Chapels

 I have been neglecting you lately, I apologise.

I'm posting on social networks because it's quicker than describing my whole journey and taking the time to really address you here.

So a new message so that those who are not on those evil networks can see that I am still thinking of them.

These days I'm working on a commission from the town hall of Plouider, a small seaside town in Finistère.

I like this township, they plant a tree for each birth in the township and asked me to calligraph the children's names so that we can know which tree corresponds to whom. I did it last year and will do it again this year.

But today, it is another project: to calligraph 3 fragments of poems about the chapels and to put them around the Saint Fiacre chapel. The order is to do it on slate, it's up to me to choose how.

So I decided to use Art Nouveau lettering and acrylic paint on large 40x40cm slates. The advantage is that I will be able to use the same layout for the 3 poems and thus have a unity of treatment that I would have had more difficulty in obtaining with another writing.

Here is the first text, a french translation of Shakespeare.

And whilst I've got your attention, I'd like to talk about something completely different. I have been selected to participate in the Write on the Edge International Calligraphy Conference in Sonoma, USA, next summer, and as part of that I have just answered a number of questions about my practice. You can find the transcript of this conversation here. And if you want to register for the courses, you can find the description of my two contributions here and there.

an original tie

I have finally finished the slate engraving started in November 2019.
It has a hole on the back that allows you to hang it on the wall or, if you prefer, to insert a fixation that will allow you to wear it proudly as a tie :-)

the engraving has been filled with acrylic paint and rust before being varnished.

Slate in progress

From time to time, it is necessary to free yourself from paper to work on other media.
So I take back my faithful butter knife and start the engraving of a small slate.
It's only the first step but I already love it.

Capri, it's over!!!!!

And to think that it was the city of my first love!!!!!!!!

Yes, well, sorry, I'm getting ahead of New Year's Eve or I'm late for Christmas, it looks like I'm drunk and not even 11:00 in the morning, it's not serious.

So I get it together, I try to stay decent for a few minutes but you will admit that putting the finishing touches to a composition started more than a year ago is enough to make you happy, even if it is expressed in the form of a song by Hervé Vilard... (hopefully, if you read my blog in english you may not know about this song, it seems that an english version with quite different lyrics exists)

Here, the rust has embedded itself, the varnish is applied, I love it (unlike my wife who finds it very ugly, we can't agree all the time).

As a reminder, the slate piece is about 30cm high

Guillevic

I have read again for the umpteenth time the collection Du domaine by Guillevic.
I find new inspiration with each reading.

A slate engraving, filled with rust & wax for a poem about time
(home made translation : Here the time, believes itslef innocent)

and a poem on rain (and time), engraved on a terracotta pot, which I have already posted in video but of which I give you a still image (I recommend the video, the problem of the pots being their roundness which prevents us to cover their entire circumference at a glance).

smartphone

I succumbed to the bewitching sirens of technology and, not being satisfied with the existing offer, I decided to design a new smartphone myself.
First of its generation, the pineapple 1.0 has incredible features, the most important being the... paperweight!!!!!!!

Engraving on slate & rust filling for the logo.

If you also want to be at the cutting edge of science, don't hesitate to contact me, I can provide you with a specimen of pineapple 1.0 while waiting for version 2 which will benefit from even more amazing features at a price that defies all reason!

Don't wait any longer!!!

spinach

I continue in vegetables.
This time, spinach!
And for a change, I carved my slate by piercing it through and through.

Turnips

August is already well underway, it is more than time to sow turnips.
But it is necessary to be able to indicate them in the garden thus, as usual, small sign engraved on slate.

This time, to change a bit, I used a gothic and it's the turn of the letters I engraved.

And yes, some pieces are missing, I'm aware, it's even done on purpose ;-)

works in progress

I regularly complain that I don't have time during the year to work on my calligraphies... It's even worse during the holidays!
I'm nonetheless share a few "in progress" things with you :

To begin, I continue on my stained glass on slate (which I have already had the opportunity to talk about here for example).

I arrive at the end (more than ten hours of work to foresee) of the engraving of the filigrees, it will be time then to pass to the following stage, rust!

Otherwise, I work on several large letters & monograms, I show you here the preparatory works of the first monogram :

maybe more pictures next week if the work in the garden lets me move on my calligraphies:-)

knotwork

Not much time for calligraphy at the moment.
Just a little knotwork carved on a slate block.

The block is about 10 cm side, the pattern is taken from George Bain's book.

Water, Fire, Earth, Air

I continue to tidy my workshop up and I found one of my first engravings on slate with a little watercolour to highlight the various elements.

It was a few years ago and, at the time, I didn't like it.
I don't think it's so bad after all, what do you think?

Knotwork

While cleaning (once is not usual) my workshop, I fell on some slates of the Monts d'Arrée, full of rust. And as I had a little time, I took the smallest of them to try an engraving and I chose a knotwork pattern from the book of Kells.

The top layer of the slate has left in places, removing the rust color on fragments of the pattern but I'm not too dissatisfied with the result.

Your are still here

This weekend, we celebrated a friend's birthday. For the occasion, I engraved a small zinc brooch reminding her of her year of birth.

And also some slate triangles to put in her garden.

And as I offered her the engraving of "you are here", I made another one for my garden.

For those who would still wonder how it is done, here is a little video where I am engraving the slate with my homemade tools

You are here

It is important to know where you are and to identify what is around you.
So I continue to engrave slate triangles that I place in my garden for crowd edification.

Chards that don't seem to want to go out...

Salads that are difficult to confuse with an elephant but you never know...

A sign to know where you are...

And another sign, to know where everything else is. It is written in Breton and means "all directions".

Slate is not bad either

Yeah, because granite's still hard. And when the slabs are already in place, it means making his engraving on his knees which is quickly painful.
So I resumed the slate engraving started last fall and abandoned because of cold.
The pattern is finished, all that remains is to dress it with filigrees. A few more hours of work ahead!

slowly

Progressing slowly...

it's long ...

Ongoing engraving

Some news of my latest work (still in progress).
After the preliminary drawing, I started with the engraving on the selected slate plate.

It's long, very long... one hour and a half later I'm not really further...

My usual chisel (made out of a butter knife) is not sufficient as I have quite a lot of matter to remove so I made a new tool with a steel shaft.
I flattened one end with a hammer before sharpening it with a grindstone.
For the other end, I drilled a cork and stuck it on the shaft.
And here I am, with a brand new chisel perfectly ergonomic.

What will we conclude from all our obscurities?

To add a little something to my rose window pattern on slate, I engraved a short sentence by Blaise Pascal.

I wrote the text with my little chisel, using it as a nib. The engraving is not very deep but it is visible enough.

Slate

A bit tired of working on white vine for two weeks now, I rest a little with this engraving of a slate plate with a stained glass pattern.

I built the pattern by mixing elements from the gothic period, which doesn't mean that it does not exists somewhere in the real world. If you know about it, please let me know, I'll be happy to see it.

And I just don't have a clue about what I'm going to do with it once finished, maybe a table mat ?

Slate engraving

To adorn my flower pots (when there are no flowers on the plants), I'm designing little boards made of slate, engraved with filigrees.

Here are the pictures of two of them during the engraving process.

And the first one once varnished, in the mint pot