News and Updates
Spring is Coming!.`
Welcome to my website! Could it be that the snow is melting away?!! I will be adding images as frequently as possible. I've been doing a lot more Wedding Invitation Designs and complete suites; save the date cards, shower invitations, the invitations and accessories, Menus, table cards, placecards, special notes, thank you notes and other stationery. Monogram designs have also been great fun along with the wedding documents. As soon as I can I will be posting more samples to the website.
My studio is open by appointment and I invite you to visit my "boutique and gallery" and remember that I have a variety of gift items for sale....including note cards, fraktur and folk art, Framed prints of my favorite florals and watercolor designs, dog and animal prints, hand embossed, keepsake bookcards, and as always, my custom wedding invitations, and all paper accessories for special events. Other great gifts include house portraits, pet portraits, and all those pretty verses you may want to make into permanent memories including hand inscribed messages or captions added to a book or photograph. Anything involving ink or paper!! I have recently done a series of dog portraits which will be posted soon. I welcome visitors from anywhere - especially from the nearby communities I serve daily:
Doylestown, Quakertown, Newtown, Yardley, New Hope, Washington Crossing, Solebury, Lambertville, Frenchtown, Sergentsville, Ringoes,Stockton NJ, North Wales, Montgomeryville, Souderton, Franconia, Kulpsville, Skippack, Bethlehem, Coopersburg, Blue Bell, Chalfont, Warrington, Warminster, Churchville, Richboro, Allentown, Emmaus, Macungie, Lansdale, New Britain, Buckingham, Wrightstown, Abington, Jenkintown, Elkins Park, Glenside, and New York City (if you want to drive) and of course, Philadelphia. I'm happy to work with anyone nationwide, thanks to the internet. When I'm busy, I refer my work to my friend and colleague Therese Swift-Hahn who's work and work ethic I admire. Her studio is located in Ewing and if any of my potential clients are calling from those NJ communities, she may be more convenient . You can find her at www.bellascrittura.com. If you are looking for the work of a true Master Penman, be sure to contact Rosemary Buczek, www.thegildedquil.com located in Milford, NJ.
Local Events:
My studio/gallery is open everyday by appointment. I welcome opportunities to do demonstrations for local promotionals . I enjoy doing penmanship demonstrations at stationery stores and at special community events including First Fridays, when my schedule allows, in Doylestown, Newtown, Bethlehem, and anywhere in Bucks, Montgomery and Lehigh Counties.
Business Networkers International - Doylestown II is a close contact networking group that I and others have founded. We have been recently chartered and we are now planning our "kick off" very soon. If you or anyone you know is interested in growing their business, go to www.bnidvr.com and look for the link for Doylestown 2, or call me for information.
I had the pleasure of doing penmanship demonstrations at the Jane Austen Convention held October 8 in Old City Philadelphia. Our venue was similar to that of the Folk Festival, Mercer Museum, Doylestown. I enjoy doing such demostrations and promos for shops, stores and events. I'll be doing these thru the summer at local events. Just ask me!
The Doylestown Art League is an ongoing group of area artists to meet and take classes. They exhibit regularly and include the best artists in all mediums in Bucks. Please go to www.doylestownartleage.com .
The Paper Unicorn is a well known landmark here in Doylestown serving the Central Bucks and east to New Hope areas for all of your fine stationery and gift items. Located in the center of Doylestown, they have been serving the Central Bucks community for many years and have been doing it so well. I am very proud to be their referred calligrapher!
Other fine stationery stores in the area that I recommend include The Paper Chase located in Peddler's village, Lahaska, and Leap Frog Paper, www.leapfrogpaper.com, located in Skippack Village and O So Inviting in Yardley. These shops all carry the finest stationery available and warrant hand calligraphed addressing. You and your invitations deserve to include fine hand lettering to complete the presentation for your guests. Heirloom Occasions, www.heirloom-occasions.com, is a wonderful growing business of custom designs for invitations , Look at the talent of Kim Bensing. Orrganics in New Hope is another resource for your beautiful eco-friendly, fine stationery needs. In addition, Pineapple Farm Design for Life and Business are fabulous graphic designers. Go to www.pineapplefarmdesign.com and see the talent of Sebastian and Renee.
The Phoenix Art Supplies and Framing store is the best resource in the area for fine art supplies and framing. Go to www.phoenixartstuff.com. Allegheny Art in Newtown and Jenkintown are other nearby resources for fine art supplies. Chapman Gallelry is the other best framing gallery in Doylestown!
We are all lucky to have so much available in Doylestown's world of art!
Philadelphia Calligraphers' Society
For anyone interested in furthering their education and knowledge of the calligraphic arts, I strongly recommend that you join the Philadelphia Callilgraphers' Society and participate in their workshops and events. Go to www.philadelphiacalligraphers.org for more infomation about this wonderful group of talented artists and upcoming events . Our annual Exhibit took place at the Wayne Art Center. Watch our website for more upcoming events. We have ongoing workshops posted to the website as well. These take place at Rutgers, Camden.
Art Goes to School
The 2009-10 year in Central Bucks School District is underway. We have a terrific portfolio this year. We present the art to every single grade school classroom in all of Central Bucks and New Hope Solebury. Anyone interested in volunteering in this program, please let me know. Go to www.lmtsd.org/art2school.htm for more information. This year our featured artist is Rob Evans whose work is currently on view at the Michener. I volunteered to research him and had the pleasure of interviewing him. He lives and works in central Pennsylvania . We are lucky here in Doylestown to have our own beautiful art museum.
Introductory Class in Italic Writing
I offer private studio instruction to introduce basics - $100/4 hours. I review the basics with anyone, any age, who has an interest in the lettering arts. This is truly a fine art that takes a lot of discipline and practice to learn well and with the correct tools. It's a dying art and I especially encourage young people to learn an appreciation for the calligraphic arts. I strongly encourage membership in the PCS.
IAMPETH
The International Association of Master Penman Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting met again the week of July 13, 2009 in Nashville, Tennessee. I had yet another wonderful experience. Go to www.iampeth.com for more information and view the blog of our week as it happened last year in LaQuinta, California and view what just happened so recently in Nashville, Tennessee. I am pleased and honored to have been invited to be a presenter last year and again this year. I just learned that I will again be a presenter at our 2010 convention to be held in Orlando! This group includes the best and the most honorable penman (people) in the world! Included are the "Masters" who have earned their titles by the disciplined practices and skills handed down thru the ages. I recieve my best professional instruction and advice from these members and value the friendships made.Some local IAMPETH members are planning to organize workshops in the Upper Bucks, Lehigh Valley area. We are looking seriously at a location Bethlehem, PA. I'll post more information is things develop.
Creative Endeavors
Four years ago I co-founded this wonderful group of people who meet the last Wednesday of each month to share, support and encourage creative endeavors. These people have become some of my best friends and my best resource for the encouragement I need to carry on in my practice of the lettering arts and painting. If you have a creative endeavor of any kind, please let me know. As a group, we presented our first show September . This show was held on the farm property , "The Broken Barn" owned by the McCauley Family, a member. It was a very successful weekend for us and the weather was perfect. We will certainly produce another show as soon as we can.
