What a fabulous year it has been! After many months of preparation, Casa Verna finally welcomed its first students in September. Amity, Ellen, and I were delighted to host 11 students and several of their partners in our house/art center in Umbria.
You’ve all read the stories about rebuilding a house in Italy or Provence. They often seem to be tales of disaster and distress. Not with us in Rapicciano. Our wonderful builder Narciso Piccioni (yes, you read it right: Narcissus the Dove) took us through the difficulties of restoring an ancient house with creativity and grace.
I am excited to announce that four new recorded courses have been added to the BrodyOnline teaching series. If you want to challenge yourself to create new and fascinating letterforms, these courses are for you. My “Wrong Letter” concept will push you outside your comfort zone and into a new zone of fun, play, and experiment.
I open my portfolio and share with you some of the works I have made in the last few years. You can look over my shoulder, ask questions, and hear my thoughts on how my collages, wrong letter compositions, and other works on paper are created. And of course, there are always more ideas than I can bring to completion.
Sediments. Layers. Fragments. Calling up memories, revealing hidden ideas, conjuring a work of art out of experience. This is what we do every day in the search for meaning in life. Collage is my way of channeling all this energy into my art. I do not begin with an idea or even a theme. I begin with a piece of Chinese rice paper, a brush, and a stretched piece of Rives. Matter, not mind.
Inspiration can come from things so close that we hardly notice them. Weeding the garden, for example. The exquisite tuft of grass at the center of this triptych, dried to a crisp by the Italian sun, demanded my attention. The sun had transformed its colors to a concert of dusty reds, gray ochers, and brilliant blood orange.
I am excited to announce that “Shaping Your Story” starts on September 5, 2022 on BrodyOnline. The course will run for four months, giving you the chance to go deeply into your story as you create a multi-faceted artist’s book.
Very special performance of “A Brush with Silence.” As bombs thunder down on innocent people, 15 calligraphers will sit quietly in an exquisitely beautiful chapel in Bruges and write words of peace in 15 different scripts and languages. We will be joined by 11 calligraphers around the world, brought to our performance by Zoom link.
All clothing is a social statement. So why not make it a social activity too? Here are the results of some fantastic collaborations with fellow calligraphers and students, showing the power of teamwork and the pleasure of creating art to wear. The first kimono on this virtual catwalk was created by the marvelous Veerle Missiaen and myself.
All clothing is a social statement. So why not make it a social activity too? Here are the results of some fantastic collaborations with fellow calligraphers and students, showing the power of teamwork and the pleasure of creating art to wear. The first kimono on this virtual catwalk was created by the marvelous Veerle Missiaen and myself.
