Tag Archives: letter writing

Dear Doris….

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Remember Doris from the previous post… you know, the woman who was chucking things in a skip? Well, there’s a letter on its way to her… and relates to this post: How to Make Money from Art

May 2007

Dear Doris,

I am so sorry to hear that you have been suffering lately. Divorce can be a painful, bitter experience that can leave a person feeling bruised, empty, worthless, rejected, and insecure. May I suggest that you enrol on one of my visionary workshops?
All of my workshops encourage personal enrichment and spiritual enhancement, and are specifically designed to bring harmony where there is discord, faith where there is doubt, and hope when you’re feeling nothing but despair.
For your specific needs I am pleased to recommend: How to Express the Sound of a Vacuum Cleaner through the Medium of Paint – no previous artistic ability necessary! This workshop is person-centred and proactively designed to stimulate the development of personal empowerment. On completion of this workshop 92% of participants report an increase in general wellbeing, confidence, and light-headedness, and all participants are entitled to a 5% discount* on any further workshops offered by the Viridian Venus.
The next presentation of this workshop will be on Saturday 16th June at the Viridian Venus Gallery from 12 noon to 5pm, a deposit of £150 will be required in advance to secure your placement, and a further £150 on the day. Refreshments will be provided, but please bring your own vacuum!!

Look forward to seeing you soon!

Your friend,

Moonchild

*Early Bird Rate – Full payment 30 days in advance to claim discount.

I have been trying to write this letter out in copperplate on Crown Mill textured paper. It is lovely paper, but it does hinder my flow. It’s a slog to be honest, so I might scrap this…

copperplate-letter-writing-uk

….and write it out in modern calligraphy. One of the reasons I started this project was to help me determine which of my hobbies I prefer, would it be creative writing, or calligraphy? I only have so much time and I’d like to dedicate myself to just one major hobby. My feeling is that creative writing wins….SO… I will continue with these letters…. but they might all be in modern calligraphy – far quicker, and less soul-destroying. I have decided that I loathe my copperplate!

I am feeling sad. Sad about lots of things. It’s okay. My parents were whipped into hospital at the weekend. For the past few years they’ve had ongoing medical issues causing them to be regularly admitted to hospital. I feel like a useless daughter. Perhaps I need a life affirming workshop?

Loopy Letters – The Journey Continues….

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“What have you done to the Loopy Letters website?” Screamed Charmaine via a text message.
I sighed, and tossed my iPhone into a nearby plant pot.
“Too much faff”, I muttered to myself.
It was okay for Charmaine and her modern ways, she was, at this very moment, sunning herself in the South of France and languishing in luxury on the proceeds of her inky misdeeds. I knew this because she had plastered the evidence all over her Instagram account. I, on the other hand, was staring through a grubby window at the relentless Devon murk and was questioning my commitment to the Loopy Letter project.

Question 1

How many letters have I actually written since November?

a) 20
b) None
c) 100
d) 1000
e) French

Question 2

Why have I written so much?

a) Calligraphy is my lifeblood; I live to sling ink, it is all that I know, without calligraphy I would be a withered husk of a person. Calligraphy is the only thing keeping me alive; every morning I skip to my studio as though I am skipping through a dewy meadow strewn with daisies and buttercups with nothing else on my mind other than letter formation and the universal line of beauty; life would be meaningless without letters…blah, blah, blah, etc, etc….

b) I had nothing else to do.

Question 3

More pertinently, why have I written so little??????

a) Sigh. Do I really have to answer this?
b) It was Winter.
c) Christmas happened.
d) My boiler broke down.
e) It was very cold and my hand fell off.

Question 4

Do I still intend to complete the Loopy Letter Project?

a) Yes!!! Yay!!! Can’t wait to get on with it!!! My nibs are poised and ready to blast off!!! Go me!! #girlboss.
b) Yeah, go on then.
c) Yes. I have closed down the Loopy Letters website and moved it to Wonky Words so that I am more accountable regarding moving the project along.

After questioning my commitment to the Loopy Letters project I decided that I would write a blog post to let those who were waiting expectantly by their letter boxes know exactly what was going on. It was only fair. I also decided to post some pictures of one of my failures… just so they’d know I’d been trying….

copperplate-calligraphy-on-crown-mill-paper-letter-writing-project-uk

Well, that doesn’t look so bad….

calligraphy-spelling-mistake-in-copperplate-calligraphy-devon-uk

Ah…. didn’t see that coming…

Right, I’m off now to skip through the daisies….

Where is my Loopy Letter?

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Where is your Loopy Letter?

….I hear you ask. Fear not, it will turn up eventually. I have been having a harsh Winter due having no central heating and therefore I have not been able to get on as I would like. Also, I have been navel gazing and pontificating over how I’d like to present these letters… I know, you just want to receive one in the damn post, preferably in an envelope with your address emblazoned on the front, but, I was thinking that perhaps I should include a certificate of authenticity??? I then I forgot about writing Loopy Letters and started fannying about designing a simple certificate to go with the non-existent letters…
It will all come good. Promise. Also, I really enjoy making these….

collage-with-calligraphy-story-postcard-thingy-uk

Weird collage thing….

…so some people may receive one of these.

Other Letters

Although I am very behind [still at the starting gates!] with the Loopy Letters, I have been taking part in exchanges with other calligraphers. I generally practice writing an address on my Rhodia pad before writing it for real on the envelope – just to see how all the letters fit together. What bugs me is that my practice piece is often more fluid than my final version. I think this relates to my ongoing performance anxiety. This is the lively practice piece…

calligraphy-practice-on-rhodia-pad-for-addressing-envelope-uk

My jaunty practice piece….

….full of bounce and attitude. And this is how the address turned out on the envelope….

cream-calligraphy-on-grey-envelope-addressing-service-for-weddings-and-events-UK

The ‘Oh my goodness someone might see me!’ final piece.

As soon as I know someone is going to see my work I become self-conscious and a lot of the jaunty attitude is lost. It’s something for me to work on, apart from the more I work on something the more self-conscious I become! Aargghh!

And Finally…

This is another major distraction and another reason why things are slow to happen in my world…

Parson-Russell-dog-distraction

Sid

This is my mad dog. His name is Sid. He needs 5 miles of walking every day. Currently he gets closer to 3 miles. EVERY DAY. Yes, I have been out in the harsh Winter weather, I have felt every biting wind on my face, and every dollop of snow on my head. Put it this way – I am not an outdoorsy sort of person, and each day when I return from my walk I collapse in a heap and I am fit for nothing. To be fair, what I have achieved so far is a flipping miracle.

Conclusion

I am still working on the Loopy Letter project!! I have not forgotten!! I have not given up!!!

A Letter of Complaint – Loopy Letter no. 1

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Istared at the flickering cursor on the screen, and wondered how to explain my first Loopy Letter to my legion of fans. Perhaps I should remain mute and allow the letters to speak for themselves, as letters and words so often do. I doubted that further advice from me would be of assistance, and what was the big deal about having to explain everything anyway? I have always liked nonsense.

I could perhaps include a few photographs, a glimpse of my scribblings….

calligraphy-cursive-loopy-letter-1-UK

A letter of complaint….

…and perhaps I could tell my faithful readers that the letters are related to the now infamous ramblings about bottles on the Wonky Words blog. I chewed my lip as I thought about this confession. Some readers would turn away from this post in despair wishing that I would just let it go; they were perplexed enough by the posts about bottles of greed, and other deadly sins, how could they possibly cope with 100 letters in a similar vein?

I sighed. It was Tuesday afternoon and I really should have published something by now. The first Loopy Letter was complete with its own envelope; I had taken my reader over a decade back in time to 2006, to when the first bottle came into existence. It had been a turbulent time for all those around me, for my friends, relations, and especially my neighbours. I had been renting a tiny mid-terrace cottage in Mogwash, no. 2 Owl View….

casual-modern-calligraphy-used-for-a-letter-of-complaint

A letter of complaint….

Coming Next Week….

Loopy Letter no.2 – Who is Taramind Dewhurst??? Also, the possibility of copperplate in colour. Perhaps there will be gold, and maybe I will sign off with a flirtatious flourish. Or maybe the letter will be black and white and read all over. Groan.