Travels with My Versals - Contextart 2015 - Part 1

Something about this workshop gave me the impression of a book title. I imagined grabbing my calligraphy gear, a suitcase and armed with an open ticket, go travelling, exploring through Versals. Well it was sort of like that, with Gemma Black, escorting us through three periods of Versals, so we did travel but through calligraphic time.

Again this course was run by TAFTA at Hazelbrook and as the Monday dawned you just knew you were in for a good week. The weather was brilliant for April, it had been dry for a while, so the trees were late turning this year but this calligrapher couldn't resist taking photos of the school and its surrounds on such a day.

Main Administration Block and Trees

Main Administration Block and my fellow Calligrapher

The drive up to the upper carpark surrounded by the beginning of Autumn colours and creative textile creations.

More creative textile creations adorn the registration area

Welcome to our class room!

Right place - Calligraphy with Gemma Black

A much smaller class this time, seven, which was wonderful for us students, more space (yes I do like my space) allowed us to spread out across three tables and have our gear out and at hand. After introductions it was onto to work learning the basic shapes.

Gemma Black class room notes http://www.gemmablack.com/

Confession time, I have never studied Roman. Yes, that's right I've never studied Roman. Now, it isn't through the want of trying, I have enrolled twice and twice the course has been cancelled, so I knew I was going to feel out of my depth but that was okay. If you never stretch yourself, how do you learn, so I thought why not. I felt safe with Gemma as a teacher, even when I was making blundering mistakes, I was in safe hands of tutor and fellow class mates. And I was never backward in coming forward and have a thick skin, and all those other quaint sayings. So on with the show.

Gemma Black class notes http://www.gemmablack.com/

So we spent the day learning our basic shapes, our x heights, family groups, angles and all the other areas that go to the study of a hand.

Gemma Black class notes http://www.gemmablack.com/

You can see from Gemma's notes there was lots to learn and lots to do. I thought I may have been daunted by the geometric nature of these letters but I surprised myself and really enjoyed the slowing down of the hand, the mindfulness that went into creating each letter. The thoughtfulness of where each letter was place in relation to the next (used in all hands but I found I was more conscious of it with the Versals). I still have to learn to balance the areas of the "O"s and how to execute an "S" but it was almost therapeutic to be working so closely with the letter, feeling pencil and paper and then pen and ink and paper. The three elements were working as one.