Which Way is Up?

This is a piece I did a while back that continues to puzzle me.  I originally designed it and hung it this way:

...which makes it easier to read.  In fact, another version of it was published in Somerset Studio magazine in the Fall of '05 and they oriented it this way as well.

But then...I lent it to a show for charity, and when I walked in it had been hung this way:

...which I kind of liked.  No so readable, but the texture is nice and maybe more interesting.

What do you think???

(The full text, by Oliver Wendell Holmes:  There are no less than fifty-eight different pieces in a violin.  These pieces are strangers to each other, and it takes a century, more or less, to make them thoroughly acquainted.  At last they learn to vibrate in harmony, and the instrument becomes an organic whole as if it were a great seed-capsule which had grown from a garden bed in Cremona, or elsewhere.)

Pretty in Pink

Still riffing on Judy Detrick's wonderful "Decorated Caps" class for the Friends of Calligraphy a while back!  For these I used my largest broad nib and drew the letters in J. Herbin cyclamen ink, then dropped in my old standby, Spectralite 56K gold (which conveniently comes with an eyedropper installed). 

After the letter was dry (sometimes with a little paper-towel wicking to take away the puddles) I added the rest of the name with pointed pen, full bleed.

Thank goodness for thank-you notes, which give me a great excuse to play!

As always, a beautiful notecard helps to inspire...

Nibs to the Highest Bidder

Seems like for a while there, every school and sport my kids were involved with was soliciting donations for silent auctions. Another successful item was simply offering to address a hundred envelopes--invitations, announcements, or holiday cards. Good practice for me, a little cash for the school. This was the display set up at the fundraising event. The green envelope is done in Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleedproof White, the ecru envelope in J. Herbin Nuages Gris. Both are Italic hand.