Working on some drafts for a biblical passage for a US-based client and author. Three styles explored; italic, copperplate and majuscules.

There are some place-names that calligraphers get excited about..Newtownmountkennedy is definitely one of them!

Envelopes for Save the Date cards.

St. Patrick's Day - themed Converse© with Art and Sole

A small commission with a great quotation from the world's greatest writer, 'Anon'!
39 x 49cm (mounted)
Gouache and ink on Fabriano Artistico

A new year and I'm back with the personalised wedding Converse© together with Art and Sole.  Brides and bridesmaids love these to slip into for the reception and they make a fine 'something new' pre-wedding gift.

Chosen paper stock was Fabriano Artistico 180gsm which is perfect for scrolls as it has that lovely deckled edge top and bottom. But there was a challenge when all the names were scribed; a 80-100mm gap between last line and the end of the paper....illustrate it...or do something creative with the date? So I decided to emboss the year '2014'. The paper stock is perfect for blind-embossing, but it requires careful application so as to not puncture the paper but keep the indentation gentle and consistent. So I cut the template on board very carefully and used my dog-tooth gold burnisher to push out the letters. Here is the result;

It may have been the christmas holidays...but calligraphers NEVER take time off! I was delighted to have a commission to work on and this piece was a family gift; a scroll listing everyone's name along with a special date for the recipient. My client had already produced a draft for the piece and her layout really worked; compressed lines of text which were not centred, and in a modern versal style. Names would be in black Sumi ink, apart from the recipient family who's names would be in a deep Cadmium Red.

Some gold flecks and a matching ribbon completed the piece, here is the final;

Sumi ink, gouache and gold ink on 180gsm Fabriano Artistico, 750mm x 380mm, ©oonatully

I've just learned so much about this registered charity who do fine work for orphaned children in Russia. I was delighted to work on a special envelope gift for their founder, Debbie Deegan, in appreciation to one of their patrons.

The brief was simple; an envelope which is uniquely Irish and with a quotation from one of our great poets, William Butler Yeats;

"I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."
W.B. Yeats (1865–1939)
"He Wishes For the Cloths of Heaven"

Time and budget did not allow for hand-drawn Celtic illumination so I used a rubber stamp (I knew these would prove useful at some point!) and finished off with a wax seal. 
Ok, burning wax can be very incendiary....perhaps I should have recruited a grown-up to help...but all went well in the end. Here is the final envelope, on Debbie's chosen hand-made paper envelope;

I was just thrilled to be asked to provide the in-store calligraphy services for Molton Brown's beautiful new store in Grafton Street, Dublin. Their line of filled festive bauble products was a genius idea and their customers loved them. My job was to personalise the baubles on demand with names. So I chose the Edding metallic gold and silver chisel-nibbed pens which proved a good choice - though they do expire quickly and the nib gets weathered and feathered after a short time. Thankfully I calculated the number of pens accurately though, which was key with the volume of names to be painted.

The launch party was wonderfully festive, with bubbly, canapés and a jazz band.

I apologise for my grubby hands, but metallic ink, you know....

All press images can be viewed here on Getty Images.

And here is a selection of baubles;

Merry Christmas!

More here abut the exhibition and the winning pieces from The Dallas Calligraphy Society: 

Also on display were the colourful and varied Pony Express Envelopes;

Arrived in Dallas, Texas for the 33rd International Lettering Arts Conference...excited and eager to learn!