Star of Hope

Sending all of you around the world a message of Hope as December comes to a close. Many of you will be able to see friends and family in the coming weeks but others may find themselves on their own this season. If you find yourselves with some time on your hands, I filmed a little video that hopefully is simple to follow. My hope is that it brings you a sense of calm and peace during this season as well as a sense of accomplishment. Enjoy the process and let me know how you do! I hope to bring you more video tutorials in the New Year.

If you have time the last week of December and want to take a pencil class for drawing The Glittering Vines, registration will be open a few more days through the Pointed Pen Collective.  We will learn the pencil stage on December 29th and then illuminate and paint the beautiful border vines on January 19th. An earlier blog post explains a bit of my thinking about the pencil process. I really consider the peace that the process brings to me as I work though these special designs. 

Finally, I have had so many questions about Italian Hand. I will be teaching it online through Zoom early this year. My first offering will in January through The Hamilton Calligraphy Guild and registration is very limited for this two session course. If you email me at heather@heathervictoriaheld.com I can send you the registration info. I will also be teaching it through Zoom for Atlanta's Friends of the Alphabet Calligraphy Guild. Registration info is online. If you want to practice on your own from the resource that inspired my own version of Italian Hand, I recommend the inexpensive bool George Bickham's Penmanship Made Easy.

Pages 29 and 32 still make my heart skip a beat when I see the simplicity and beauty of the letterforms.

After dancing with Italian Hand for the past 10 years, it still brings me such a sense of delight and joy.

A truly lighthearted hand that allows you to play and investigate endless possibilities. As this year draws to a close, if we are watching the news closely, uncertainty and fear can easily creep into our minds. I can recover a sense of peace, calm and even hope as I pick up my pen, brush or pencil. So many of you have written to me through in emails, wonderful card,s and letters telling me the same thing. Chase hope this season dear friends. Nurture yourselves. Find a sense of calm and peace. The work you are creating with your own hands is leaving me speechless as I see you reach new heights. Keep going! From my heart to yours dear friends, have a beautiful season. I can't wait to to welcome the New Year with you.