Kirkland Artist Studio Tour

The local artists host a Mother's Day weekend Kirkland Artists Studio Tour where you can meet them at their homes and buy their art directly. What a treat! I decided this was exactly what I should see on Mother's Day.

Moontoe Gallery
The first studio I loved was Ann Gates Fiser's Moontoe Gallery, which features fantasy art such as fairies. She has such a way with color!

Ann was kind enough to share some printer and card making tips. I realized afterwards that I should have picked up some of her cards, though viewing them online is good, too.

Her husband was there painting a very realistic, contemporary portrait. The technical prowess that goes into portraiture just seems so utterly beyond me. I chose not to focus on his stuff so as not to feel completely unworthy of being an artist.

Elizabeth Kincaid Studio
Next up was another joint husband/wife studio. Larry Andrews programs his art from mathmatical equations and colors them. He shared many great tips on cards and prints, too. And was just fabulously nice.

His wife, Elizabeth Kincaid, is a noted watercolorist who teaches classes in her home studio. She had so many fans who I felt needed to speak to her more than I did that I didn't actually get to talk to her.

If you're interested in watercolors and are local, check her out. Or read her book, <i>Paint Watercolors that Dance with Light</i>, published by Northlight Press.

I was so wrapped up in the art, I forgot to buy cards there, too. I blame the skilled conversation of Larry combined with the killer view of the Cascade Mountains for distracting me.

Others
I went to a few other studios, though none impressed me as much as the previously mentioned artists. Mostly they were interesting to me because of location (near the Lake Washington waterfront) and for seeing how other artists marketed themselves.

I thought I'd be able to see more studios than I did, but it takes time to drive around. Of course, finding two studios with artists willing to talk and share with me took the most time; they were well worth it.

Letters of Joy conference

Last weekend, I threw myself in the premier Seattle-area calligraphy conference, Letters of Joy.

Friday night featured a slide show by guest of honor Lisa Engelbrecht. Almost as exciting was the silent auction that can really cause me to try to spend too much money. I won some Dover clip-art books for only $10, so I came through relatively unscathed.

Some very good vendors always set up at the show, including a vintage pen/inkwell/nib dealer. To keep my spending in line and to the items I wanted would be shipped, I placed a large order beforehand. I then spent a great deal of willpower staying away from the tables to avoid having my wallet spontaneously combust from all the wonderful supplies and books that I would have wanted to take home.

Class Sessions:
Quills
Saturday opened with a two hour session with one of the D.C. area calligraphers helping us prep and cut our own turkey feather quills. Fun, fun, fun.

Pointed Brush
After that, I had the "good for me" class on pointed brush lettering, which helped internalize many of the hand movements I learned under Carl Rohrs last fall. I have yet to really feel comfortable with brush lettering, and I want to get it under the kind of control and ease I have with the dip pens (both pointed and broad-edged).

Rustics
The final session used a flat brush to letter an old Roman hand, rustics. You can see the hand on the walls of Pompeii -- it was often used for the graffiti.

In Sum:
The many volunteers that work on LoJ deserve only applause. Truly, the only criticism I have of LoJ is that there are too many good classes to take, and not enough sessions to take them in. So, I have to go back again and again and again....

Besides the sessions, it's always wonderful to meet up with all the other calligraphers from around the area, to see the art show, and just to experience the love of paper and pens.