Bleakness, Hope & New Year Blessings

These are not my words... but we were driving around in the snow earlier in the week & the skies were darkening. The landscape looked very bleak & for some reason I thought about this commission I did a few years ago. 

Skies darkened, clouds filled every void.

Darkness fell, guiding light extinguished.

Waves that crashed upon rocks.

Wind that blew.

All had gone.

Darkness. 

Stillness.

Emptiness.

Searching for the light

Heart from body ripped

Light from life imploded

Once whole, torn apart.

I found myself wondering about the person who asked for this... the words are so deeply moving. I know nothing about her or her story; the order came by email & I didn't ask, but I have often wondered... there is something raw & powerful conveyed in these few lines. I hope that time has been a healer for her, that the rawness has eased....

chinese liquid stick ink, silver powder, brause nib, compressed capitals

I've spent a fair bit of time thinking about & letting reiki flow to those going through that first Christmas after bereavement, especially when someone has died close to Christmas itself. Not just for those I know, but asking that those who need it receive the blessing of healing energy.

The bleakness of loss at this time of year is emphasized by the fact that it is supposed to be a time of festivity & everyone else seems to be going on their merry way around you, while all you can feel is a cold hole in your heart, while you go through the motions of acting ‘normally’. 

Of course grief affects everyone differently… the complicated chemical cocktail that makes us human creates different reactions & feelings. And grief isn’t solely caused by death…. separation, abandonment, illness, anything that causes a loss of hopes, dreams, future, trust, way of life… there’s many more, but sometimes we feel that ‘bleakness’ & don’t associate it with grief because no one close has died.

I read words like these & they really move me… so, as we move to the New Year I’m sending out my love & healing thoughts to those who are feeling the chill of loss… may you find comfort & the strength to re-build...

May the new decade that we enter be one of hope… may it burn inside us all, encouraging the sparks of light within us, to be a beacon of hope... a shining light that extends beyond ourselves to those around us…. our families & communities…. our countries… to the whole world & beyond….

New Year Blessings to you all xx

'Hope' Rubber Stamp available from http://craftyindividuals.co.uk/

Like a gleaming tapers light, hope shines, no matter how you look at it.

Great hopes make great people.

Nourish your hopes, cherish your dreams.

If you have never hoped you have never breathed.

Do not fear to hope.

Hold on to all hopes & follow your dreams- never let go.

Believe.

Never let go of hope.

Hope always shines.

New Beginnings...

A while ago a friend asked me to produce some canvasses for her... she would be moving soon and they were to be for her new home, even though she didn't yet know where that would be. My brief? "New Beginnings"... whatever that means to me, however it inspires me to create something for her to hang in her living room....Any clues? size? style? cost? colours?.... No, just whatever you come up up with (oh, the sofa's red)

I love this girl, & not just cos i can paint & write whatever I like (or cos she'll probably read this!). It's actually quite a responsibility & a test of how I connect with her. It would be quite easy to look up a few "new beginnings" quotations & slap some colours together that would match her room.... but that's not how I work.... before she even left I was already seeing a line of red amongst green... an idea of light spreading out... of a seed beginning to grow.... And that was it. For weeks the idea got no further. Just a brief glimpse of a picture, a hazy idea... of red & green & a seed.

Then a few words started to form...'who knew how this seed would grow... planted in a heart...' the idea of her heart opening... I was thinking about Karen's personal growth, her journey with Yoga, Reiki... & Love. That night she emailed with a new address & moving date... oh, how the energies move! I wasn't ready to start painting yet, & words floated around tantalizingly for a good while longer.

When I did start to paint it was with the idea of an earthly/physical heart, grounded in the earth & the physical plane, but also the feeling of higher energies & spiritual connection. I still had the picture in my mind of a red line amongst green, but didn't really know what I was actually going to do... so I took a deep breath & opened myself up to the energies that flow... walking around, letting my fingers run over various paints... thinking of Karen, asking for guidance... translucency.... aha, acrylic inks- pink & green... grounded, earthly- wood dyes, light & medium oak, ooh & some pale green acrylic... physical heart- red acrylic...

The bands of colour over-lap & blend...I used a small sponge roller & a brush randomly creating texture & blending on the canvas, moving quite quickly... another deep breath when I finished this stage, actually feeling nervous about whether she would like what I was creating (it is different from other work of mine that she has seen), but knowing that this is exactly what it should be.... It was only after this that I could start jotting down phrases & ideas for words, nothing concrete, just random thoughts...

And this is my work in progress... the canvasses are 24 inches tall, 18, 30 & 18 inches wide respectively, so take up the full drawing board... I need to work on them together as the lettering runs across them all.

The strip of paper acts as an anchor point as i write, helping to keep the lettering straight without the hardness of a fixed line... also I can test colour on it, mixing as I go... or ghost write a word to help judge spacing... and acts as a guard sheet for my hand. I pick out phrases from my notebook, turn them round in my mind & write as they come together. Sounds simple, but it took ages! Acrylic dries fast, but can be lifted out with a wet cloth if I spot a mistake within a few letters!

The lettering is done with a small pointed brush; on it's side for the thick strokes, lifted back to its point for the thins... i used white acrylic ink, randomly mixed with the pink & red (with green ink & wood dye for the lower lines) ... varying from almost translucent to nearly solid... dancing ethereally across the canvas (I hope!)... a mixture of lower & upper case... higher & lower dimensions... physical & spiritual co-existing, merging happily side by side... unified... just as we seek to unify the aspects of Self, both within & without...

Who knew how this seed would grow, 

planted in a heart well hidden?

Heart unfolding- seed unfurling- transformed by inner magic 

& silent healing whispers calling to this soul.

Who knew where this dream would flow, rooted in this 

earthly plane & flowering in the heavens?

Mists part- veils lift- revealing this vision.

Gaze & wonder at this sight- the joy of new beginnings.

If you came from suzi's scribbles, click here to go back

My New Calligraphy Site!!

Well... I have been more focussed on generating an income from my calligraphy & lettering art recently... one step being somewhere to showcase my work. Can I ask you a favour? Take a peek at

suziscribbles.com

and let me know what you think? I've still got a zillion photos to go on & a couple of information pages to add, but at the moment I just want to check if it reads ok before I get too far... I know white on black can get a bit hard on the eyes, so i've tried a couple of different text sizes here n there... would appreciate a bit of feedback if anyone wants to... i will be adding a link bar to canvasses, books, workshops etc & the glaring empty spaces will get sorted! Thanks... x (she says nervously!)

ps... just keep it between us for now.... i'm not ready to roll it out to the whole world til i'm happy with it!
(yeah i know, technically the whole world can see it... but I trust this corner)

You're Still The One...

...sung by Shania Twain. This was a request for a wedding gift which was to be similar to 'Times Like These' which I did a couple of weeks ago, except red & black with a bit of silver... similar but not the same, dark red, darker than a post box, orangey red, no it isn't its quite dark!

Hmmm, red must be one of the hardest colours to describe or match, so with two conflicting opinions on what red & no sample colour, I had a challenge on my hands. I blended various reds in several layers, so it should tone with the room it is going in. The colours are actually deeper & richer than the photos show. The three canvasses will hang side by side, but i managed to chop off the ends in the pics of them all together!

(When I first saw you, I saw love.
And the first time you touched me, I felt love.
And after all this time, you're still the one I love.)

Looks like we made it
Look how far we've come my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we'd get there someday

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong

(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're the one I want for life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

Ain't nothin' better
We beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen
Look at what we would be missin'

I'm so glad we made it
Look how far we've come my baby

(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're the one I want for life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

Christening Gift

My latest commission.... a 10x 12 inch canvas for a christening gift from a godmother. Girly pink & white with some silver powder dropped into the wet paint. This is a popular idea for 'new baby' gifts too, with the name & date added subtly at the bottom.

The quotations are;

Babies are little bits of stardust sprinkled from heaven.

Angels surround you every day...
may they love & protect you in every way.

Times Like These....

The words on this set of canvasses have particular significance for the recipient, so there was extra pressure to 'get it right'... especially as they were from my son to his girlfriend! In typical son fashion the answer to any questions about size, style, which bits were important etc etc was "dunno, just do what you think". My favourite answer, so I could please myself to a certain extent. She hadn't really seen my work to know what sort of thing she might like, so I played it fairly safe & kept it legible!

Times Like These by the Foo Fighters
(click on picture to enlarge)

I positioned the chorus in the centre, loose italic ruling pen lettering, with the verses at either side in a more controlled italic with a broad edged pen.

TIMES LIKE THESE- FOO FIGHTERS

I am a one way motorway
I'm the one that drives away
Then follows you back home
I am a street light shining
Im a wild light blinding bright
Burning off alone

Its times like these you learn to live again
Its times like these you give and give again
Its times like these you learn to love again
Its times like these time and time again

I am a new day rising
I'm a brand new sky
To hang the stars upon tonight
I am a little divided
Do I stay or run away
And leave it all behind?

Its times like these you learn to live again
Its times like these you give and give again
Its times like these you learn to love again
Its times like these time and time again

I like these words & can imagine many people being inspired & encouraged by them when they heard the song. I this case it was to do with a cancer battle, but we all have those 'times like these moments' when we really 'feel'... either the love for or from another...

Water Quotes & Canvas

It has no colour, yet it forms the bluest sea, the greenest pond, the blackest loch, the whitest surf….

And in a single droplet there is every colour of the rainbow… to be seen in one moment & then gone in an instant.

Lately some of the words on this piece have been floating around my mind....

I think it's time to re-work the idea, or maybe use some of the verses individually. It's about 5 years since I was asked to produce this piece. The brief was "water quotes, but this colour with a bit of texture"... Are you sure about the colour? No blues or greens? "No, it's got to be this... maybe a hint of green, but just a hint" Any particular words? "No whatever you want... we know we'll like it" It is lovely when someone is prepared to put their trust in me like this.

This was done on MDF board (which I was using a lot at the time... I hadn't made the jump to canvas), with plaster used to build up some texture before I painted it. The lettering was just a metallic gold pen, using either skeleton or built-up letterforms.

I sat & stared at the board for a long time before I began to write... I had read through various 'water quotations' but was unsure what to actually use.... nothing was 'grabbing me' for this one. So I sat... & stared... & sat some more trying to 'feel' the piece... to connect with the water element & with the couple it was for. Eventually the colour became irrelevant & words began to flow... the flow of water, the elements were working with me.... Once I had a phrase I would select the area to work on, writing directly on the board, trusting that the right words would come to fit the spaces.

It is a very deep meditative process, working like this... it's something I just found myself doing at some point... this wasn't the first time, but it was certainly the most complex at that time.

I did eventually re-work it a couple of years ago- on canvas with silver lettering...

I quite liked this one.... I think doing this led on to the "waterfall canvas" here if you want to see...

Well, they say pride goes before a fall..... it fell.....

.... shades of "wreck that canvas" don't you think.....

I've kept it & started adding collagey bits to it last week.... not entirely impressed with my efforts yet, but will share the process at some point!

Here are the words....

WATER

Cascading dreams…. Eternally

Flow with the river… the river of life.

You will never step in the same pool twice. The waters are constantly changing, replenishing, renewing. The source never empties, the pool never fills.

Ocean pounding…. Never ending, feel the waves against my feet.

Water is life, as vital as breath.

Dream of a river- it signifies life. From the spring to the ocean it carries a hope that keeps moving forward relentlessly. It twists & tumbles on its way to the sea. Does the river itself know the purpose of its journey?

Seen in the mirror of a tranquil pool,

Clarity lies in the reflected sky,

Thoughts dance like ripples chased by the breeze….

Feelings run with currents unseen,

an image of everything that’s ever been,

the power to nourish & nurture & heal.

Water is softness, fluidity, yet it wears away the hardest of stones.

It has no colour, yet it forms the bluest sea, the greenest pond, the blackest loch, the whitest surf…. And in a single droplet there is every colour of the rainbow… to be seen in one moment & gone the in an instant.

Dreamy water calm & deep, here I lay my soul to keep. Let me drift on the tides of my dreams, immerse my emotions in layers of peace & soothe my mind in your tranquillity.

A babbling brook or lazy river, a tranquil pool or a gushing torrent, a tinkling rivulet or a thundering fall… an un-definable everything that is vitality.

Purity & power, calmness & strength.

Canvasses sold....

...before I even took them to the shop! Well, sort of... I havn't got the money yet!
A girl at work asked to see them before I delivered them....

The young lad on work-experience gazed at 3 black & silver ones & asked how much...
"oh" was all he said, so I offered a deal.... & weekly installments....

... then could he please owe me for another one... for his girlfriend...?! How sweet... of course you can.... but I want money off you every week... understand?

Girlfriend loved her present, so, before he's even paid the first installment he orders another 2 to go with hers.... Bless him! Meanwhile...

... the other girl wants these two, plus another one or two in the same colours....

... apparently they will match her toaster & kettle!

So... nearly 3 weeks later I have 6 more 'pinks' painted, waiting for the 2 girls to come & choose which they want, I've got 4 canvasses less (& technically 4 or 5 more are spoken for)...& I've had £10 so far!! I'm not worried tho' I know he'll pay, and his girl friend is away so she'll be here eventually... The other girl will get here sometime soon too (she's a bit skint cos she's just paid for her holiday!)... At least they are all quite small, so they're not taking up too much space!

Mels Candy

A special commission for a special lady.... a little bit of Blog Candy for Mel

It's a concertina book designed to hang up.... Finding something to write especially for her was easy... they are her own words inspired by the moon from a little while ago.... I dropped silver powder into black gouache for the calligraphy, giving a random sparkly moonlight effect...

I wanted "silver strands" to literally "thread downwards"...this is achieved with aluminium leaf over a raised line from a glue gun, and also rubbed over flat glue.... choosing a format was more tricky, as it was to be posted to canada.... Sue (creative spirit) provided the inspiration to combine a vertical format that I wanted, with a book...

The book is covered with japanese sanwaa tissue, it is deliciously fine with pieces of gold & silver leaf in it. Layered over black paper it gives the effect I wanted.

Silver strands thread light downwards...

Into the heart of darkness...

Winds with the ebb & flow of time...

To send our hearts & minds once more into these weavings...

Of magic & the old ways to bind & connect our souls once more
with She who knows

Canvas for the Pool-room

The last of the art-work for my 'staff-room' commission... a set of 6, each canvas is 2 foot square, so they form a decent size piece overall, to hang in the pool table area of the staff room. Even though this area was around the corner from the main room, I wanted the canvasses to link with the other areas. Neutrally decorated, laminate floor, so no problem there... but a bright blue pool table! How could I incorporate that with the earthy colours elsewhere??

So, I took the orange from the flecks in the carpet (which was shades of green with flecks of orange) that runs through the rest of the area- you can see the same shade in the lettering on the green set of canvasses earlier. I used a dark brown aerosol to spray a pool ball (cross planet/energy vortex to my way of thinking, that I often use) which ties in with the cappuccino canvas. I stuck to brown & orange for the lettering & most of the splashes.

The final touch was the pool-table blue splashes- how considerate of them to get the perfect contrasting colour for me, lol (blue being opposite orange on the colour wheel). Just a small amount of blue gave it instant 'zing' & lifted the whole piece.... I wonder if I would have thought of it if the table hadn't been there??

I chose light hearted quotations to relieve the stress of work, for an area which is for fun & recreation:

When you get to the end of your tether,
tie a knot in it and hang on.

A pessimist is someone who puts the light on
to see how dark it is.

A real pessimist looks at a doughnut and only sees the hole.

No one ever ruined their eyesight by looking on the bright side.

I would have loved to see all 3 sets of canvasses hung in situ, but photographs never arrived, never mind. All in all I think I managed to provide 3 quite different pieces of art/calligraphy, that should link all the areas of the room together.

May happiness flow to you forever...

... and surround you with the quiet ways of beauty
(Native American)
We must treat the Earth well, it is not ours, only lent to us by our grandchildren (versions of this exist in many cultures- native american, african, aboriginal, celtic...)

Keep your face to the sunshine & you will not see the shadow (Helen Keller)

Do not let yesterday use up too much of today
(sorry can't remember who to credit)

This was the second set of canvasses commissioned along with the 'cappuchino' one posted earlier & each individual canvas measures 48" x 12". These were to hang in the seating area of a large staffroom- somewhere to 'chill-out' & escape from the office hustle, so needed to appear relaxing yet have visual impact. The colours are taken from the carpet sample I was given & immediately suggested 'earthiness'... I wanted that sense of the beauty & peace of the Earth to radiate out through the background.

Although the whole piece, for me is about love of the earth & nature, I wanted to use a variety of quotations so that maybe something would resonate with the many different personalities that would see them. Hopefully over a period of time the subliminal messages of positivity & peace will rub off.

The calligraphy is done with folded ruling pen (pale green at top), drafting ruling pen (brown at bottom) and brush (orange centre). Although there is a contrast of letter-form & weight, the overall effect is harmonious as the letter shapes are similar. I used acrylics throughout.

Wangari Maathai- The Heart of The Tree

"The planting of trees is the planting of ideas. By starting with the simple act of planting a tree, we give hope to ourselves and to future generations." These words were spoken by Dr Wangari Maathai, the first African woman and the first environmentalist to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (in 2004).
She started The Green Belt Movement in 1977 & what began as a grassroots tree planting program to address the challenges of deforestation, soil erosion and lack of water is now a vehicle for empowering women. The act of planting a tree is helping women throughout Africa become stewards of the natural environment. By protecting the environment, these women are also becoming powerful champions for sustainable management of scarce resources such as water, equitable economic development, good political governance, and ultimately….. peace.

It is well worth following the links to read more about this remarkable lady, who was divorced by her husband for being too strong-minded for a woman and that he was unable to control her. The judge in the divorce case agreed with the husband, and Wangari was put in jail for speaking out against the judge, who then decreed that she must drop her husband's surname. In defiance, Wangari chose to add an extra "a" instead!


This scroll was commissioned by local area representatives of the National Council of Women of Great Britain to present to Wangari in recognition of her achievements. It is an adaptation of "The Heart of The Tree" by Henry Culyer Bunner. There was no way I was going to do the "nice" little certificate/scroll I was originally asked for. The trouble is, most people have no idea what can be done with calligraphy, so I sent them away to think about it but privately decided I would create something more worthwhile my way, no matter what they thought about my suggested budget!

My idea was to provide a semi-formal certificate style piece of work, incorporating the colours of Kenya & Africa somehow. I decided on abstract watercolour squares of colour, suggestive of the landscape for the colour, with a smattering of copper (powder & leaf)... copper lettering top & bottom & the main body of calligraphy in brown.
Did you notice the little copper heart in the 'A' ? (click to enlarge if not & to see the words). The scroll is written on BFK Rives, which I find wonderful to write on, aswell as being suitable for the watercolour areas. This was loosely mounted on Khadi bagasse cotton rag paper, hung from canes... the whole thing rolled up to be secured with brown ribbon to be presented as a scroll, also suitable to be hung 'as is' or framed if desired....(all part of my remit!) It was approx 30" x 20"

In the end this ended up being a 'rush-job' the week before Christmas (I was soooo busy) by the time the lady I spoke to conferred with others & confirmed it was ok to go with my ideas... then changed the format... then added a couple of requirements... Then they could only collect the evening before they travelled to London..... then I got the phone call to say I'd miss-spelt "Wangari"....I'd written Wengari.... no great problem... change a to e... without it being obvious... I said... ???!!! Try doing it 10 minutes before they leave with anxious client pacing with c**p light at her house... i think it was ok, if you didn't know you might not notice, I wasn't totally happy but i didn't have time to do any more.

I've always loved this particular piece of work, but always wondered how much that mistake showed in daylight, did she like it? did she actually take it home with her? etc Having previously been reasonably satisfied I just looked up the poem as i typed this... I've just found that it was written by Henry Cuyler Bunner, not Culyer as I thought for the last four years. Ooops, now i wonder if they even presented it?!

Yesterday is history...

...tomorrow a mystery, today is a gift-
that's why it's called the present.

This 3' x 4' canvas was part of an order in which I was given free reign. The company liked my work- a member of staff had seen a couple of my canvasses at her friends & recommended me..... all I had to do was provide art-work that matched the colour scheme...what a dream job!

This one was to hang in the kitchen area which was neutrally decorated, so I decided to go for a 'cappuchino' look. I covered the background in a lovely dark brown gloss paint & once dry I set about swirling emulsion & acrylic to create a sort of frothy milky coffee effect. At some point I used some kitchen roll to blend it, but bits of paper fell off & got stuck in the paint as i rubbed- what a happy accident that was! They provided extra texture almost like the bubbles on top of he cappuchino. Obviously, if asked that was my intention!

I'm always uncomfortable painting 'things'- I tend to capture feelings, emotions, the sense of the words...energies. Although it started as a cup of coffee, as I moved paint about it became something more... the swirls became energies... a blending of strands from the Universe, something for the unknown people who would see it... a gift, just like the quotation.

Some of the splatters were done before the lettering & some afterwards to create layers & depth... I then touched up any letters that were too obliterated. I used a ruling pen for the loose italic, almost like handwriting. It's easy to adjust the points of a ruling pen to accommodate the consistency of different paints (diluted acrylic craft paint in this instance), or to create a finer/thicker line. A final splash- a dash of energy (or chocolate!)- with the brown gloss unified the whole piece & stopped it looking as if the light colours were just 'sat on top' of the background... job done!!

I had decided on the quotation beforehand- it took me quite a while to choose. Something meaningful but not too deep, but not pithy either. It's about living in the 'now'. It's easy to dwell on the past- to hang on to past hurts or hanker after bygone times, but we can't change it. It's gone. Done. Finished. Remembering & reminiscing is good, but letting the past interfere with our life now is not.
We can speculate about the future, and have dreams, plans, goals- all good things.... but spending too much thinking about them & not actually doing anything about them isn't so good. Much time can be wasted wishing time away wanting things to change without taking any action.

It is NOW that we live in, now that we can decide to do something, now that we can refuse to allow someone to carry on hurting us, now that we can share our precious gifts with others etc etc. We all know the theory, the time to put it into practice is NOW!