Penwork Where You Find It

"Elephant with Banner", Anonymous Colby College Museum of Art

The first time I attended Parents' Weekend at Colby College in Maine, I made sure to visit their impressive art museum, one of the finest on any campus anywhere.  I was amazed and delighted to find several examples of penwork hanging proudly in their American Folk Art exhibit.

They even mentioned old Platt Rogers Spencer!  Pretty cool, I thought, since I had just come from the Spencerian Saga...

Some detail on that elephant:

Then there's the King of the Jungle:

"Lion", C.L. Horton Colby College Museum of Art

And finally, a memorial piece by James Macomber.  Apologies for the blurry photos....

"Mourning Picture of  N.L. Willis", James H. Macomber Colby College Museum of Art

 The artist rendered his own name in Masterpiece Flourishing!

"Done with a steel pen"

A lovely visit all around!

Mission (Statement) Accomplished

The mission statement at my kids' alma mater, Marin Academy, is oft-quoted and central to the life of the school, so it seemed like a good idea to render it calligraphically for an auction item at their fundraiser a few years back. It's a potpourri of Uncial, Italic, Copperplate, my own scribbly handwriting, and some bits of stamped color and gold ink. The large Italic was done using my rinse water as ink. By cutting the mats myself I was able to make it fit into a stock frame size, which saved custom framing costs.

I don't remember exactly how much the piece went for, but it was a respectable sum. I was later asked to make a similar piece as a tribute to the Head of School's tenth anniversary (two different mattings here, not sure which one we settled on)...

...and another to honor a founding Trustee.