GEMMA BLACK : ARTIST / CALLIGRAPHER

To my family, friends, clients & associates have a beaut few days over Christmas & New Year!

T A S M A N I A February 7 - 28, 2014 Kingston Beach Arts Hub  Thursday to Sunday 11am - 6pm Here is a sneak preview to enjoy! Artworks to go to the framers Luke Wagner on Monday 23, to be ready by close of the Queensland teaching trip to then be catalogued, priced and delivered. Yay!

Steaming the silk scarf. The Model!

Yesterday I had a little break in exhibition proceedings to go along to a little creative Christmas gathering.  I had never painted on silk before so kept my colours and designs simple. The champagne and xmas fare came after the fun.  Here are the results: This was the very first sample we did just to get the idea of the medium. We had zillions of colours to choose from but I tried to keep it simple and rely on colours I knew would work well together. The uncoloured #8 silk scarf. Colours layered and laid. The ball inside is made of foil. The photo above is still wet, the photo below has dried. Modelling the dry but yet to be steamed scarf. I am very happy with my first attempt.

... then onto the next idea! The more I read and write Rengetsu's poetry, the more calm I feel. It is like a veil being draped over me. It's a beautiful feeling.

graphite on hahnemuhle 300gsm eco-dyed paper 718mm x 268mm I only have a few days to complete my body of work for the February exhibition. Giclee prints will be available for all of my works so watch out for the announcement for when they are available. the framers close on 23 December teaching takes me to Queensland until 20 January the studio re-opens and the schedule is filling up for that final week in January exhibition opens 7 February There is much to be done! graphite on hahnemuhle 300gsm eco-dyed paper 718mm x 268mm graphite on hahnemuhle 300gsm eco-dyed paper 718mm x 268mm

I have started the calligraphy component on ten works for my upcoming exhibition. February 7 - 28 2014. I have chosen to use some of my fine eco-dyeing papers with the words of Otagaki Rengetsu (1791 - 1875). Rengetsu, a Japanese Buddhist nun was a potter, a poet, a calligrapher and a painter and is believed to have created over 55,000 pieces in her life. The words of her poems resonate with me and I enjoy working them with my naturally dyed papers. Work # 1 Work # 2 These are 1/2 a full fine art sheet of Hahnemuhle 300gsm

Today I rushed home from class to unroll my most recent eco-dyeing attempts. I have entitled this one "dance of the sugar plum fuchsias" These are pot boiled plants from my garden with iron sulphate as the mordant. I am hoping some of them will make great grounds for my tiny Roman graphite calligraphy. This is half of the following full sheet.  I like it! One full sheet of hahnemuhle 300gsm white Rose petals 1/2 sheet Rose leaves 1/2 sheet Rose leaves 1/2 sheet - mirror image of above

Thanks to some gentle persuasion from friends, more and more I have been reading India Flint's blog, books (on eco dyeing) and messages on her FarceBook page. What an inspiration to help me enjoy my days more. India has just completed an artist-in-residence at the Oregon College of Art & Craft where I taught in Portland Oregon, last year.  You might like to start with this blog post of India's :

The other day I gave a talk to the Hobart City Council School for Seniors on my work as a calligrapher and in particular the three Apology documents I created for the Australian Government. They were an amazing group of intelligent and fun loving people, it was a hoot! There would have been about 70 to 80 folk in attendance who had to get into the city by 10am. Good for them! The morning took on the format of some housekeeping for the group, introductions, then I was to speak for about two hours taking the group up to their regular lunch time meal. The joint was buzzing as everyone was really happy to see their friends again - a weekly occurrence. TWO HOURS I thought - oh heck!  Mind you, under normal circumstances I can hold court pretty much for as long as people want to listen but I was caught a little on the hop as I had only paid for 1 hour parking and thought I'd have to run out in the middle of the lecture to feed the meter.  So I decided on the spur of the momen...

T H E   C O U R S E Painting for calligraphers: more than fine writing   A workshop for all skill levels! From the simple to the ridiculous! USQ Toowoomba Queensland 7 - 17 January 2013 On-campus accommodation, meals included. Come and share with a friend. Fabulous value! Enrolments are open and will be closing early December so it is advisable to book really soon. For more enrolment details please visit the University of Southern Queensland, McGregor classes . For a chat about the course content please don't hesitate to contact me . Some of the painting techniques we will cover in the summer school follow: Writing in Scrolls & family crests Painted animals Grounds Painting for illuminations Painted Letters & Size Under gold Logos & LogoTypes Logos & LogoTypes  Logo Logos Grounds & letterforms Painted Letters & graphite wash Painted lett...