GEMMA BLACK : ARTIST / CALLIGRAPHER

I am not sure but is this Hamish's first selfie at eighteen months?

Dorothy Frances Nuttall 22 nd June 1926 to 14 th July 2015 Friday 23rd October 2015 We held a lovely Memorial and Farewell for David's mother Dorothy Frances Nuttall. Dorothy passed away unexpectedly on 14th July 2015 after a severe fall causing a brain bleed in the aged care facility Hawthorn Village that left her in a coma for two days.  Over twenty friends joined David, me and his daughter Laura at the Uniting Church at Kippax in Canberra to reminisce and say goodbye. Many thanks to my friend Jill Robertson for her help and advice.  Here are just a couple of photos of Dorothy's friends and family from the gathering. Death leaves a heartache no one can heal.  Love leaves a memory no one can steal.

I feel privileged to have been involved in creating the text for the book, the Declaration Against Modern Slavery for the Minderoo Foundation & Andrew Forest. Working with bookbinders John & Joy Tonkin, of BookArts Canberra, has been a pleasure.  We had a pretty wacky time under a good deal of pressure due to time constraints.  Today I saw the final product of John & Joy's exquisite bindings making the hard work and the related stress worthwhile. There were two pages already created by a Vatican scribe.  As the calligrapher, I had to closely simulate their Italian Hand for my pages, there were lots of them.  I was pleased as you can hardly tell the difference.  I was also pleased because it was a very fine specimen. The books will travel the world to raise awareness of modern slavery, for information and signatures of civil, sovereign, religious, corporate leaders and people of influence globally. This outer book is actuall...

This week I am visiting Canberra to teach two workshops on medieval illumination. One this weekend and one next weekend.  The class were a mix of calligraphers, bookbinders and conservators from various institutions around Canberra and Melbourne.  What a wonderful group and amazing outcomes.  We used the Endangered Heritage pigments. What a great specialist shop for all things conservation and presetvation - click here to go to Endangered Heritage .  All images are from the Bodleain Bestiary. Nearly all works were on vellum, pumiced, sanderaced and using gum ammoniacum, 23.75 ct gold.  Enjoy this weekends efforts!   More after the second workshop next weekend. In the meantime I am going to play with one gorgeous young boy Hamish Hulbert, hooray!

Over two Sundays a month apart (September & October) I lead a workshop for the Calligraphy Society of Tasmania.  The class were delighted with their outcomes. Here are just a few samplers.   G is for gorgeous work.  Water-soluble graphite. Heads down!  O is for Orchid. Pencil trials on black. Pencil sampler and a good time had by all.

I had a truly wonderful birthday!

This was a total surprise but I was delighted to be included in the Inspiring Australians book by Penelope Hanley.  I look so young!  I am always excited about sweet spots on the pavement especially if they have lettering. This one at Circular Quay. Demonstrations on my recent trip to Sydney.  This one was one for Clementine, I didn't want to forget her. All my demonstrations - the fast and the furious - were given away to adults and children alike ... they were very excited! I was supposed to demonstrate for one hour. Two hours later I was exhausted and ready for a relaxing trip to the NSW Fire, Search and Rescue demonstration.  ... and this was because he threw water on the burning oil on the stove when a lid would have done perfectly well!  I read it in the City Extra! Australia's best. We are very proud of family members & Henry...

This quote is apt for for me today: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

Well here we are in Sydney and how lovely it is to visit my home town. Art 'n About around the streets there were some special treats.   In the forecourt of Customs House Library at Circular Quay Near Kin Kin  an Art 'n About sculpture Outside Looking up from inside Near Kin Kin - amazing  Inside I have been welcomed by the Australian Society of Calligraphers (ASC) yet again to present on behalf of the members. This lecture was entitled Calligraphy and Hand-Lettering in the Twenty-first Century ,  great expose of the calligraphic works of friends and colleagues around the world. I would like to thank the following people for their support: Carl Rohrs Gaynor Goffe  Loredana Zega Denis Brown Sharon Zeugin Yves Leterme Luca Barcelona Massimo Polello Rhonda Ailiffe Brody Neuenschwander Andrew van der Merwe Joy Tonkin John Tonki...