these letters are. Perhaps it's time to use them a little more often in our creations.

Jane Sheers

Thank you Lorraine for a most enjoyable session on the Neuland hand.

start with the cross bar. It's easier to find the center point when making the down stroke.

Begin the second stroke of P slightly above the line to give the body some weight. The bottom of the B ends below the line for the same reason. To make the v-stroke in the M

- Linda Yaychuk

Lorraine Douglas 9

Floral Metamorphosis - Connie Furgason September 11, 2019 We could say that the words “Be bold! Do not be afraid!� were the motto for the day-long watercolour workshop with Connie Furgason.

Connie demonstrated how to create beautiful designs on various sizes of watercolour paper. Using a large flat brush she dabbed on colour with large amounts of water. Strokes were made with the side of the brush as well as the straight tip. She suggested using the least dominate hand to create less rigid strokes. Work was done on a number of pieces at the same time.

Sharp tools made lines which filled in with paint to create texture. Connie also used a white Prisma pen as a resist in line making.

In between demonstrations we returned to our dried pieces to apply more strokes and darker shades. We created small landscapes as well as floral pieces and abstracts. We looked for interesting shapes in each piece or areas that were appealing. Connie showed us how to create an adjustable frame using two pieces of L-shaped paper which could be moved around our work to better isolate these areas.

Sometimes we were not particularly pleased with some of our pieces but Connie insisted that no piece was to be thrown away but returned to later and viewed with new eyes. A little further tweaking could result in a completely different piece. These pieces would later be cut up in different sizes and used in various ways such as larger composite pieces, bookmarks, cards etc.

This workshop involved contemplating the merits of each piece, making it a bit of a challenge but also very enjoyable. Many thanks to Connie for getting our creative juices flowing.

- Linda Yaychuk

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Watercolour Techniques - Linda Yaychuk September 27, 2019 There were four of us in Linda’s watercolour ‘kitchen table class’ on September 27th and we would like to share our experiences with the Guild.

What a fun and educational morning it was and I couldn’t believe it was only $10. Linda was such an enthusiastic, organized teacher and so generous with her knowledge, supplies and handouts which she provided and sent home with us. We learned a number of watercolour techniques creating amazing backgrounds using saran,

bubble wrap, various types of salt and also coloured ink washes. We were so happy with the art we created and could have gone on to create more, but the morning disappeared way too quickly.

Thank you Linda from all of us. We look forward to participating in some of your future classes. Until then, thanks again.

- Marla Hayden

We loved seeing her beautiful works of art which showed what an accomplished calligrapher and artist she is, not to mention very motivational to us all. We also enjoyed works of art by other calligraphers she had displayed. Just amazing!

Cathie Harrower, Marla Hayden and Patricia Field

The foundation of a watercolour wash

Two completed washes

Diana Carwithen, Pauline Thompson and Alane Lalonde

NOVEMBER Meeting Programme - Marilyn Boechler USING COLOUR IN CALLIGRAPHY Ruth Rutledge

The initial instruction showed how to create a booklet in which to store the examples we were about to learn.

Demonstrations on seven techniques for applying colour to our work were given: making stencils; using tools such as a toothbrush or sponge; weton-wet techniques, and contrasting of color on background paper.

The session moved quickly because of the large amount of information we

were given in the timeframe allotted.

There were many questions, and requests to repeat information, as the group worked through the project.

This kept the instructors very busy meeting everyone’s needs. The end result was a very useful reference booklet, illustrating ideas for adding colour to calligraphy in future projects.

- Margaret Kells

Caroline Morrison Joyce Gammie Worksheet

The November meeting program “Part 2 : a continuation of Using Colour in Calligraphy” was presented by Guild members Ruth Rutledge and Marilyn Boechler. They supplied the group with a package of tools for use during the presentation, supplemented by supplies which the attendees were requested to bring.

Margaret Kells

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October 2019 Galleria A piece that contains a number or numbers. The number must be a numeral not a word. 10 not "ten".

Leslie Healy

Ria Lewis

Ruth Rutledge Charlotte Whiteley

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Judi Hopewell

Jane Sheers

Kathy Marven Marion Craig

Carolynn Dallaire Tamil number 8

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Mieke van der Vliet13

Paullette McLaren

Anne Atkinson Albrecht Durer’s Magic Square Not only do the rows, lines and diagonals add up to 34, but the four corners, the four digits in the central square, and the four digits in the top left, top right, bottom left and bottom right quarters do too. There are many other combinations of four numbers in the square that add up to 34, and it is fun looking for them. Durer even included the year he made the engraving 1514 —on the bottom line.

Joyce Gammie Betty Locke

Linda Yaychuk Pat Wheatley 14

Tricia Field

Linda Lax

Caroline Morrison

Jeanette Rawek

Paullette McLaren

Denise Rothney 15

Brush Textures Workshop - Loredana Zega October 15 - 17, 2019 Warmland Calligraphers welcomed Slovenian, Loredana Zega to teach on Vancouver Island this Fall. They were eager to participate in her unique and, I may say, challenging workshop. Loredana has a plethora of skills which almost overwhelmed us as she showered us with her knowledge and ideas, most of which fall into the category “outside the box” calligraphically speaking. We were all stretched outside our comfort zones to try and learn new things and modify our tried-and-true skill sets. We persevered though.

This was a large class but Loredana made sure lots of time and gentle instruction was given to each person at their individual level of competence.

this cascade effect.

Gouache is a not a medium that we have received much instruction on, except perhaps from Diane von Arx at an International Conference, but it definitely lends itself to the dry-brush striation effect required for this particular lettering style. “Rome was not built in a day” but with a little will and lots of practise this could develop into another useful style in our repertoire and translate into a novel and modern departure from the classical. Our closing Galleria showed an amazing, diverse body of work.

Loredana comes from a multi-talented family in the performing arts and she has overcome huge hurdles in her

personal life which I respect enormously. She is rebuilding a 200 year old stone house in rural Slovenia with her Michelin-star chef-partner and two children while carving out her international teaching career. She is also convening and hosting a calligraphy conference “Write, Right Now” June 27-July 1, 2020 in Slovenia.

Loredana is a busy, successful woman who I am sure will achieve great things. It will be interesting to see her work develop over time.

Now to work - use it or lose it as they say.

- Judi Hopewell

She relentlessly pursued her instruction which largely centred around mastery of Gouache viscosity, brush control, lightness of touch and the dry brush technique.

The cascading, waterfall-like stroke was the very essence of her unique hand. She made it look easy as she did it deftly and skillfully, but for us it was a long haul and somewhat elusive to begin with. By the end of three days hard work we had all, more or less, mastered the concept but there is still work to do to perfect this unique style.

I found her instruction on colour, composition and layout fascinating and unique, which to me at least, exemplifies artistry. It’s possibly an overstatement but she guided us along patiently - in some cases, kicking and screaming - into new territory and it was good for us. I include some pieces that she gave me for future reference.

Gouache is her preferred medium being very opaque (non-transparent) and the quality of paper and brush certainly makes a difference to the end result. We worked on a number of different surfaces and the work produced on black paper was quite rewarding with the heavily saturated colours undiluted as mixing, in her view, can dim colours. Wiping off the brush so there is less wetness is an important technique to master to get 16

Ria Lewis

Jeanette Rawek

Judy Lowood

Charlotte Whiteley Betty Locke

Ria Lewis Betty Locke 17

November 2019 Galleria Work must be contained in a space that measures no more than 3" x 4" and must include five words or more.

Could also have a graphic.

Anne Atkinson

Judi Hopewell

Pat Wheatley

Judi Ross Barbara Qualley

Paullette McLaren

Jane Sheers Betty Locke

Caroline Morrison

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Ria Lewis

Linda Lax

Margaret Kells

Ruth Rutledge

Tricia Field

Marilyn Boechler

Trish Peebles

Marion Craig

Joyce Gammie

Jeanette Rawek

Mieke van der Vliet

Janet Peters and Grandson Finley

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Dot Mandala Workshop - Barbara Qualley November 14, 2019 presentation of how many different amazing projects she had made. This art form is calming.... and addictive.

- Carolynn Dallaire I found doing the tapering on one side difficult on the second Mandala. Barbara your solution is to turn the paper and come at it from the other side which works well! Thank you.

It is imperative that you hold your tools at 90 degrees. Going slowly and eyeing the opposite dots is the key.

- Trish Peebles

Barbara Qualley and a few of her creations

A mandala is a spiritual or geometric configuration of symbols in many religions.

In modern times, a mandala is a generic term for patterns that represent the cosmos. Dot mandalas painted on rocks can be dropped on trails, in parks and on beaches and has become a ‘thing’ world wide. Pure joy to someone who finds your rock!

Barbara Qualley introduced an eager group of 20 to dot mandalas. We created two colourful pieces.... a Christmas Mandala in the morning and a Peacock Mandala in the afternoon. After a bit of practice on scrap card stock, Barb used the document camera and led us through all the steps to complete a piece. We learned how to read the patterns; which rod or stylus to use; how much acrylic paint to apply; and how much pressure to use. Between the completion of the two pieces, there was time to practice our dotting and make small cards using portions of the patterns. Great fun! My favourite part was learning how to taper the dots.

I am amazed that we all started with the same supplies and instruction, and yet every mandala was different!!

They are all so beautiful. By placing the ‘top dots’ on the first layer of our pieces the colours just came alive and it made everything look so detailed. I think I am going to have lots of fun playing with this concept.

- Linda Lax

For me the ‘aha’ discovery was the graduating down taper and the doming effect with subsequent dotting in differing shades. My love of colour and this technique seem destined to become very useful for me.

- Judi Hopewell

Barbara displayed such a great array of options for applying the techniques we learned. - Simone LaVoie Note: On January 7 and 11, 2020 Barbara taught nine more members the dot mandala technique.

Peacock Mandala

Dot mandalas lend themselves to painting on cardstock, canvas, clothing, glassware, rocks, cell phone cases and much more. So much can be created... birthday cards, gift tags, bookmarks, book covers. The possibilities are endless. Barb discussed all sorts of products to use in our creations and empowered us with the Christmas Mandala. Our first project of the day.

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Christmas cards 2019

June Maffin Judi Hopewell

Judy Lowood

Marion Craig

Caroline Morrison

Margaret Kells

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Anne Atkinson

Denise Rothney

Jeanette Rawek

Linda Lax Ruth Rutledge

Marianne Sanders

Bridget Bruneski

Pat Wheatley

Linda Yaychuk

Betty Locke

Marilyn Boechler

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Barbara Qualley

Carolynn Dallaire

Violet Smythe

Susan Miller

Shirley Johnson

January Meeting Programme - Elements of Art This program, presented by Judith Lovell, introduced us to the basic elements of art which are line, shape, space, colour and texture. Lines and dots reinforce the meanings of words and phrases. The way things are written can denote their meaning. Judith showed us some excellent examples of the use of lines denoting meaning taken from the Book of Secrets.

We then proceeded to create examples of the other elements of art by putting a dot on a piece of paper and adding a line. The line then became a geometric shape by adding more lines. By filling in parts of the shape with more overlapping lines we created texture.

Then our shape became three dimensional and was finally shaded in

giving it depth. Some of the shapes created by the members were very attractive.

In April, Judith will continue the program with the Principles of Art which I'm sure will be just as interesting.

- Linda Yaychuk

Carroll McLaurin

Pat Wheatley Debbie Craig

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January 2020 Galleria Mandala: This piece must be circular and must have a repetitive element. It may be done in any medium or with any tool.

Piece must contain letters or words.

Judy Lowood

Charlotte Whiteley Marion Craig

Marilyn Boechler

Mieke van der Vliet Paullette McLaren

Linda Lax

Barbara Qualley

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Joyce Gammie

Ria Lewis

Caroline Morrison

Betty Locke

Jeanette Rawek

Margaret Kells

Carolynn Dallaire

Judy Hopewell

Kathy Marven

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Betty Locke

February Meeting Programme - Rendez-vous 2019 This program was presented by Lucy Hylkema who had attended Rendez-vous 2019, the 38th International Calligraphy Conference at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Program activities were based on Lucy’s experiences at the workshop presented by Claudio Gil, a calligrapher from Brazil. The activities began with a slideshow of the University and environs, and of the other presenters at the Conference, many of whom are known to us and have taught at our Guild. Lucy also showed a video of Claudio demonstrating the big brush strokes he favours, using gouache or tempera paint.

We were given practice sheets, and worked with a dry flat brush to go over his strokes, experiencing how the strokes were developed. The technique was free and relaxed, and a very pleasant way to produce the desired brush strokes of Claudio Gil. The strokes were performed in a slow movement “like a dance”, and we were made aware of the importance of holding the brush in an upright position, making the strokes in a straight line, and releasing pressure as we followed through the stroke. We were given the message that the demonstration was more in terms of guidelines than rules. That is, the technique is a “visual language” and legibility is not the most important thing!

Alexander Elementary School When Sunridge Place Seniors Community opened in 2008, they approached various art groups including Warmland Calligraphers asking if we would contribute art pieces on a regular basis to decorate the halls of the building. We agreed to do this, drawing artwork from our members and changing them every few months.

In 2014 Lucy Hylkema became involved with the Grade 1/2 class at Alexander Elementary School in

and

Lucy’s enthusiasm for this calligrapher’s work was reflected in her presentation, and Guild members who practised his techniques were similarly enthusiastic.

- Margaret Kells

Sunridge Place

Duncan. She approached the Guild to see if we would be interested in ’translating’ the children's words from an assignment into art. Our members now look forward to this annual project.

The children invite the calligraphers who have done their pieces to a Tea where calligrapher and student meet.

The child receives the framed piece which they can then give to their mother for Mother's Day.

It was decided that once the pieces were finished and framed it would be lovely for the artwork to be displayed at Sunridge. They are hung in February and removed at the beginning of May.

We are proud that this is one of the ways in which we get involved with the community. This activity allows us to mingle with children and seniors at the same time.

- Linda Yaychuk

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Letter Crafting 3 Exhibition March 3 - 25, 2020 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Portals Gallery at the Cowichan Community Centre closed its doors shortly after the opening of our exhibition. Letter Crafting 3 was to have run from March 3 until March 24th.

Our show wanted to tell a story. It opened with the statement: Stone Age to modern day, man has told his story.

Simple images, hieroglyphics and letter forms evolved into formal calligraphic hands such as Italics, Romans, Blackletter, Copperplate and more.

Today modern artists create calligraphic styles as unique as they are, based on these basic letter forms.

Charlotte Whiteley

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We had one wall featuring the beautiful designs and calligraphy of Mandalas, another wall paying homage to the rat (2020 is the Year of the Rat) and another featuring homework from one of Betty Locke’s calligraphy challenge classes. So many pieces in the exhibition - all colourful, beautiful and unique.

I hope everyone had a chance to check it out. On some of the days of the show, members demonstrated calligraphy styles to people visiting the venue.

Jeanette Rawek

Linda Yaychuk

We had 18 participants showcasing 38 pieces of artwork and covering over 500 inches of wall space.

Thanks to the participants as well as Ruth Rutledge and Judy Lowood for their invaluable assistance.

We are a hopeful and positive bunch and when the doors open again the show goes on! At first, we were sad and then scared for our friends and families as well as the special people in our community. We wait and stayed glued to the media. Stay safe.

Stay home. Stay healthy. Being united, we can beat the virus.

- Charlotte Whiteley

Marion Craig

Caroline Morrison

Betty Locke

February 2020 Galleria Piece that celebrates the Chinese Year of the Rat.

Judi Hopewell Ruth Rutledge

Caroline Morrison

Ria Lewis Linda Lax

Kathy Bedard Jeanette Rawek

Judy Lowood

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Betty Locke

Marion Craig Betty Locke

Pat Wheatley

Margaret Kells Carolynn Dallaire

Barbara Qualley

Anne Atkinson

Katherin Sheldrick

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Charlotte Whiteley

March 2020 Galleria "Just as a composer plays with notes, the calligrapher plays with letters and creates a symphony."

These words by M. Q. Kossakowski are to be presented in any style, and format and in any medium.

Marilyn Boechler

Mieke van der Vliet

Joyce Gammie

Jeanette Rawek

Ria Lewis

Betty Locke

Linda Lax

Margaret Kells

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Pat Wheatley

Susan Miller

Paullette McLaren

Caroline Morrison

Ruth Rutledge

Judi Hopewell

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Marion Craig

Neuland - Lorraine Douglas March 6, 13, 20, 27, 2020 Lorraine began with a discussion of the creator of the Neuland hand Rudolf Koch. He was also a master of lettering, calligraphy, typography and illustration. Commonly known for his typefaces created for the Klingspor Type Foundry, his most widely used typefaces include Neuland and Kabel.

Lorraine reviewed the tools that could possibly be used to create the letters including the C2 nib and Parallel Pen. This also included the various means of cleaning each tool.

We then went through the alphabet drawing each letter carefully at the proper angles in specific orders. Later Lorraine demonstrated alternate forms of the letters that can give variety to your work and aid in proper spacing.

We then analyzed some words written

in Neuland. Taking two pieces of paper Lorraine moved each along a word showing three letters at a time. This method gave us a better idea of where weaknesses existed in the spacing and letter forms.

The second class proved to be a great deal of fun. With a pencil, Lorraine drew a Neuland letter and then proceeded to colour it using two complimentary colours of watercolour pencils. Starting at the top she applied one colour making it fairly dark and then lightened it as she moved down the letter stopping at the middle. She then turned the letter around and did the same with the second colour.

Lorraine then applied a wet brush to the watercolour pencil strokes blending and softening them. Once it was dry, she applied a light coat of Finetec

gold paint to the letter which created a lovely finish.

The second part of the class was spent applying various decorations to the inside of drawn Neuland letters using our watercolour pencils.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only two of the four classes were completed.

- Linda Yaychuk

March Meeting Programme Using your Non-Dominant Hand - Paullette McLaren A year ago Paullette McLaren severely broke her dominant right hand. Following extensive surgery, boredom led her to start using her non-dominant hand on artistic pieces.

Having no expectations left her open to creativity. Paullette showed us some of her early pieces as well as later ones. We could see the improvement in her work through practising daily.

Paullette gave us some ideas to help us practice using our non-dominant hand. First, we held a pencil in each hand and scribbled all over a piece of paper. Later she had us find the letters of the alphabet within our scribbles and highlight them. We also played some brain games and then using the Parallel Pen designed our own alphabet by writing a word with our non-dominant hand.

Paullette explained that the right and left sides of the brain are at odds with each other. The right side of the brain controls the left hand and the left side of the brain controls the right. Up to the age of four children do not have a dominant hand. Paullette read that culture dictates the development of the right or left hand. Most of us are right handed and the terms right and left are reflected in our cultures. In the Middle East the left hand is considered unclean. The word left tends to reflect a negative feeling such as the words “left out” or “out in left field”.

The right hand is “correct” and you are “on the right hand of God”.

Lucy Hylkema shares her scribbles and Parallel Pen alphabet

This program was thoroughly enjoyable garnering questions and chuckles. Thank you Paullette for a great program.

- Linda Yaychuk

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April 2020 Galleria Work with your non-dominate hand. On your honour, you must produce a piece that has been done with your non-dominate hand. It must contain a short quotation and it must contain some sort of graphic.

Carolynn Dallaire Caroline Morrison Diana Carwithen

Denise Rothney Judi Hopewell

Ruth Rutledge

Judy Lowood

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Ria Lewis

Valerie Hodgins

Betty Locke

Jeanette Rawek Paullette McLaren

Marilyn Lundstrom

Margaret Kells

Executive Members 2020-2021 President Past President Vice President Meeting Programmes Secretary Treasurer Journal Editor Librarian Workshops Membership Webmaster

Ruth Rutledge Denise Rothney Diana Carwithen Debbie Craig Paullette McLaren Carolynn Dallaire Barbara Qualley Tricia Field/Cathie Harrower Marilyn Boechler/Betty Locke Judy Lowood Diana Carwithen

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May 2020 Galleria A large piece (must exceed 8" x10") that has an analogous colour theme.

Analogous colours lie beside each other on the colour wheel. eg red/orange or red/purple

Anne Atkinson Betty Locke

Judy Lowood

Ruth Rutledge

Margaret Kells Pat Wheatley 36

Jeanette Rawek

Marilyn Lundstrom

Paullete McLaren Diana Carwithen

Marion Craig

Caroline Morrison

Charlotte Whiteley

Carolynn Dallaire

Ria Lewis

President’s Message Ruth Rutledge As I write this, we, the world, has been challenged by the Coronavirus/ COVID-19 pandemic.

for her strong leadership, resilience and diplomacy during the past two years.

Our April, May, and June 2020 executive meetings have been held online using the Zoom app.

General meetings have been cancelled but we update our membership with email messages.. We are making tentative plans for September 2020 hoping we will be able to resume our normal activities.

The strength of our Guild functions so well because of our creative and energetic members who serve on the executive, volunteer to teach and endlessly encourage each other. This year we celebrate our 25th Anniversary with over 70 members!

I look forward to the privilege of being President. My sincere thanks to outgoing President Denise Rothney

In September our meetings, exhibitions and workshops may be in a different format than in the past, but the Guild will still run with enthusiasm!

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Celebrating the Love of Letters for Twenty-Five Years In 1995 one of our founding members, Betty Locke, taught a calligraphy class at the Cowichan Community Centre. At the end of the session, twelve women approached Betty in hopes that they could continue learning the fine art of calligraphy. The group decided to form a guild and Warmland Calligraphers of the Cowichan Valley (the Guild) was born.

Those twelve original members have grown to over eighty calligraphers and five of the original members are still active in the Guild.

The goal of the Guild is to nurture and support those who are learning this art. This is accomplished through workshops and classes. A number of these are held throughout the year and are given by local members, instructors from other Canadian guilds, or by instructors from other countries.

Warmland Calligraphers have enjoyed workshops from wonderful teachers from Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland, Slovenia, Tasmania and the USA.

have created on an assigned topic.

Discussions and learning take place during Gallerias as we appreciate the works submitted.

To further educate our members, space is rented on the fourth Tuesday morning each month for “Playtime”.

During these sessions more experienced members help newer calligraphers develop their calligraphic skills.

This is more of a social gathering for the development of skills through practice. Part of this time is shared by a newly-formed group within the Guild called “Warmland Scriptors”. It is a group of over twenty members who produce and present two pieces a month on given topics. Participants share their work through a private Facebook page and at Playtime.

Some of our members have had the pleasure of attending international conferences.

In 2007 we proudly hosted “Island Magic”, the Twentyseventh International Calligraphy Conference. Twenty-one instructors from various countries were invited and they presented a wonderful array of classes. Some of these instructors and some of the over 300 calligraphers who attended brought their families with them to enjoy a vacation on our beautiful island. The conference was a great success.

Warmland Calligraphers has an executive of thirteen people who meet monthly to organize meetings, workshops and communication with members. General meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month excluding July and August.

The meetings are held at the Cowichan Exhibition grounds. There are usually forty or more people in attendance some of whom come from Victoria, Parksville, Nanaimo, Ladysmith and Chemainus.

Meeting programmes educate us on various aspects of calligraphy and quite often a “hands-on” programme is enjoyed. Meetings also include “Gallerias” in which members voluntarily submit calligraphic pieces they 38

We maintain contact with some other groups in Canada by publishing an annual journal “Reflections”. This huge undertaking documents our year and is a retrospective of the artwork of the membership. It is ably edited by Barbara Qualley. Our goals and our calligraphy is celebrated in this lovely magazine. Each year we look forward to its arrival in spring.

For the last twenty-five years our group has worked regularly with the public. We have set up booths at various celebrations such as Christmas craft shows, quilt shows and church celebrations. Through these events we try to introduce the history of calligraphy and provide an opportunity for the public to see calligraphy

being done and to experiment with a huge and ever increasing variety of calligraphic tools.

Warmland Calligraphers have had numerous exhibitions over the years in places such as The Loft Gallery in Mill Bay, Portals, the Cowichan Library and the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre lobby. You might have seen our work in museums and cafes in Ladysmith and Duncan. Some of our members do commissioned work for organizations and individuals.

The Guild has outreach programmes in which many members take part.

Young children from a local elementary school are encouraged to write compositions which are then given to volunteer calligraphers. These writings are rewritten, illustrated and framed. For a few months they are hung in the halls of the Sunridge Place for the enjoyment of the senior residents.

At a gathering in the elementary school in May, the transformed pieces are personally presented by the calligraphers to the children who wrote them. Each child then gives the framed piece as a gift to their mother on Mother’s Day. Other outreach includes the efforts of one ambitious member who holds ongoing teaching sessions at local schools during lunch break. Another member has formed a group called C.W.I.P.P.E. (Cursive Writing Intergenerational Pen Pal Exchange) in which local Grade Three students use cursive writing to communicate back and forth with groups of seniors. This outreach tries to address the current situation in which school children have no cursive writing skills. Some of our members continue to offer classes to the public through ElderCollege at the Cowichan Community Centre.

During the last twenty-five years our Guild has grown not only in membership but in experiences beyond our meeting room walls. Just imagine what delights the next twenty-five years will bring.

- Linda Yaychuk and Betty Locke wrote this article to appear in the Cowichan Valley Citizen newspaper in April 2020. Due to COVID-19 the article has been delayed in its printing.

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This issue is special to our members as we celebrate our Twenty-fifth Anniversary.

The first newsletter was a twelve page booklet and, over the years, it once grew to be a sixty page annual journal. Our successes and accomplishments have been reflected in the articles written by our members. Thank you for sharing your joys - and a few frustrations - in studying with the world class instructors who came to share their special expertise with us on our beautiful Island.

Island Magic 2007, the 27th International Calligraphy Conference, shone a light on the Westcoast of Canada and Warmland Calligraphers. Our members supported our bid and we hosted 350 calligraphers and twenty-three instructors from July 21 to 28, 2007. Eleanor Harris and I were Co-Directors, but the team of members who worked diligently behind the scenes made it a first-class memorable event.

From Victoria to Courtenay, Warmland Calligraphers has been a part of the artistic life of 275 men and women since 1995. Each one of these past members contributed to the structure of our Guild.

We are most thankful to the little group of twelve, who, after a beginning class, became the founding members of our Guild.

Barbara Qualley Editor

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