Press

In C Magazine, my calligraphic monogram was featured on the "What's Hot" page! I designed and lettered it, and it was beautifully letterpressed by Sugar Paper.

Calligraphy Monogram

My talented friend Xandra has a brand new fabulous item on her Etsy. She's creating hand lettered custom snowflake monograms and they're beautiful! Check it out.

Holiday Card and Gift Tag

A new card design by Sugar Paper with my calligraphy incorporated.

Store Front Calligraphy

I was so thrilled to see my calligraphy on the front window of Sugar Paper, one of my biggest clients! I've been doing calligraphy for many years and I still get a kick out of seeing my work in different applications. They blew it up from letters that were about 1/4 inch in height.

Shipping Tag

Here's the tag I used to mail the Angels painting.

Shooting Star

Here's the second painting for another art exchange. Basically the same colors as my last painting (I have got to get more acrylic paints!). With this one I added a little bit of texture with matte medium and some handmade paper bits. Above is the address tag for the outside of the package. This is so much fun!

Angels Painting

My first time painting on canvas! I was invited to participate in an art exchange by my good friend and fabulous mixed media artist Renee Troy. Renee also inspired me to have a go at using a canvas. Of course, I had no idea what I was doing, but I took out my limited collection of acrylic paints and went for it. I tried doing a layering technique that I had seen Jackie Sullivan do in a demo she did for the Society for Calligraphy. I did multiple layers using matte medium or a fixative spray in between, then finished it off with the final quote in calligraphy. So much fun!

Blog Award Honor

I've just been honored by Elizabeth Golden, whose wonderful blog is The Last Door Down the Hall . I'm so delighted that people enjoy my blog. I've met some many incredible people and seen such amazing artwork. I would like to share this award with some of those people of whom I am in such awe and who continually inspire me!

Ces
Bella
Jane Farr
Jane Royal
Lori
Manon
Renee
Silke
Tammie

Halloween Play

I've got tons of work waiting for me but couldn't resist doing something quick for Halloween!

Some silly envelope addressing

Fall colors in Santa Monica...what?

Mocha clearing for take off

Maddie planning to stowaway!

Floating Journal

This topic was a tricky one. The closest I could come to the sensation of floating was my experience with hypnosis. Many years ago after a year long program, I became a certified clinical hypnotherapist. It was really interesting. Hypnosis is the tool and the underlying work as a therapist is really psychology. It was a great experience with a lot of personal growth and the opportunity to meet many fascinating people. Anyway, I was enticed back into calligraphy with an abundance of work and a love of the art.

Floating Journal

350 Mixed Media Piece

This is the piece I bought yesterday at Zinnia and I love it. It was created by Joe Carrion .

350 Art

Zinnia , a fantastic store in Pasadena with lots of tempting goodies for a variety of mixed media projects, hosted a gallery show for today's international environmental event. They gave out 350 5x5 wood blocks to participating artists. I would love to have been a contributor but was too late in discovering the project. Each piece sold for 350 pesos (about $26.) and a portion of the sales went to the organization. Here are a couple of photos of the amazing wall of art.

350.org

Today is the International day of climate action. People are speaking out all over the world in different ways. Take a minute to check it out if you can here and at 350.org

A to Z Flower Book

Here's the book all put together with the cover and a bit of ribbon on the binder ring. For the cover I used a piece of scrapbook paper.

Flower Book Spread

Here's my little book all fanned out. The pages are held together with a binder ring.

Flower Book Unassembled

The Society for Calligraphy had their 35th anniversary party today and I wanted to make something for the silent auction. So, I started this little 3x3 book idea I had at 8pm last night. Talk about procrastination! Anyway, I stopped at 3:30am and got up early and finished it at 9:30 this morning for the 11am party. I guess $75 was too high so nobody bid on it : ( I'm going to give a monetary donation to the society and keep my little book!

Friendship

The Deborah Award was created and bestowed on me by my friend Ces , brilliant artist, writer, thinker, friend, human. It warms my heart and is a great honor to receive. I am passing it on to my deserving and very good friends, Renee and Xandra. As well as being amazing artists, they both embody courage, faith and hope and I love them.

Lisa and Misha

I did this painting for my good friend Lisa. Lisa and her family adopted Misha when she was a young dog. Often dogs that are pets of homeless people become hyper vigilant about protecting their master. This was the case with Misha which made her unpredictable and a biter. Trainers told Lisa to put Misha down, that she would never be a good family pet. Lisa was dedicated to rehabilitating Misha and providing a good home for her. Through patience, love and determination, from Lisa and Misha, she was able to relax into being the beautiful, sweet dog that she was always meant to be.

New Journal Page 2

Here's the right page of the journal. I kept trying to think of funny outrageous things but out came serious thoughts as well.

New Journal Page

I just finished this page for a member of the journal round robin group I'm in. Debbie's a very inspiring artist and coming up with something to fit her "Outrageous" theme really made me s-t-r-e-t-c-h. I didn't realize how much I think inside the box until this challenge came along!
(By the way, all but 2 of the letters here are suspended on metal springs : )

Sticks and Brushes

In an effort to come up with new menu ideas, I used a stick to quickly letter the first example, then a brush for
the second one.

Menu

I did the calligraphy and layout for this menu for a client of Mindy Weiss . It is a variation on copperplate calligraphy.

Flourishes

I had fun playing
with the flourishes
on this card to create
one cohesive shape.
I chose a highly
textured paper making
it that much harder
to do!

Sugar Paper Holiday Mailer

I was asked to do this style of writing for the Sugar Paper holiday mailing this year. I've not really done a layout like this with the flourishes extending off the card. The "kindly deliver to" was pressed in white on the face of the envelope with the addressee below.I love the way it came out in letterpress!

Animal Journal Page

The finished journal page with a title and quote added.

Mocha & Maddie

Here's a painting I just did of my two rabbits on the couch. It's the beginning of an entry in another artist's journal. I will be adding some lettering, but first I have to think of something to write!

Wedding Vows

I just today completed this job for a client. He is giving it to his wife for their anniversary. The lemon watercolor addition to the piece represents the lemon groves in Ravello, Italy.

The textured paper the client wanted presented a slight challenge with the calligraphy. Thankfully he chose a style I call antique italic, which has rough edges and some broken lines, so it worked out fine for the look I was trying to achieve.

Once again, I had a great time doing the painting!

Watercolor Lemon Branch

Here's a close-up of the little watercolor painting at the top of the vows. It's less than 2 inches square! The couple visited Ravello, Italy which is nestled among lemon groves.

Plant Journal

This is the journal page I created using the gestural calligraphy to which I was recently introduced. The journal's theme is plants so this was perfect for my Lotusland pictures!

Gestural Writing

I recently took a class on gestural writing from the wonderful and talented Yves Leterme. This style of writing has a different flow and energy than what I usually do. It's hard but fun and I'm going to keep practicing!

Lotusland

Lotusland is an amazing 37 acre botanical gardens located in Santa Barbara, California. There are 26 different gardens there! It was incredible to see such rare and exotic plants.

Rook Script

I just received this photo from my client Lucy. She wanted to show me how the envelopes I had calligraphed for her and her fiance Matt looked with the vintage postage they chose to use. They selected stamps that relate in some way specifically to each invitee. Great idea and I love the way they look with the Rook style calligraphy.

Calligraphy

Here's more letter play!

Alaska Lettering

I just had to play around with writing Alaska!

Alaska

Usually I just post artwork or calligraphy, but I couldn't resist sharing some pictures from my recent trip to Alaska. It was so beautiful! And, after all, my blog is titled Art, Lettering and Life! So this was my life last week.
On our way to Skagway, there were many waterfalls we could see from the ship.

Looking back to where we came from in Skagway from Glacier Point.

After a motor boat trip from Skagway to Glacier Point, a bus ride and a short hike, we arrived to where our canoe awaited. We hopped in (carefully!) then paddled to the Davidson glacier which you can see in the distance.

Approaching Glacier Bay via Icy Strait I was awestruck by the vastness and the beauty.

Another
gorgeous
view of
Glacier Bay.

Baby Announcement

This is a new birth announcement designed by Sugar Paper incorporating my calligraphy. I really think their design aesthetic is lovely.

Note from the Heart

I just completed these journal pages for the round robin journal group I'm in. The theme of this journal is Notes from the heart of a woman. I had a hard time getting started but once I got into it I enjoyed it. I continually grapple with trying to be less reserved in my art. I like that I played with stronger color and pattern. I can't wait to see what happens when I really let go!

Violet

I think this is my first commission in watercolor! I was hired to do this as a baby gift. I'm having a great time painting and so wish I could devote more time to it strictly for pleasure. Ah well, I will continue my efforts
to better balance my work and play time.

Blossom

Here's a new journal page in a book with the theme of transformation. I really enjoy doing watercolor! This inspired me not only to think about myself as related to change and growth, but now I want to take a watercolor class.

Playful

Just playing around with some fun lettering on an anniversary card for my dear friend.

Dream

I saw this cabinet door put out for trash pick-up and thought it had potential for some kind of art project. When I turned it horizontally, it reminded me of a head board for a bed. My friend Lisa came up with the line "Dream your dreams come true", which I loved. I did a calculated layout for my dreams, then fairly spontaneously did the lettering for the quote. Very fun!

Dream Piece close-up

Things That Fly

I just finished these two journal pages for the round robin journal group. This is for my friend Renee's book and the theme of her journal is "Things That Fly". This was a challenge because I really wanted to do something unexpected. I used The Wizard of Oz for inspiration. I remember loving how the movie went from sepia to vibrant color. I rarely draw or paint, so I really had
fun with this!

This picture features white
calligraphy on a deep navy
envelope. It is from a
photo shoot for
Sugar Paper
and will be used to
advertise their new
invitation and stationery
catalogs. I enjoy using
light gouache on a dark color because the affect is usually very striking.

Mirror Frame Lettering

I was hired to calligraph
26 quotes on this 4x6 " framed
mirror. The quotes are from a
class of ten year olds and they are
going to auction off the mirror as
part of their school fundraiser. It
was sure physically challenging
having to work on it on the ground.
With acrylic paint I used a brush for
the large words and a flat edge pen for the smaller copy.

Mirror Frame Close-ups

Festival Poster

This fabulous poster was
designed and illustrated by
Jeff Holtzman (my brother!).
He incorporated my lettering
into the design.
I think we make a pretty
good team.

Ethnically Diverse Garden

Here's a new
journal two page
spread I created
for one of the artists
in our group.

Journal Page

These are two of the pages I just completed for a journal group. The journal now goes to New Mexico for another artist to add his work. Then from there on to 16 more people. It will be exciting to see the finished book with everybody elses art!

Business Card

I designed and calligraphed this name for business stationery. The business card will be white on black, while the letterhead and envelope will be black on white.

Addressing Samples

These are just few examples. Check my
style sheet for some
more options.

HBO Miniseries Title

This was a proposed title treatment for the HBO miniseries Rome.

Bat Mitzvah Invitation

A recent letterpressed invitation for a client.

Calligraphy Styles

Painting & Lettering

For this client,
they wanted a
Hawaiian feel
incorporated with
the calligraphy.
The lettering and
the painting is
all done in gouache.

Decorative Letter

The San Fernando Regional chapter
of the Society for Calligraphy
created an alphabet together.
My contribution is the letter "B"

Wedding Invitation

This is an
invitation I did for
Brenda Himmel Stationery
in Santa Monica
using a variation of
copperplate script.

Academy Awards Calligraphy

I just completed calligraphy work for both Chanel and Vanity Fair for their Academy Award parties. It was a bit insane to work for both companies for 4 events in a four day period! I've posted samples of the calligraphy done on their seating cards. Both clients were quite pleased!

Chalkboard Menu

This is the first time I've done any art or lettering professionally on a chalkboard. At first I thought I could use actual chalk but soon realized I couldn't have the kind of fine control over my letters with a crude piece of chalk. I found out about chalk markers and then had a blast playing with fonts and colors! The board is being used by Bent on Coffee in their Thousand Oaks coffee house.

Collage Tag

I was supposed
to be working
on seating cards
but I created
a collaged tag
for my friend Renee
instead! Her gift is
a gift certificate at
a fabulous store in
Pasadena called
Zinnia!