VINTAGE GERMAN BOOKS For some time, I have been looking for old German books with their classic Gothic typeface which is highly decorative. I love using old book pages in my art and wanted to include this, to go with a stamp and stencil in my possession which feature it. Book of Hours…
2025 - END OF YEAR REVIEW It's been a relatively quiet year, all told. Not a great deal to report on our normal activities. Most of my activity this year has been art-related. Studio changes I got some great new shelving units for the studio and reorganised things to make life a lot…
DOMESTIKA COURSE - A SPECIAL INVITATION - A SMALL MIRACLE A follow-up to the completion of my latest Domestika course calligraphy work. Last night something extraordinary happened... Background - A little art history The Wilton Diptych The Wilton Diptych, painted in the late 1390s for King Richard II of England by an anonymous…
DOMESTIKA COURSE - ENGLISH CALLIGRAPHY - CREATE AN INVITATION At the beginning of this year, when I started a series of Domestika courses, I decided that I would attempt to complete one course per month. So far I have managed this, but with this course the end of the month came and went,…
HEBREW CALLIGRAPHY PICTURES FRAMED Today the parcel arrived from the online framing shop, with the mounts and frames for my two Hebrew calligraphy pictures which I did during the latest Domestika course. My name in Calligraphy This was the first exercise we had to do on the course. The calligraphy didn't have to…
DOMESTIKA COURSE - HEBREW CALLIGRAPHY - THE BORDER Having completed the design, I wanted to add a little extra. I am not a fan of the proportions of the European paper sizes, and this piece was done on a sheet of A3 hot pressed watercolour paper (300 gsm). The piece has a vintage…
DOMESTIKA COURSE - HEBREW CALLIGRAPHY - A SETBACK, THEN STEAMING AHEAD A major error After I had done my original draft, I discovered that I'd made a major error with the Hebrew, leaving out about a line and a half of text. I had got so caught up with layouts and grids that…
DOMESTIKA COURSE - HEBREW CALLIGRAPHY - BEGINNING THE FINAL PROJECT This course is taking me longer than anticipated. This is partly due to having a lot of other things to think about recently, and also waiting for supplies to arrive. I have also struggled more than I expected with the letter forms. I…
NEW DOMESTIKA COURSE - HEBREW CALLIGRAPHY Background The teacher of the course is the first female Soferet (Hebrew scribe, feminine) for 250 years. In the introductory session of the course, she shares her background which is extremely interesting, and it's so positive that Orthodox rabbis were prepared to take on her training and…
THE REDEMPTION MANDALA DOMESTIKA COURSE - THE ART OF MANDALA DRAWING - COMPLETING THE PROJECT The final stage of drawing the project for this course was to add the shading. It always amazes me what a transformation shading makes. It turns a flat line drawing into something that springs into life and seems…
