art nouveau – Anachropsy

Chapels

I have been neglecting you lately, I apologise.
I’m posting on social networks because it’s quicker than describing my whole journey and taking the time to really address you here.
So a new message so that those who are not on those evil networks can see that I am still thinking of them.

These days I’m working on a commission from the town hall of Plouider, a small seaside town in Finistère. I like this township, they plant a tree for each birth in the township and asked me to calligraph the children’s names so that we can know which tree corresponds to whom. I did it last year and will do it again this year.

But today, it is another project: to calligraph 3 fragments of poems about the chapels and to put them around the Saint Fiacre chapel. The order is to do it on slate, it’s up to me to choose how.
So I decided to use Art Nouveau lettering and acrylic paint on large 40x40cm slates. The advantage is that I will be able to use the same layout for the 3 poems and thus have a unity of treatment that I would have had more difficulty in obtaining with another writing.

Here is the first text, a french translation of Shakespeare.

And whilst I’ve got your attention, I’d like to talk about something completely different. I have been selected to participate in the Write on the Edge International Calligraphy Conference in Sonoma, USA, next summer, and as part of that I have just answered a number of questions about my practice. You can find the transcript of this conversation here. And if you want to register for the courses, you can find the description of my two contributions here and there.

WIFI code & contest

I have fun with lettering and after my supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, I wanted to do something else without really knowing what.

And then I thought that this kind of lettering, not necessarily easy to decipher, could be useful. You’re tired of not remembering your passwords or your wifi code but you don’t want to display them too obviously? I can write them down for you!

As an example, here is a wifi code containing 8 lowercase letters, 9 uppercase letters, 2 special characters, 4 numbers and 3 latin abbreviations.

The first person to give me the right transcription as a comment on my french blog (go to the bottom of the page : https://cutt.ly/6WrOP1X) will receive the original of this code as well as a small filigree letter with the initial of his choice.

And to help you even more, here is a version of the same code without the decoration.

need glasses ?

To answer this question, you can test yourself with this Monoyer chart (it’s the french version of the Snellen chart) in Art Nouveau style.

As usual, I couldn’t help but put filigrees on it

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

In honor of World Calligraphy Day, a new version of the famous Mary Poppins word.

I should have chozen a shorter one, this one is difficult to show in one picture, here is a version cut in 2, a bit bigger. The actual size is 1.5cm for the letters.

Evening gold

Personal interpretation of the first lines of the novel Vol de Nuit by Antoine de Saint Exupéry, in Art Nouveau lettering, watercolour and gilding on paper.

Late Valentine

I shared this before the fateful date on social networks but I didn’t take the time for those of you who are not affiliated with it.

So I’m fixing my mistake, with a little delay.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

As Mary Poppins said…

And here is a new version of this beautiful word.

Also, the occasion for me to announce a new online course on Art Nouveau, again based on the lettering of the magazine VER SACRUM.

This course will be online and in English on February 6 and 7, 2021.

Gravity, give it back to the weight of the earth…

Fourth and last version of my fragment of Rainer Maria Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus that I was telling you about here.
The first inked version does not satisfy me so I changed for an intaglio lettering for the original version and a very small and elongated version for the French translation.

All this is done on watercolor paper, iron gall ink and Prussian blue.

Workshop

It’s becoming a habit, I create course certificates for the people who attend my courses.
Here is a view of the attestations for the trainees of this weekend on Art Nouveau.

Layout and Art Nouveau

There are still a few places left for this weekend’s class in the workshop.
It will be dedicated to Art Nouveau and composition.
As an example of what will be covered during this course, some pictures of a work in progress on a fragment of Rilke’s Sonnets at Orpheus.

first pencil version

second version reworked for justification

third version in ink, first draft of the final version without the decoration

If you are interested, you can still contact me 🙂