FOTA 2010 October

October 2010

By Victoria Lansford

Fraktur, tape nib with liquitex ink, gouache, pearl-ex

powder, and gum arabic on Canson layout paper

2 ATLANTA FRIENDS OF THE ALPHABET—October 2010

www.friendsofthealphabet.org

The word “calligraphy” comes from the Greek Kallos gra-phe, meaning ―beautiful handwriting‖. The Atlanta Friends of the Alphabet (FOTA) is a group of friends who love let-ters and the printed word. Most of us are calligraphers, others are printers, graphic designers, bookbinders, and some just love letter forms and are content simply to ad-mire. All are equally

Friends of the Alphabet!

MEMBERSHIP You need not be a professional or amateur in the letter arts to be a Friend—simply share the love of letters. An-nual membership dues are $24.00 from September 1 to August 31. New members may join after March 1 for $12.00 Address membership inquiries and directory changes to Carol Gray, 58 Wiltshire Drive, Avondale Es-tates, GA 30002. MEETINGS FOTA meetings are on the 2nd Monday of each month and begin at 7:00 p.m. Programs at these monthly meet-ings include demonstrations, lectures, mini-exhibits, and panel discussions. We have an informal holiday gathering in July and December. Meetings are held at Trinity United Methodist Church, 265 Washington Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303, 404/659-6236, located at the intersection of Trinity and Washington Streets in downtown Atlanta.

OFFICERS & COMMITTEE CHAIRS:

President: Katy Burge— 678-910-8273 [email protected]

VP/Program Co-chairs:

Emily Canter – 404-633-8740

[email protected]

Second Vice President & Workshops:

Hilde Friese – 770-380-7593

[email protected]

Treasurer:

Lori Rausch— 770-740-1247 [email protected]

Corresponding Secretary:

Carol Gray – 404-288-8749,

[email protected]

Recording Secretary: Cindy Corless— 770-483-9843 [email protected]

Librarian: Mary Lou Kohnle— 770-924-3116 [email protected]

Membership & News Letter/Bulletin Editor:

Julie Cashin – 706-355-3289

[email protected]

Web Page Editor:

Emily Canter – 404-633-8740

[email protected]

Birthday Card Exchange: John Tiernan— 828-389-1346 [email protected]

Site Coordinator:

Mary Renshaw—404-294-4970

[email protected]

NEEDED!

A newsletter or bulletin editor!!!!! We have so many talented members in our guild, and some of you have

far more knowledge about publishing that I do!

PLEASE consider taking the position of

Newsletter or Bulletin Editor! Call Julie Cashin with questions:.

706-355-3289

What’s Inside

Message from the President 3

Islamic Calligraphy and the Qu'ran 3

Barbara Calozari Workshop Review 4

Mike Kecseg Workshop Review 5 & 7

Message from Mary Lou 6

Universal Penman Review 6

Member’s Art Calligraphy

8 & 9

IAMPETH 2010 10

Meet Mamie Velez 11

2011 Proposed Slate of Officers 12

HAPPY

HALLOWEEN!

mailto:[email protected]





Message from the President The November 8th meeting

has been cancelled. Instead, on Saturday, November 6th at 11:00 a.m.,

please meet at Emory for a tour of the exhibit, Islamic

Calligraphy and the Qu’ran! FOTA member, Kathy Kinev is a docent for the Carlo's Museum and has gra-

ciously offered to give us a guided tour. Kathy secured

a $6.00 fee instead of an $8.00 fee to get into the Car-

los Museum for this tour. Please be prepared to pay

with check or cash. We‘ll walk to one of the fun res-

taurants for lunch afterwards.

Everyone needs to go to the front desk and check

in. We will assemble on the Third floor, in front of

the exhibit.

We will be exploring two of the current exhibits at the

Michael C. Carlos Museum.

Islamic Calligraphy and the Qu'ran.

Islamic Calligraphy and the Qu'ran combines Traces

of the Calligrapher: Islamic Calligraphy in Practice, c.

1600–1900 and Writing the Word of God: Calligraphy

and the Qu'ran, and will be on view from August 28 to

December 5, 2010.

Both exhibits are curated from a private collection and

presented by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and

the Harvard University Museum.

Traces of the Calligrapher shows the utensils used to

create calligraphy from the reed pen to the bookbinder.

There are fabulous ink wells and pen boxes on display.

The objects in the exhibition come from Iran, Turkey,

and India, and include reed pens, penknives (used to

cut the nib of the pen), and maktas (used to hold the

pen during this process), in addition to inkwells, scis-

sors, burnishers, storage boxes, and writing tables.

Writing the Word of God exhibit has fabulous finished

manuscripts as well as practice alphabets collected by

calligraphers in the past. The calligraphy provides a

look into a fascinating world of the Islamic calligra-

pher, the piety involved as well as the variety of scripts

employed by calligraphers spanning from Spain and

North Africa to greater Iran from the seventh to the

15th centuries.

There is a video that shows a master calligrapher at

work. www.carlos.emory.edu

Questions? Please call Kathy at 404-634-8355. You

can find directions on the web site.

{Continued on Page 12)

What a well-named group this is! I have found friends by

every definition of the word here. During life‘s ups and

during life‘s most challenging downs, I have seen members

of this group reach out to help one another. Each one of

you is, I know, on a quest for Truth and Beauty. The Al-

phabet is our shared tool. Each one of us seeks to find ex-

pression for our warmest thoughts, highest ideals or our

most heartfelt condolences using not only letters, but also,

the perfectly written letter for the occasion.

I have been blessed indeed as the President for the last two

years to work with my friends:

Hilde Friese, as Workshop chairman, has brought us

amazing world-class calligraphers to share their skills.

Workshops at Hilde‘s are not merely classes, they are re-

treats from the everyday and a chance to spend quality time

with friends doing what we all enjoy…making beautiful

letters! The word that comes to mind is of course, Gemuet-

lichkeit. Please thank Hilde for agreeing to continue on as

Workshop chairman.

Cindy Corless has served our group in different capacities

through the years. She is a past President . Cindy is cur-

rently serving as Recording Secretary. She has wisely sug-

gested that this is the perfect opportunity for someone to be

on the Board, who has limited time or experience….as the

job‘s requirements are that you take the notes of the Board

meeting.

Lori Rausch has been a friend in so many ways. Our paths

happily cross often. Lori is our Treasurer and I am thankful

that she has agreed to continue for another year. She, and

her husband, Jim, have done an outstanding job keeping

our books straight through workshops, dues, program ex-

penses and our occasional Paper & Ink sale.

Mary Lou Kohnle as many of you know, is not only my

friend, she is my Mom. She has done a wonderful job or-

ganizing our fantastic Library for the past two years. I am

so grateful that she has passed along her love of beautiful

letters and wonderful books. She is passing the baton of

Librarian to George Dorsey.

Julie Cashin is another past President and is currently

serving as Membership/Directory chairman, as well as

Nametags (our new ones are gorgeous!). Julie has also

been pulling together our newsletters…in short, she has

http://www.carlos.emory.edu



FRAKTUR

With Barbara Calozari

August 21 & 22, 2010

Hilde met Barbara at IAMPETH in 2009, where she gave

a presentation on her work and then taught a workshop

on Fraktur. We fell in love with her. Hilde, our ever

working workshop chairman, started talking to her about

scheduling a workshop in Atlanta, following IAMPETH

in 2010.

Barbara is a very talented young lady who has done work

for the Pope and the G8 that was held in Italy last year.

She is not only very talented, she is an excellent teacher.

At the close of IAMPETH this year, Hilde and I were

privileged to drive Barbara back to Atlanta, not a dull

boring trip.

Barbara made exemplars of her Fraktur alphabet and

taught us the alphabet broken down by families – basic

strokes the same. She showed us that most of the

lower case letters fit in the same space as the ‗n‘.

This article is being written months after the workshop

without notes and totally from memory. For others

that attended, please forgive my lapse of memory of

some of the details.

By Donna Dow

Barbara gave a lecture at Kennesaw University on Au-

gust 19th. She showed pictures of her commissioned

works for Pope Benedict, the Italian President (gifts for

attending presidents at the G8 summit in Italy), and her

most recent commissioned work, a book on Catarina

diMedici, that is now at the Library of Congress.


COPPERPLATE AND BEYOND

With Mike Kecseg

September 18 & 19, 2010

This was another very exciting month for FOTA! Work-

shop Chair, Hilde Friese, graciously coordinated and

hosted the long awaited two day Copperplate workshop

by Master Penman Mike Kecseg. The Sept. 18 & 19th

workshop occurred at Hilde's restaurant, The Village

Corner German Restaurant. This event was well received

by all FOTA members in attendance. Participant's skills

varied from beginner to advance. Each and every one of

us learned many valuable tips and techniques offered by

Mike. Julie Cashin sent an e-mail blast to all FOTA

members seeking feedback and tips that were helpful to

them. The e-mail responses were shared and they were

very positive with many wonderful tips and highlights of

the workshop.

Mike has been working with Copperplate for more than

30 years and has a successful lettering business in Chi-

cago. Additionally, he is booked with future workshops

until 2015. How fortunate we were to have the opportu-

nity to be taught by Master Penman Mike Kecseg! Need-

less to say, we have been inspired and reinspired.

By Mamie Velez

TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FROM MIKE:

A great tip was thinking oval on all 'rounded' letters, and

starting them at "3 o'clock" so the join would get covered

by either the filled in 'dot' on the o , or the covering

stroke on a ,d, g or q. So, you complete the whole 'o' be-

fore adding the down (weighted) strokes. Michael Smith

As much as I don't want to, I have to line the paper. No

cheating!! Dede Adams

Mike Kecseg was worth waiting for! An awesome, can-

did teacher who seemed to put everyone at ease. I en-

joyed how he differentiated between "production" work

(envelopes) and "good" work.

I also took away a great respect for "slant" lines - it's easy

to think that they are really not needed, but what a differ-

ence it makes to have them there! Mike suggested that

the slant lines should be pointing to the middle of your

body if your paper is turned the right way (right-handers.)

-Proper spacing between words - the width of the letter

"o."

-Lower case letters: start release of downward pressure

at the halfway point.

-White space of ascender/descender bowls should match

white space of lower case letters.

Now if there was only more time to practice!

Katy Mizerowski

Mike was a great teacher. He was able to translate his

actions into words and thereby explain what we need to

do to achieve good letter forms.

3. Down stokes for the thick lines

4. Upstrokes for the thin lines

5. Use a nib that "works for you" "Develop a feel of the

pen". Mamie G. Velez

I guess as a relative newbie I liked the comment that the

rule is that there are no rules - do what feels and looks

right to your eye. Karen DeBrot

I think, the best hint, especially for new Copper-

plate learners was, that Mike suggested to try different

nibs, and different nibs for different situations. No one

shoe fits all. And don't get hung up on some antique nib

and then it's not readily available any more. Hilde

Friese

The Mike Kecseg Workshop was "Great"......I think two

things I came away from the Workshop was Persistence,

and Time on Task i.e. 'Practice".... George Dorsey

I mixed bleed proof white and color gouache today and

WOW! What a difference that makes in the color on

white or dark paper! Donna Dow

:



Message from Mary Lou…..

I would like to express my appreciation to the

members for allowing me to be their librarian. It

was always a pleasure. Our library is one to be

proud of', both in quantity and quality. I want to

thank all of the members who have been so gener-

ous with donations of books. Thank you, George,

for accepting the nod as our new librarian. May you

enjoy your term as much as I have mine. Long live

the written word..especially if it is calligraphy or

about calligraphy! ! !

Thanks to all of you, your ex bookworm, Mary Lou

The Universal Penman Book Review

By Mamie Velez

I was very excited to visit the FOTA library for the

first time! Wow, what a treasure trove of calligra-

phy related books!

Inspired by the recent IAMPETH conference and the

upcoming copperplate workshop by Mike Kesceg, I

checked out THE UNIVERSAL PENMAN by

George Bickman. This was a book that many master

penman had brought up as a wonderful reference

guide for their lettering.

In review of this book, I agree, it is a wonderful re-

source book with many lettering and flourishing

ideas. In review of each plate, the script is so con-

sistent, perfect and visually pleasing to the eye. So

inspired by this book, I purchased one via ama-

zon.com for $14.95. I highly recommend this book

for reference resource for the copperplate hand.

Now, if I can only achieve such perfection,

hmmmmm.......Mamie Velez

Happy, Happy Birthday

Mary Lou!


(Continued on page 7)

(continued from page 5)

1. Always look at the white space inside the letter.

2. Go on line and look for web sites with type faces. Print out the

ones you really like and use for exemplars. This is particularly help-

ful for capitals. One web site he mentioned was fonts.com.

Julie Cashin

1. The nib is at a slight slant when making a beginning a downward

stroke, to get the flat edge go back and retouch.

2. Exit to the left of the beginning dot of a letter.

Barbara Mitchell

I liked the tip about using the Dr. Martin's Pro White mixed with

gouache to write on dark colors. It really did seem to make it pop!

Carol Gray

Your eye should follow the pencil line and the pen will go where

your eye goes. Sharon Reynolds

When you cross over at the top for

the capitol B and P and R, you do

not need to cross at the top of the

line. Rather touch the top of the

line with the bubble and then cross

afterwards so it makes a V or Val-

ley between the first loop and first

line. (Does this make any sense?)

Lucinda Eaves

Mike Kecseg’s Workshop

Envelope and Invitation by Mike Kecseg



"L" -- by

Denice

Nitschke-

Cover of

birthday

card for a

friend.

Water-

color,

gouache,

gel pens.

(July

2010)

CAROUSEL: Acrylic and brush lettering on canvas.

18"x24". This piece represents a lot of "firsts" for me. First

brush lettering on canvas. First ANYthing on canvas. First

"real" painting... ever. Now hangs in my granddaughter's

room! (April 2009) - Denice Nitschke

By Jane Radman

―Yes‖ by

Anne Elser

book cover

painted with

acrylic.

Member’s Art


By Marcia Watt (at Hilde‘s request)

By Anne Elser

Thanks to all who contributed to this news-

letter. Articles were submitted by Kathy Ki-

nev, Donna Dow, Mary Lou Kohnle, Mamie

Velez, and Katy Burge. Photos and art were

contributed by Victoria Lansford, Denice

Nitschke, Maria Turk, Anne Elser, Barbara

Mitchell, Sharon Reynolds, Lucinda Eaves,

Marcia Watt, Michael Smith, Lori Rausch,

Jane Radman, and Mamie Velez.

Ideas for Envelope Addressing: I love this blog to get ideas for addressing en-velopes. Jean Wilson, the owner of this blog, uses different US postage stamps to create and inspire addresses on her envelopes. She updates designs nearly every day and it is all FREE! (I've been getting ideas from this blog for several weeks and there are no catches that I've found). You can google the site pushing the envelopes blog or better yet, here's ad-dress:

http://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/

Cindy Corless

http://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/



IAMPETH was held at Disney World, Orlando, Florida

this year. Nine of our guild members attended and had a

wonderful time taking classes and mixing with calligra-

phers from all over the nation and some from other coun-

tries. We all had to make choices of morning and after-

noon classes. These classes are not meant to thoroughly

teach the hand or subject, but to give a good taste for you

to pursue once you get home.

The evenings were always special as the Master Penmen

were available to demonstrate their talent or to work with

you one on one to improve a particular hand. One eve-

ning Hilde and I watched Rick Muffler, a White House

calligrapher, work with a very talented young lady on

copperplate/engrosser script. We only watched Monica

and Rick and did not pick up a pen, but we learned so

much. It was so beneficial to me and helped me to im-

prove the squared off tops and bottoms without retouch-

ing. In fact when I got up the next morning I said to

Hilde ―Guess what I dreamed about last night?‖ We both

had dreamed about what we had been watching the night

before. As another treat, Michael Sull was on the other

end of the table demonstrating drawing birds. On other

nights calligraphers were demonstrating different arts

that pertained to calligraphy – pen drawing etc.

In one of the first classes that I took, I met Mamie Velez

who lives in Gwinnett. I told her about our guild and she

has now joined!!! You never know what contacts you

will make or where they will be made. So, promote the

guild and the art of calligraphy wherever you go.

At the closing banquet on Saturday night, a new Master

Penman was inducted – Harvest Crittenden. There are

now ten living Master Penmen. The Master Penman

has a year long study that they go through and upon

completion they write their own certificate. They are

given the wording but the rest is up to them. Several of

the Master Penmen Certificates were on display for us

to see. Oh, the talent these people have and they are so

willing to share their knowledge with others.

Next year‘s IAMPETH convention will be held in

Phoenix. Arizona, July 11-16.

By Donna Dow

I A M P E T H 2 0 1 0I A M P E T H 2 0 1 0I A M P E T H 2 0 1 0

Barbara Calozari and Michael Sull


Meet Mamie Velez

I was born and raised on an agricultural farm in Suisun

Valley, CA to parents who immigrated from China (dad)

and Hong Kong. When I was 13 yrs. old, we moved to

Hawaii. My parents became wholesalers of snack items

such as dried fruits, nuts, and jerky. They are now retired.

When I turned 18, I moved on my own to Los Angeles

with a blue Samsonite suitcase and a cardboard box of

personal belongings, determined to make in on my

own. I did. While working for the State, I was taking

various classes involving Administrative Justice. I

worked for the State of California

for a total of 27 years. I received

my 25 years of State Service rec-

ognition signed by Arnold

Schwarzenegger himself, along

with many other recognitions

from the CA Lt. Gov. and the CA

State Senate Committee; L.A.

City Mayor Villaragoso.

I began my career with the State

as an administrative assistant, and

eventually became a State Investi-

gator II with the Dept. of Alco-

holic Beverage Control. I worked

as an investigator for 23 years and con-

ducted many undercover operations. I

loved my job; I had a Mustang GT to drive around, and

worked throughout the State. (What a way to discover

the state!).

As much as I loved my job, I‘m also very content with

retiring from law enforcement; along with my husband

Ray. Ray worked as a Detective III with LAPD and re-

tired after 25 years of civil service. We have one daugh-

ter (my step-daughter) Lynette, who‘s 29 and we have

two granddaughters (Alexia age 8 and Mya age 5). Lyn-

ette and the girls live in Atlanta GA.

Upon retirement, Ray and I moved to Orlando FL for 4

years. Because of the heat and humidity, we started look-

ing for a home in S. Carolina or Georgia. We found one

that is walking distance to Lake Lanier, in Gainesville

GA. and moved in February 2010. Georgia is a very

beautiful state and we are happy to be much closer to

Lynette and the girls.

I have always been interested in calligraphy. Years ago,

I purchased a Speedball calligraphy pen and italic hand

calligraphy book. Due to a very busy work schedule, I

did not have the time to pursue any classes or guild.

As I now have the luxury of time, I am pursuing my in-

terest in Calligraphy. I've always had an appreciation and

fascination for Copperplate and Spencerian, but simply

didn't know what the hands were called. It wasn't until I

was on vacation this past March in Berkeley CA. that I

discovered a wonderful store and various calligraphy

products by Dr. Vitolo and Michael Sull. It was also at

this shop where I learned about IAMPETH in Orlando,

August 2010! This is where it all began for me. I've

been loving it ever since.

My interest in calligraphy is personal, self gratification,

doing the best that I can with the Cop-

perplate and Spencerian hands. My

goal is to become proficient with

both, and continue to pursue future

workshops offered by FOTA and any-

where throughout the country (i.e.:

Spencerian Saga by Michael Sull). I

find that this newly found venture has

expanded my card making and scrap-

booking skills. I also enjoy volunteer-

ing and I like sharing my enthusiasm

with a nursing facility that I had

worked part-time/volunteered while in

Florida.

As a part of my current enthusiasm,

Ray has inspired me to attempt creating

oblique pen holders. He is getting me the nec-

essary equipment for turning wood. So, let‘s see how far

this challenge will take me!

OTHER INTERESTS:

I've always been involved with crafts of some sort: floral

design (fresh, dried & silks for weddings & special

events), card making, and scrapbooking. I had a spe-

cialty ribbon store back in 2000 in Sacramento (Emphasis

on Vintage; European & American made ribbons). I sold

the store, due to my career transfer back to Southern Cali-

fornia.

I love various foods of different origins. Love to cook

too!

I enjoy volunteering, as volunteering is important. It's

my share of giving back to society

I was in a movie (as an extra) for two months with Tom

Hanks, Rita Wilson (that's where it all started for them)

and John Candy. It was filmed in Oaxaca Mexico, and

the movie was called "Volunteers".

By Mamie Velez

Mamie and Ray



done it all! She wants to give some of our newer mem-

bers a chance to be a part of the excitement. We are look-

ing to fill her spot for Membership/Directory. This is a

great chair because you get to know everyone.

Carol Gray is a gentle friend in every sense of the word.

She is the most recent past President and is currently

serving as Corresponding Secretary. I want to thank her

gratefully, for her service to our Guild and her good

counsel and example.

I am thrilled to recognize two old friends in new posi-

tions:

Donna Dow will bring her multi-talented organizational

skills to fantastic use as our new President.

Maria Turk’s enthusiasm for all things calligraphy and

her hospitality will make her an outstanding Program

Chair.

Mamie Velez is a brand new friend who has agreed to be

Assistant Program Chair. I knew from the moment I met

Mamie a couple of months ago, that she would be a great

addition to our group…her eyes truly light up at the men-

tion of calligraphy.

Katy Burge

Note from Editor: How can we ever thank Katy for two

great years of service as President? She has admirable

leadership skills and it has been a pleasure to work with

someone so organized! I’m glad she isn’t going very far

away! She’ll be our new Web Master!

Message from the President Continued from Page 2

2011 Proposed Slate of Officers

FOTA Officers serve for a 2 year term. The proposed

slate of officers will be presented to the membership

and voted on at the December meeting (Holiday

Party).

Slate for 2011-2112:

President: Donna Dow

1st Vice-President (in charge of programs):

Maria Turk and Mamie Velez

2nd Vice President: (workshops) Hilde Friese

Treasurer: Lori Rausch (will continue for one

year)

Corresponding Secretary: Carol Gray

Facebook: Laura Boston

Librarian: George Dorsey

Membership: Meshelle Callahan

Recording Secretary: Nancy Truluck

Newsletter/Bulletin Editor: Open

Webpage: Katy Burge

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Mark your calendars for the Holiday Party

Monday, December 13, 2010

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