Here it is, the last day of January and I am giving an artist talk on calligraphy tonight at Centennial Art Center in Nashville 6-8pm. Samples of work and calligraphic hands will be shown. Guests will have an opportunity to try out basic tools and ask questions.
Centennial Arts Center is at 301 25th Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee 37203.
Also at this venue, the Nashville Calligraphers Guild has an art show going that lasts until March 3, 2025. You can enjoy looking at our lovely work and participate in the Artist Talk too.
We just returned from Italy where I took a 2-week calligraphy class with Amity Parks and Brody Neuenschwander. It was an amazing time of receiving hands on class presentations and time to try out all that we were learning.
The creation of my personal Book of Hours has begun and will take months to finish. I am so excited about this new path of calligraphy and illuminated letters and writing my own personal stories!
This first illuminated letter ‘R’ was a labor of love. I will post more along this path of experimentation and love of calligraphy that started so long ago.
Thanks for checking in on me. Teaching art in a PreK-8 school and raising kids consumed me (in a good way) for many years. Now is the time to explore things set aside and to see where it takes me!
Where has this fall gone??? I remember school starting in August, a fun school play and here we are nearly to Thanksgiving.
I wanted to say thanks to you my customers for following me on RosesPen.
I have displayed & sold art at several shows this fall and have one show this Saturday, November 18th at the Holy Rosary Christmas Bazaar, 9am-4pm at 190 Graylynn Drive, Nashville TN 37214. Come and shop for Christmas! Free admission.
As a part of the Nashville Calligraphers’ Guild, we have a month-long exhibit at Green Hills Library. This exhibit is open now through November 30 and is free to the public. My art on display is all for sale. The library desk has a list of all the Guild art with artists and prices.
I have posted my class offerings for winter, mid-winter and spring 2018. See classes to see if there is something that you would enjoy. If there is a class that is not listed, please contact me and we will see if I or someone in the area can offer it.
I will be hosting an art open house at our home Sunday, November 26th, 1-4:30. RosesPen calligraphy, cards, bookmarks, framed pieces, original canvases will all be available for sale with a 10% open house discount. Hourly door prizes will be going throughout the afternoon! My cousin Sr. Eugenia Brown’s watercolor framed pieces will also be available for purchase. Come and browse, have hot chocolate, play a little pool and maybe signup for one of my 2018 classes. If you need directions, please email me. Art play tables will be setup for anyone needing an art fix! rosespencalligraphy@gmail.com
I will be teaching Illuminated Letters at Picture This in Hermitage, Tennessee Thursday evening June 16th, 6:30-8:30, and on Saturday morning June 18th, 9-11. I am so excited to be working with Owner Matt Fischer. He runs a wonderful frame shop and art gallery and is very involved in our art community.
Both of my classes are stand alone and can be taken by ages 3rd grade and up. Students will create and finish a piece of art during the 2 hour class. I am both light-hearted and methodical in my teaching and will show how these beautiful letters are created. Students will:
choose the letter to illuminate
select colors from a wide variety of watercolor and metallic color pencils
use gouache metallics to add ‘bling’ to our work
work on soft textured black watercolor paper
create a beautiful finished letter
Illuminated ‘S’
When we finish the class, we will mat your 8×10 art. If you want to, frames will be available for you to purchase.
Why should you take this class?
Learn a new skill
Create a gift for yourself or someone’s birthday
Get a taste of just one aspect of calligraphy
Immerse yourself, just for a few hours, in an art form that has been around for 1500 years! This is a bit of a modern twist but the basics are the same.
To read more and/or to sign up for this class, go to Picture This under events. Thanks for considering my class! Classes by other local artists are also shown on this link.
Sister Eugenia Brown is an amazing watercolor artist. She will be 92 in March and continues to create her wonderful artwork as her busy life permits.
Sister Eugenia in her monastery sunroom
Sister has had an admirable work ethic with her art for 70+ years. She says that she has always set aside a day a week to work on her watercolor. She has created some acrylic pieces and sculptures but it seems that watercolor is her favorite. Her work includes farm scenes, nature, animals, ocean, hot air balloons, faith, and her list continues! When I last visited her and we discussed which artwork I would help to sell for her, she wouldn’t let me bring her most recent pieces. She had plans to display them for sale in her local art show at Utica Square in Tulsa.
Sister Eugenia is my cousin and has been a blessing to our family for my entire life. She and her brother, Father Matthew Brown, drove annually to Tennessee from Oklahoma to stay with our family for their vacation. As the years progressed and we moved on to other cities, my husband and I became a part of their annual trek. With the passing of my parents, they continued to visit us and stayed for a week at time, loving home cooked meals and laughter and telling family stories. I had never been a destination for anyone’s vacation! It is hard to express how very important and cherished these annual visits were. Fr. Matthew passed about 3 years ago and Sister Eugenia no longer drives but I continue to see her, enjoying her monastery’s warm hospitality. We continue to laugh a lot!
So, the last time we were together, we gathered up 50 of her paintings and I brought them to Tennessee to offer them for sale here. Whenever one of her paintings sells, the proceeds go back to her convent in Tulsa, Oklahoma St. Joseph Monastery.
An exhibit of her work is now on display and for sale at Fifty Forward – Donelson Station, 108 Donelson Pike, Nashville, TN 37214. Fifty Forward Donelson. The show runs from January 27 – March 12, 2016. Business hours are Monday – Friday, 8am – 5pm, Saturday 8-12 and during theater performance times. If you have questions or want me to meet you at the exhibit, just email me. rosespencalligraphy@gmail.com
RosesPen 