Exploration 2015 at the Newberry Library

Each year, the Chicago Calligraphy Collective sponsors a juried art show at the famous Newberry Library in Chicago.  Although I have not yet had any pieces accepted, I had the privilege of serving on the jury this year.  It was a daunting task, given the quality and variety of the submissions.  There were five jurors working independently, but then coming together to create a consensus, which made the process go quite smoothly.

Saturday was the opening reception for the exhibit, and here are some images from the day.

 My friend Marge did a demo on illumination, which is the colorful decoration and gold leaf you see in the piece near the bottom of the photo.  That is a copy of her gorgeous piece "Anniversary Prayer" that was part of the exhibit this year.

This is another friend, Julie, demonstrating contemporary decorated letters.  She shared many fun techniques, which she made look easy!  Below is one of her pieces in the exhibit -- a whimsically decorated letter "J".

 As if lettering isn't difficult enough, my former teacher, Tim Botts, actually lettered on birch bark in this piece!  I don't know how he was able to keep the gouache in line!

 A current teach of mine, Reggie Ezell, did the piece below.  The colors and the gold leaf are magnificent, and this woman is obviously in awe.

 The lovely piece below was done by a former student of Reggie's, who came in from North Carolina to attend the reception.  Her name is Julia, and another piece that she did won the Newberry Purchase Prize this year.  That means she was awarded a cash prize, and her piece will be kept permanently in the Newberry collection.  Sorry, but I didn't get a picture of her winning piece.

As a juror, I also had a piece in the show.  Instead of submitting a calligraphy piece, I used one of my favorite nature photographs.  I can't show you a photo of it here, because the only photo we took of it is on my husband's cell phone!  I'm sure I've posted it somewhere on the blog in the past!