ALESIA ZORN CALLIGRAPHY & ENGRAVING

Happy February 14th!

Oh sure, I bet you think this is a sappy lovey-dovey post - and it is, just not for Valentine's Day.  Today is the 158th anniversary of Oregon's statehood.  The state motto?  "Alis volat propriis" - "She Flies With Her Own Wings."

I do love this state - and I've had a few places to compare to.  I was born in Virginia, grew up in Massachusetts, moved to South Carolina for 7 years, lived for a year in Seattle - so I KNOW I belong in Portland, OR, The City of Roses.

My part of the state is, according to climatologists, a rainforest.  

 It's so lush and verdant (there's your big word for the day!)  We have humid-free summers, temperate winters (although this one has been a rude reminder of New England life).  The people are nice, even for a big city.  

 

Here, coffee is a god and there's a temple on every corner!  My favorite temple, and my office, is Tiny's Coffee on NE MLK.

 

 

Within 90 minutes, I can be at the coast to the west...

or a snowy mountain top to the east...  This is Timberline Lodge.  Look familiar?  It served as the exterior for The Overlook Hotel from Kubrick's The Shining.  Yes, Oregon is THAT cool.

So, Happy Anniversary, Oregon!  You're my Valentine every day of the year!

What I did on my summer vacation - and the year before that

It's been a busy couple of years, I'm happy to be getting my breath back!

From July 2015 to 2016, I was president of IAMPETH, the International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting (thank heavens for acronyms!)  When I got into the succession line up in 2013, we had about 500 members and 200 people at the convention.  By the end of July 2016, we had almost 1800 members and 300 signed up for the convention which was held here in Portland, Oregon.  It was quite the job but fortunately I had some good people in my corner and I learned A LOT.  I also met calligraphers from around the world and that experience was priceless!

The most visible part of my job was the convention - and what a convention it was! 

(Logo by Skyler Chubak) 

 

It was a fantastic week - we had over 100 people who volunteered their time for everything from stuffing swag bags to providing excellent instruction to the attendees.

Speaking of stuffing swag bags, here's a tip if you're ever in charge of this...get them all hopped up on sugar.  Voodoo Doughnuts comes in very handy!

Yes, the doughnuts come in a 4-foot coffin.  The coffin is now home to all my leadership roles :-)

 

Besides bringing in local color via doughnuts, I kept it coming by having Portland's much beloved Unipiper open the convention.  

  "Are those bagpipes shooting flames?" you ask?  Of course, why wouldn't they???

Here's my brush with fame - me on the left, the Unipiper and my dearest friend, Heather Victoria Held.  Heather is an incredible artist, a warm and giving instructor and I would have lost my mind without her.

 

During the week we had 15 classes that covered a wide spectrum of the lettering arts...

Here's just a couple ideas of what we covered... these fantastic door signs were done by Schin Loong of Openinkstand Calligraphy.  These were PERFECT!  

 

 

I even got a sign for my most frequented view...

 

A highlight every year is the Archive Room.  There are amazing samples of lettering, flourishing,and engrossing from the past 150 years.

It was a wonderful and exhausting week!  A million thanks to JP Panter of Thistle Creek Studio.  She is wildly talented and extremely generous to agree to photograph our wild,wacky time.

And a thousand million thanks to everyone who came to the Wild West for the party.  You'll never know how much it meant to me!

 

Long time no see!

Hello!  I can't believe it's been so long since my last blog post.  My plans were to resurrect this on the High Holy Day of National Handwriting Day but several "life events" got in the way... that led me to think of this quote from Robert Burns, whose birthday is January 25th so it seemed THIS was destined to be the day!

What have I been doing for the past 2 years?  Working on the usual. Working on new things.  And, holy cats, a massive job of being president of an international lettering organization that grew like one of those little capsules you drop in water and it grows 10 times its size to become a spongy dinosaur.  As president, I also threw a convention for 286 of my peers.  There'll be more on that in a future post, but for now, here's my graphite homage to Robert Burns.  It was either this, or make haggis for dinner - I feel I chose wisely.  

Happy Handwriting Day!!

It's John Hancock's birthday, which means it's also National Handwriting Day!  Last year, I sat down to write a grocery list and here's what happened...

For my regular handwriting, I use 2 different styles.  The top sample is based on the Palmer method, what the nuns taught me, but the years have brought some variations.  The lower sample is Italic handwriting, something I learned when I moved to Portland, OR.  Which style I do depends on the day, the need, my mood.

While there can be firm members in each camp - loop vs. no loop - I'm not picky.  Whatever your day, need or mood, pick up a pen!!

This year, I'm practicing what I preach - no grocery list, I'm writing some letters!

 

 

Adventures in Engraving

This year, I was lucky enough to receive an invite to be a vendor at Distillery Row's Black Friday event.

 

Distillery Row is a collective of craft distillers in the Portland area.  My, oh, my... marionberry vodka, cranberry liqueur, rye whiskey, cherry whiskey (makes an excellent hot toddy if you feel something coming on, I'll write you a prescription), gin, aquavit... really, it was fantastic.

 

Besides the distillers, there were other superstars of the Portland food & beverage scene... here I'm engraving on bottle of Serrano Ginger Lemongrass sauce from Marshall's Haute Sauce.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nom, nom, nom... had to buy a jar of my own because...um...not to would be rude.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

Among other things, I engraved a bottle of vodka for Portland rock royalty and he would have been the highlight of this post if I hadn't met McKenzie and Drew.   This darling engaged couple brought this bottle of rum to my table for me to engrave.  They're opening it on their wedding day, then saving the awesome shaped bottle as a keepsake.  They were so cute and excited, I loved hearing about their wedding plans why I was engraving, it gave me a great case of warm & fuzzies - and this is why I LOVE my job.

Thanks to Cindy Rosen of Encore Events for being my own coordinator and C.F.O. for the day - as well as taking photos!

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The Next Big Thing - Engraving!

The Next Big Thing - Engraving!

I'm officially adding a new weapon to my arsenal... a high speed engraver.  Seriously.  High speed, think dentist drill.  I'm now engraving on glass and metal and my "coming out party" is at Distillery Row's Black Friday Event.  Below you see some of the tasty, tasty items that will be for sale from our famed Portland artisan distillers.  Then I'll engrave all of your Christmas presents!

Come join me at the Melody Ballroom on Black Friday, do your Christmas shopping and have a wonderful time!

As always, a million thanks to the generous and fandamntastic Paul Rich for the photos.  He was the recipient of a couple of these bottles but that doesn't begin to pay him back for his awesomeness in willing shooting GLASS items!

1960s grooviness

I had TOOOOO much fun with these envelopes for a 1960s party - and how kind of the post office to have Janis Joplin stamps available!

This is for a long term client who hires me every year to work on her husband's birthday party.  She always has such creative ideas and lets me cut loose, I appreciate that more than I can say!  Lettering is done with Sakura flourescent Gelly Roll pens.

Out of Africa

I was recently asked to participate in a table/room scape with some of my favorite local vendors.  Cindy of Encore Events spearheaded our lovely, vintage, Out of Africa theme with ideas, expertise and product from Botanica Floral Design and Kara of Peter Corvallis Productions.  I provided seating cards, place cards and the table # on a darling little plate.  As always, a million thanks to Paul of Paul Rich Studio for making my work look so good!

This job ROCKS!!

Hahahaha - I slay me.

These cuties are heading out to serve as place cards/favors at a garden party this weekend.  I adore the guys at Oregon Decorative Rock in Portland because they don't give me odd looks as I carefully hand pick rocks for texture, pattern & overall feel- or at least they don't let me catch them making the crazy signs next to their heads.

Janet & Charles - Happy Anniversary!

Very heart-felt happy anniversary wishes to one of my favorite couples!  Their fantastic wedding was travel themed as they met on a tour and they've traveled the world over. The venue was the incredible Youngberg Hill Vineyards and they were blessed with fabulous weather.  Their consultant was Amy of The Blush Bridal Consultation Group, always a pleasure to work with and wonderful at wrangling the many, many details of this wedding.  As you see, the whole thing was beautifully captured by Lauren Brooks Photography. 

The groom is Scottish (see the kilt & sporan?) and I was thrilled they picked Contemporary Celtic for the script for the day.

One of my favorite things about working with them was the careful thought they put into the comfort of their guests (that's the firm foundation of etiquette my friends).

It can get chilly in the evening and this party was definitely meant to go all night, so there were pashminas available to keep guests warm...

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and vintage handkerchiefs for the tears of joy.

 

 

 

 

The travel theme was carried through every aspect of the wedding - seating cards with compasses, table markers attached to globes, hand sewn programs... so many personal details for their wonderful day!