Calligraphy Pursuits for 2013

It's no secret that I've been obsessed with calligraphy since I got into it last year. I was fueled by the motivation to able to incorporate better letter writing to my doodles, which was initially a personal goal. Fozzy Castro-Dayrit's work has been instrumental for the inspiration to start writing--I follow her work from Facebook to twitter to instagram (I drop a line or two of appreciation, para naman hindi masyadong stalker ang dating!), and everytime I see her flourished scripts, I get so inspired to learn some more. The craft brings me immense enjoyment and the prettiness tugs at my heartstrings specially when my friends and even random people appreciate my posts of lyrics, musings and practice sheets.

This year, one of my creative goals is to get better at calligraphy and be able to share it to others by offering it as a service. I don't see it as a full time job for now, but I am definitely looking at the possibility of having clients who will appreciate my form of writing and trust me enough to provide the service. This pursuit will also become a challenge for myself since I haven't really done something like this before. I have yet to learn the ropes of networking and showcasing my work, but the priority for now is to practice practice practice.

My trip to the United States has also allowed me to gain access to the tools and learning materials that will help me get better at calligraphy. I've been trying out different nibs so I can experiment and develop my own style, but I'm also interested in studying a more formal style of writing. So much of what I have learned have been through trial and error, practicing strokes on different types of paper using various ink brands, and also by reading different sourcesoonline. Although I can't say I have discovered my own style just yet, one of the things that I always tell to myself is to remain teachable and be open to learning new things. Hopefully in time, I can really get more consistent and create my own signature work.

Going back to basics and doing  muscle memory strokes using my oblique holder. 

Just a few of the nibs that I bought while here in the US.
L-R: Guillot 303, Leonardt Principal Nib, Nikko G, Leonardt Manuscript G.
 Thank you Paper and Ink Arts, Dickblick and Amazon!

I am writing about this now to be able to commit to this decision to actually pursue calligraphy not just as a hobby but something that I can consider a craft that I can share to others. It's loads of fun, and it's one of the reasons why I do it in the first place. And if I can get myself more disciplined to further enhance my skills, why not?  A lot of love and care is put into a handwritten note, envelope or place card, and I want to be able to spread that kind of love through calligraphy. This blog will allow me to chronicle that journey and hopefully I can post an official "advertisement" when I am finally ready. 

I'm so excited! Here's to more possibilities for 2013!

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The Weekend In Pictures: Atlantic City

It was an impromptu road trip, and we left the hotel so late in the afternoon, around 4:30 PM that we didn't have much to do when we got there. I'm not much of a gambler, so I didn't stay too long at Caesar's--I'd rather spend my money doing shopping or watching something entertaining. We had dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant, then just took photos while watching a cool light show at the AC Boardwalk. Even though it's already spring, it was freezing, and my toes were numb as I was wearing inappropriate footwear, so we didn't get to go to the beach.

But I still got to enjoy the lights and sounds of AC, so here's a few snippets from that super short trip:

Caesar's Palace Atlantic City

Walking and freezing at the same time along the Boardwalk

The Boardwalk Hall was filled with pretty during a 3D light show called "Duality". 

You can watch the show here - from the Do AC Youtube Channel

When I get the chance to go back, I want see more of what Atlantic City has to offer. There are tons more to see in AC, and I would've wanted to check out Lucy The Elephant, the Absecon Light House, and the Atlantic City Arts Center. I'll make sure I explore more of AC next time :)

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Doodle Caboodle: Empire State of Mind

I don't want to start a discussion about lyrics and their grammatical errors, but since I am smitten with this city, this ode to the good old NYC is the first song that came to mind. Plus, I love Alicia Keys.

I used Leonardt Manuscript 300 nib with this and my Panache italic calligraphy nib in medium on my Moleskine. I'd like to learn Adobe Illustrator so that I can make this into vector art and have it printed and framed. Would you buy a print like this?

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Inspiration With Wrapping Paper

During my visit at The Met, I was looking for a souvenir that would remind me of my trip to one of the most renowned art museums in the world. I wanted something that will inspire me to draw and be more creative. If only I had endless amount of moolah, I would've bought a bunch more stuff, but decided to pick my books wisely. I've always been a fan of Gustav Klimt, so I picked a book called Gustav Klimt: Painter of Women. His art nouveau paintings just never fail to astound me. I was already content with my pick when I stumbled upon a shelf of wrapping paper books. After much ado, I picked it up and said to myself, I will probably never find something like this in Manila. I'm oh so glad I got it, coz it was filled with the loveliest watercolor flower patterns, and it got me inspired to practice watercolor again.

This goes for about 9 dollars each. Not bad, right?

It's amazing to think that this is made using watercolor! The shading is absolutely fantastic, and the lines are so clean and crisp.

The cynic in me would think that this is photo manipulated. It's possible, right?

Light foreground on dark background. I love it.

Looking at the patterns made me take out my Strathmore notebook and just draw petals, leaves and branches. I still need practice with underpainting, but I think it turned out well. What do you think?

I'm looking for further inspiration on how to make good use of the pretty wrapping paper. Perhaps Holly Becker can help me out. I have Modge Podge stashed from my trip to Michael's, so I'm excited to make good use of it too!

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The Weekend In Pictures: New York City

I've been raving about my past weekend, and I haven't had the time to really get into the details about what we did. My cousin Mayel planned our itinerary based on what I wanted to see and experience in the city. I have been to NYC in 2008 and did a lot of touristy stuff already. This time, I wanted to see more bits and pieces of New York that wasn't usually highlighted in the guide books. It was an educational trip coz she gave trivia about the places we went to and I loved listening to her stories. She taught me how to use the subway (a very intimidating transportation system, if you ask me) and gave me a test just to make sure I was familiar and somehow comfortable with navigating through the complex and snakelike train lines.

Warning, this will be a long entry!

Subway mosaic

5 Pointz in Queens

It was snowing that day and I didn't have any gloves. I was just clad in a shirt and a coat and I was so glad I brought my scarf. After taking pictures at the graffiti warehouse,we walked around and went inside a contemporary art gallery. It had beautiful and interesting paintings and multimedia art works, but there were some that were too abstract and strange that I didn't understand them. I may be too superficial or ignorant to consider a blob of paint on a white canvas as "art", but whatever. I didn't know if they allowed to take pictures, so I played it safe and kept my phone in my pocket. We were famished and decided to stop by this diner so we can thaw from the cold and discuss where to go next.

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NYC Street Art - 5Pointz Graffiti

Finally, an uninterrupted weekend in New York City! This is the first weekend in which I didn't receive any text messages from my teammates about work, and boy it has been a pleasant change. I'm so excited to write about my artsy fartsy experiences here and one of the first things that I wanna share is this awesome graffiti place called 5Pointz in Queens. This is not part of my original NY 2013 Bucket List, but one afternoon, it just occurred to me that I needed to check out some local street art like the one that I accidentally stumbled upon in Australia. 

My cousin Mayel who lives in Brooklyn brought me here 'cause I told her I wanted to check out NYC urban art. I mean, that's what New York is about, right? Initially I was hoping to catch a Banksy installation, but when I did my research and due to the ephemeral nature of street art, his works aren't available anymore.

I still wasn't disappointed, because the place was abso-fucken-lutely fantastic. 

An entire building of graffiti art, it's visual overload!

The relentless snow being captured on cam!

That's my cousin Mayel right there, taking photos (or figuring out where to take me next).

I heart NY!

 Someday, I'm going to learn how to use spray paint and work on a large scale doodle/illustration

The requisite selfie!

Even the pavement has stenciled art on it!

It took me a while to figure this one out; I just admired the colors, but it's actually Beauty and The Beast!

It was snowing that day and we were originally hoping to see graffiti artists at work, but didn't catch any. It was too bad, coz I really wanted to capture the process on how they made these extraordinary works of art, but seeing the whole graffiti complex was worth the trip anyhow. This blog post and the photos here do not give the place justice!

 Sorry I just had to do that.

And yes, she just had to do this!

5Pointz signifies the 5 boroughs of New York -- Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Staten Island and Queens coming together as one. Graffiti artists from all over the world have come together and used this warehouse as their canvas, and at the same time the venue has hosted several events for photographers, break dancers, musicians and artists to share their craft to onlookers and tourists. The building is located at 45-46 Davis Street, Long Island City, NY

Find out more about them here

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Craft Loot, Hooray!

One of the first things that I did when I arrived in the U.S. is get myself more calligraphy and crafting tools. While the handcrafting movement in Manila is starting to grow thanks to her, her, her, and her, the tools needed to get into the movement isn't as available as we would've liked. 

I took advantage of this onshore assignment in buying stuff that I wanted to buy but couldn't find in Manila. The first thing that I had intended to buy was a Speedball Linoleum Cutter. I have the woodcutter version which I was able to buy at National Bookstore for 150 pesos. It was a decent set, but when I tried out Mansy's Speedball cutter during our Crafternoon Session, there was a huge difference specially when I wanted to carve out finer details on my stamp. 

I got some Hunt 99s and 101s as well as Windsor and Newton Calligraphy inks from my uncle when they visited Manila. I hoarded on nibs coz I know they're not sold in Manila except in Scribe Writing Essentials in Eastwood. I wanted to try more nibs, I also ordered Esterbrooks and Nikko Gs from Paper Ink Arts! 

Here's a couple of things that I came up with using my crafting purchases:

Flower stamps that I made using my Speedball cutter. The stamp ink brand is Inkadinkado. Weather is quite dreary these days so I made this. I can't wait for spring!

A patterned stamp that I did while experimenting on my Inkadinkado stamp colors. 

The best thing about it is that I get to only use my per diem for my purchases, and shipping is free when you buy a certain number of products and reach a certain amount. Work has been taking up too much of my time this past month, but with things stabilizing in my I.T. life, I have more time to work on my calligraphy and watercolor. I guess wherever I go, even if I am miles away from home, I will always end up doing something creative. 

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Channeling An Inspiration - Meera Lee Patel

I am proud to say that things are looking up this week. The work that we have done with the Project has been well received by our clients and we are off to a good start since we went live yesterday. The sleepless nights are all worth it. :)

Since my I.T. life here in New Jersey is starting to look good (by good, meaning, I don't have to stay in late for work), it's time for me to catch up with my creative life and continue working on crafty things. I'd like to share one of my watercolor inspirations, Meera Lee Patel. I came across her work when I was checking out Ten Paces and Draw website. There is something very earthly yet ethereal about her work that I truly admire and this has prompted me to create more foliage-inspired calligraphy. 

Here are a few of her works featured in her Website

Her weapon of choice: watercolor!

I love the intricate details of this drawing!

Despite the lack of tools here onshore, I made sure I have a few paintbrushes and water color with me. Pardon me for the poor quality coz I only used my camera phone for this, but here's me channeling my inner Meera Lee. :)

Hope you like it!

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Snippets of the Past Couple of Weeks

This assignment has been super intense, I haven't had much time to travel and see places except for that one weekend in Manhattan when I decided to just take a bus from Jersey Gardens and explore the Big Apple. My thighs still hurt from all the walking. I still have a lot of things to tick off in my Things Do To In New York list, but alas, I'm at risk of not accomplishing all of them. The good news is that my Project is pushing through with Go Live this weekend, and I should be free to roam around after then.

Priority of things to do:
1. Meet up with friends and relatives - I have more friends and family in the East Coast! Of course this is the top priority of things to do because I want to make sure we can do some catching up after not seeing each other for a long time!

• Chavez Family - check! And we will be going to Atlantic City on March 16th. They have been super duper accommodating and they really made sure I settled in well in the U.S. Love them!
• Ate Dawn and Family - they picked me up from the airport, and I was supposed to attend Saify's birthday party but I  but I will meet up with them again this Sunday!
• Ate Mayel and Ate Nikki - have dinner and drinks on a weekday
• Ninong Boyet - He lives in Queens so I wanna make sure I visit him
• Carmi and Ruby

2. Visit MoMa or Met Museum - This is really one of my top priorities and something that I want to do for creative inspiration. Creativity doesn't stop just because I'm on assignment!
3. Take photos of Grand Central Station - I can do this on a weekday and take a train from Penn Station which is just a couple of blocks away form my office in NJ.
4. Watch a Broadway Show - I watched the Lion King on Broadway in 2009 and I want to watch another Broadway show this year!

Anyway, since I don't have much to show for yet, here's a few photos from my intense couple of weeks in the U.S. so far. Basically, we worked, we ate, and i ogled stuff at arts and crafts stores.

The girls having sangria on a Friday night

Huge ass bento boxxxxxxx!

JP and Regie hamming it up with their Steaks at some Spanish Resto

Rockefeller Center in Winter! Too bad, they took down the Christmas Tree!

Times Square and the yellow cabs. How cliche, but we all love it!

The NY Times building in front of Port Authority on 8th Ave

Mundane photo of my office's parking lot, but i just had to take a photo coz the sky is so blue!

Visited A.C. Moore and Michael's! This is a creative geek's disneyland!

I wish we had this huge selection of paintbrushes in Manila.

Celebrating the Go Live!

Buffalo wings night. We had quite a few to drink and ended up singing Whitney Houston songs in the car on our way back to the hotel.

Life has been interesting. Even if I only visited Manhattan once, I still feel blessed that I get to live in a hotel, be given daily allowance, eat good food, have a good laugh with new friends and basically just have fun even if things get so stressful at work. Life here isn't ideal because I don't have my family, Jim and my band here with me. It would've been so grand if they are here to share all these things with but I'm not one to complain because I've been given good opportunities. Life is still fabulous. :)

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