Happy Father's Day to Two Great Dads

Happy Father's Day!

Each generation owes something to the one before. Here are three generations. Two fathers, two sons, one grandfather, one grandson. Happy Fathers Day to three of the most important males in my life.

Dad, meet your very first son.



Steve was a natural.



He still had the touch when his first grandson arrived.





Son Steve carries on the tradition. He is a great father and son, who loves his son completely.







Steve went back to school - what a great dad to show his son the importance of education and following a dream, and making it come true.



Grandson 'helping' his Pappy.



They love to play together.



A familiar sight in the early days. Both guys always liked bedtime.



Newborn photos have changed a lot since Steve was born. Here are Steve and Chris in their hospital photos followed by Jace in his newborn photo (not in the hospital.)





I love all of my guys!

Summertime - and the Swimming is Easy (if you're two)

We got Jace's pool ready one morning last week. I put a new sliding board together to add a new twist to the wading pool fun for Jace.







He even had a snack in the pool - and promptly dunked his Oreos in the pool.



What a little athlete he is! So strong, he could jump in and out from a crouch over the side of the pool and land on his feet! The truly strong people in life always have a bit of compassion and gentleness, and Jace is no different. He worried over his Pappy's booboos on his left knee and kissed them. (He loved having his Pappy in his pool with him.)



Just as he was getting tired of the activity I introduced belly sliding to him. I lifted him up onto the slide on his belly and scooted his body to the incline. He loved it! He climbed out and back to the sliding board for at least another half an hour, always saying 'belly' when he got to me.

Recently we bought him a Hohner harmonica. He had a plastic one that was a lung-burster to get even a squeak out of. This one was like magic to him. He loved it! Here is a snapshot from the first time he played it.



It's so much fun experiencing these little pleasures with a two year old again. We're looking forward to the next pool time.

NuLu Flavor

On a recent trip to the NuLu area of near-downtown's "New" Louisville art district, I spotted some cool signage. I don't know if the Decca sign is original or a reproduction. I don't remember having seen it before, but it looks authentic.

These signs made from bourbon barrels are in the parking lot where a bourbon tour embarks.

I love artistic recycling!

Congratulations, Graduate!

University of Louisville. Speed School of Engineering. Graduation, May 12, 2012.

Congratulations to my son, Steve Hurst, who graduated with honors and now has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering! Steve left a good job that he hated to go to school as an adult to earn his engineering degree. While raising a son and working at least part time for the years it took to earn his degree, he was able to keep his GPA high enough to graduate with honors. (This took much patience and forbearance by his fiancee Sandy too.) We are all so proud that he has accomplished his dream!

Here are some images from April 2011 of the Speed Scientific School at the University of Louisville:

Steve and Jace in April 2011 - looking ahead to graduation in 2012.

Graduation 2012 Crowd:

The grads of today were texting and iPading during the ceremonies. It was easy to see the laptops and phones because the Yum Center was so dark! One smart grad had the top of her mortarboard encrusted with shimmery 'jewels', making her easy to spot.

Steve and proud Mom.

No more homework.

No more classrooms.

Oh! Except for Masters' classes, starting this summer.

And here is the next generation with graduation in his future.

I love my guys!

Hold the Presses! (1 & 2)

Hold the Presses - 1: I was asked several months ago to submit a typical script envelope for a new book written by Peter E. Taylor of Queensland Australia. I am pleased to announce that his book is now in publication and may be purchased through many online sites, including Amazon.com, Amazon UK and The Book Depository. The book, Calligraphy for Greetings Cards and Scrapbooking, was written to appeal to beginning calligraphers and non-calligraphers who want to learn, but there may be pages of interest to long time calligraphers as well.

This photo (used with permission of the author) shows the cover as he submitted it to the publishing company. It looks like a lovely collage with beautiful lettering.

Hold the Presses - 2: The following press release has been posted on many sites today. It's fun to see just where these things turn up. Here is the body of the article:

Even After Years of Lettering, Calligrapher Continues Her Studies Louisville, KY, April 25, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Jan Hurst, a calligrapher for decades, continues to study with master calligraphers to hone her skills. A recent trip to Nashville TN included a workshop with master brush lettering artist, Carl Rohrs, sponsored by the Nashville Calligraphy Guild. Next month Hurst will attend a workshop sponsored by the Memphis Calligraphy Guild featuring the Belgian calligrapher, Yves Leterme. Hurst, a calligraphy teacher herself, says that to stay fresh with her lettering skills, she continues to study and learn from and with fabulous calligraphers from all over the world. “The calligraphy world is fairly small now with Facebook and the internet making communication so easy,” Hurst says. “Cyberscribes, a once private online calligraphy group, introduced calligraphers around the world. Facebook has continued the trend on an even larger scale.” Many calligraphers begin their calligraphic careers after having studied in college, but most of the best also train similarly to apprentices of old, studying with the masters. Opportunities abound, including an annual international conference (this year’s is in Portland, OR), a pointed pen conference, Iampeth (this year’s will be in Milwaukee), a few different retreats, including Cheerio and Ghost Ranch, among others. Various instructors travel to guilds upon invitation to share their knowledge with adult students, all calligraphers who enjoy the opportunity to study with exceptional calligraphers. Hurst’s skills include pointed pen, which is traditionally used for wedding calligraphy, and broad edged pen lettering. In March she took a journal making workshop in Carmel IN, and bound a leather journal with a map liner. "Calligraphy has opened the door to many other arts for me. I have taken watercolor workshops, pastel workshops, have branched out into collage and mixed media and even figure drawing." The Carl Rohrs workshop in Nashville was on brush lettering, as was the John Stevens workshop she attended at Camp Cheerio in North Carolina last September. She considers the Cheerio calligraphy experience one of the best of her life. Hurst continues, “I am friends with fabulous calligraphers from around the world, and know most of the best-of-the-best personally. I began studying calligraphy when my children were babies. Now I have a grandchild. I love the opportunity to study with instructors who are at the top of the field. It helps me improve, and I always learn something new.” Connections in the field are rampant. Yves Leterme, next on her schedule of instructors, actually studied with Brody Neuenschwander, a former Texan who has become one of the top tier calligraphers in the world. Hurst studied with Brody many years ago before he was such a popular teacher. She has studied twice with the British trained Sheila Waters, who is considered "the queen of calligraphy" by many. Ms. Waters will also be taking a workshop from Leterme, when he is in Washington DC next month. “Our connections are many. We are a fairly close knit group, even though we are spread across the world.” Contact Information Jan Hurst Calligraphy & Design www.weddingletterlady.blogspot.com www.picturetrail.com/letterlady

Easter 2012

We cut our Easter dinner crowd this year. House is too small, family has grown, etc., etc. It was a gorgeous day, however, and we still had a wonderful time.

Here are a few photos.

Calligraphy, 'Famous' Calligrapher, Kentucky Wedding

My good friend Donna Hacker and I recently attended Scribehaven, a calligraphy retreat put on by the Nashville Calligraphy Guild at Lake Barkley Lodge in Kentucky. The setting was beautiful. The company was excellent.

Views from my room:

There is nothing like 'retreating' to the woods or some other peaceful place to study and play at the art we love. In this case it was calligraphy. Most people worked on their own projects. Donna presented breathtaking slides from her recent trip to Italy. There was no formal instruction. Indeed, the closest we came to that was when Janie Cravens, former president of Iampeth, did an impromptu 'sharing' of tips and tricks. When I sat down she made me laugh by saying, "But I can't teach you anything; you're famous!" Janie had us all laughing later as she imparted her seemingly never-ending stream of ideas with great humor. One involved lettering on mats, something I have done before. Her method was faster than mine with a more light-hearted effect. She had small mats for all of us. I lettered Dr. Seuss titles on mine and gave it to my niece as part of her baby shower gift. Dr. Seuss books were among her favorites and were part of her gift registry, so I knew she'd like it, but I have also done poems and song lyrics on photo mats for wedding and anniversary gifts, and baby names and statistics for baby gifts.

Two of Janie's tips and tricks involved making portable lightboards for travel. The first was a clear plexiglass clipboard with a line guide clipped to it and a tiny but bright flashlight as the light source. You simply support one end on a book or what have you, slip the flashlight underneath and Voila! It takes up practically no room in your luggage, and also could be kept in your car for last minute placecard changes. I suggested adding a small piece of rubber shelf liner to slip under it to help prevent slippage. The other was even more genius, and ultra-modern. Use your iPad as a lightboard! Just place a line guide on the turned-on iPad and, once again, Voila! Of course, you would also need to keep pen, nibs and ink in a travel package.

At one point on Saturday we witnessed a wedding photo session. The beautiful bride and handsome groom posed right outside of our lodge conference room for some of their photos. Weddings to calligraphers are natural voyeuristic events! Here is a photo I took, purposely not too close-up to give the happy couple a modicum of privacy. You can still clearly tell how lovely the bride is in her gorgeous gown and veil. We all wanted to have done her wedding calligraphy.

The iPad also comes in handy to use as a portfolio of your work. I plan to copy many of my calligraphy and art photos to my iPad to be able to show prospective clients and others. No more bulky portfolios!

Below is a photo of the ruling pen lettered name tags we all received, compliments of Vicki Brandt. Sheryl Bracey had recently taught a ruling pen class to the guild, and Vicki made good use of her practice. (My photo was taken in the dark and does not adequately show the beautiful watercolor marks that made up the backgrounds.)

I met some wonderful people at Scribehaven and had a good time. I spent so much time talking and looking that I didn't get any calligraphy done, but I will be prepared to show and share and work more next year! Thanks, Nashville Calligraphy Guild! Thanks, Janie, Donna, Ann (great brownies!) and all others who shared so much. P.S. Lake Barkley Lodge dining hall - please do not ever change your banana pudding recipe. It is the best I have ever had - served warm! Yum!