Dedication at The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior 2013

 

It is now twenty years since the Tomb was installed & I was surprised to receive a call from Canberra early in September, just after our exhibition opened at Cronulla Central. To celebrate the 20^th anniversary, the National War Memorial Directors had planned to have the words of the eulogy that was delivered by the then PM, Paul Keating, cast in bronze  & placed at the entrance to the Hall of Memory, also to have some excerpts from the eulogy carved into the Tomb surround. These words would replace those carved twenty years ago on the front & some that had been added to the back some years later. Somehow the present staff had managed to track down myself & the sculptor who had carved original inscriptions hoping that we would collaborate once more.

I duly received the text & two simulated photographs of how it might look when completed. So it was back to working out the size & laying down strips of paper on the floor ; 900mm high letters looked better than the 800mm height suggested , so that was the height I used . This time I did not have to have the architect’s approval & the drawings went straight to the sculptor.

The staff even tracked down the quarry which had supplied the marble & fortunately some of the same stone was still available so the replacement squares would match the original. Probably the sculptor had carved both inscriptions & the one on the front had been installed when Veteran’s Affairs & others with some political clout, suddenly remembered the reason why the words  “KNOWN UNTO GOD” had been carved on the back of the surround & demanded they not be touched  as they were traditionally displayed on the back of crosses on the old battlefields & were sacred to all memories. So they remain. Unfortunately whoever designed “KNOWN TO GOD” appears not to have much skill in lettering & I have recommended that it be recut.

Olivia

Patricia Lovett – Professional Calligrapher and Illuminator – State Library of New South Wales – 6th January 2014 - part 1

Patricia works from her studio in Kent, England and has been awarded an MBE for her services to heritage crafts and calligraphy. She has written a number of books on calligraphy and illumination, and teaches and lectures all over the world. Australia, in particular Sydney, was lucky enough to have the good fortune to be able to hear Patricia speak at the State Library of New South Wales and a number of the members of Calligraphy Southscribes attended.

Here are a few jottings from that talk, Gold on Parchment, 1000 years of manuscripts.

(This talk was quite extensive and you should be aware that the notes taken were at speed and may not fully represent what Patricia was presenting. Confirmation of spelling was taken from credible websites).

The reasons we moved from scrolls to books –

Scrolls were difficult to control; Christians required identifiable alternatives to secular scripts and Jewish scripts.

In the painting – Paquio Proculo you can see both the scroll and the Caudex, a block of wood where the middle was hollowed out for wax, and a stylus used to write with.

Patricia then went on to illustrate the early examples of books; pictures of the Springmount blog tablets, Dublin; British Library Papyrus 782, Egypt 3^rd Century – reputed to be the earliest codex – John 1 to 20; Codex Sinaiticus, this work was adapted from the scroll and contained 4 columns of text and the Codex Harleians (Harley Gospels) which shows the use of dense script.

The next picture in the talk was that of St Augustine’s Gospel, reputed to have been brought to England from Rome by St Augustine in 597. It is used at each of the enthronements of the new Archbishops of Canterbury.

Gregory the Great, seated at a writing desk with a dove whispering in his ear. It is said that when he was dictating his homilies on Ezechiel, a curtain was drawn between his secretary and himself. As Gregory remained silent for long periods of time, the servant made a hole in the curtain and looking through saw the dove with his beak in Gregory’s ear. When the dove withdrew his beak Gregory spoke and the secretary took down the words, when he was silent again the dove had replaced his beak in Gregory’s ear.

Cathy.

Committee Meeting and Informal Workshop

Dear Members and Followers,

Just a reminder that the first committee meeting and Saturday afternoon informal workshop is being held this Saturday, 1st February.

All members are invited to participate in the meeting. We would love to see you there! The informal workshop is open to all.

Graceful Envelope Contest: The Superlative Letter S

A fun way to jump-start a creative 2014 is by entering the Graceful
Envelope Contest, conducted by the Washington (DC) Calligraphers Guild and
the National Association of Letter Carriers.

The 2014 theme, The Superlative Letter S, asks calligraphers to create a
Graceful Envelope by symbolizing some sentiment starting with the letter S and
addressing it in sublime or spirited script. Deadline is March 24, 2014;
there is no entry fee.

See the Call for Entries
<http://www.calligra phersguild. org/envelope. html>for rules and a
downloadable
flier <http://www.calligra phersguild. org/PDF/2014Grac efulEnvCall. pdf>.
Please spread the word among your guilds and local schools, because there
are three separate categories for children. Winners will be chosen based on
artistic hand lettering, creative interpretation of the theme and effective
use of color and design, including incorporation of postage stamp(s).

Get inspiration or just enjoy the eye candy by viewing past winning
envelopes. Links are at http://www.calligra phersguild. org/envelope. html

--Lorraine Swerdloff
Graceful Envelope contest coordinator

<http://www.calligra phersguild. org/envelope. html>

Calligraphic Quote

Dear Members and Followers,

How about a calligraphic quote:

"Contained in every bottle of ink is at least one good letter - so keep dipping!" - overheard in a Peter Thorton class

 http://www.dancingpencalligraphy.com/misc/CalligraphyQuotes.html

Alpha Erasers - Workshop

Dear Members and Followers,

We are lucky to have a well known Canberra Calligrapher, Pam Kemp, holding a workshop for us on the 8 February. Pam describes this workshop as:

"A fun relaxed way to create an alphabet with a difference and add another dimension to your calligraphic creations. Using the prepared erasers and combining them with lettering, a splash of colour and a touch of gold we will make a finished piece of calligraphy and explore ideas for some smaller projects."

Contact the workshop coordinator for bookings.