Publishing Zines

A Zine is a Do-It-Yourself magazine. Over the last 17 years I published 22 Zines. My first Zine had my art techniques and I swapped Zines with other artist book makers. 

My last Zine was about my ten days in Paris and contained internet links plus 53 photos - Mon Dieu!

My first Zine was cut and paste. After that, I used my home word processor, then my computer & printed book-style.

Zines are printed in small editions. I received Zines in swaps from Alaska to Hawaii, and practically all 50 states. Some had advertising, contributors or held interviews with other artists.

Starting with my second Zine, each one had the following:

• Table of Contents
• Workshop Review
• Swap Stuff
• My Carvings
• A Poem (of my own)
• Calligraphy
• Art Book Review

My Zine 10 had instructions and a sample book for a Japanese binding technique, the Tortoise Shell Stitch.

In Zines 13 to 16 - I issued “An Invitation” - to share my interests, my calligraphy, my print carving, and my artwork. Sound familiar? Kind of like this blog.

I contributed an article: Mining for Creativity, a workshop review to L.K. Ludwig’s first Zine, called Memory & Dream in 1999. You can buy her 2008 art journaling book here: https://www.amazon.com/True-Vision-Authentic-Art-Journaling/dp/1592534260

Teesha Moore produced and authored professional Zines for more than 10 years - with advertising, many articles and pictures. They were inspiring! Some of her Zines are still for sale on her Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/teeshamoore  

In 2008, Zine 17: Zine Creation has zine-making instructions. I taught 22 people how to make a Zine at The Printing Museum in Houston; in April 2009 I taught 30 Austin Book Workers - who now have the Austin Book Arts Center - at DOMY Books - now Farewell Books - in Austin. 

Shameless Plug: You may want to Subscribe to my Blog (upper right side) - to know about a future blog that will have my full instructions for making your own Zine. 

The Houston Zine Fest 2016: at The Lawndale Art Center on Saturday, November 19th, from 2:00 to 8:00 pm. Support Zinesters! Check their website for future dates: https://zinefesthouston.org
If you read this far, please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

David Jones Lettering

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

By Anne Rita Taylor

I won a Scholarship in 2012 from the Houston Calligraphy Guild. I knew I had to do a meeting presentation at HCG within the year which is a requirement of winning.

By David Jones

While I was working full time I found an online class from an Australian Calligrapher, Gemma Black, on David Jones Lettering, which I had never attempted. David Jones (1895-1974) a poet and calligrapher from England, wrote a page of calligraphy as if he were painting a picture.

By David Jones

David Jones combined Latin, Greek and English. “Exit Edictum" comes from the account of Christ’s birth in St. Luke’s Gospel. Along the left side: “I am Redit Apollo” comes from Virgil’s Fourth Eclogue (selection). Jones preferred colored backgrounds and lettering in colors.

Gemma’s workshop consisted of three lessons, the first two had four exercises each. My letters were written with colored pencils and nibs. Annotating what I wrote with and wrote on was a new experience for me to record what worked and what did not.

We emailed back and forth. Gemma gave me good suggestions on my first attempts and I had hope that I could improve with more practice. Writing on a ground of white acrylic paint was a fun learning experience!

For my Houston Calligraphy Guild presentation I penned my own Exemplar (A to Z) of David Jones Letters. I did not present any of Gemma’s calligraphy since attendees were taking photos and I wanted to preserve Gemma’s copyright protection.

My calligraphy on the cover of the 8 page books I made for each person at the Houston Calligraphy Guild presentation on May 2013. It was a full house with about 60 people attending!

A more recent alphabet I wrote in my journal.

I highly recommend Gemma Black’s teaching! I was lucky to meet her in person when she taught at the Legacies Calligraphy Conference in Dallas during July 2014. We had a lovely time at The Marriott Renaissance Hotel.

Please leave a Comment if you liked learning about David Jones Lettering!

Visual Art Journaling Techniques

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

I recently met with ladies in Houston who have a Visual Art Journaling group. It was fun to catch up and make art while visiting. My supplies included a 9 by 12 pad of 90 lb. paper by Strathmore, Golden Fluid Acrylic paints and old calendars. These paints come in squirt bottles. Densely pigmented, a little goes a long way; and they dry quickly. Art Journaling helps me to express my feelings while I am playing. 

I cut out images: a flower and a tiger. I squirted Green Gold directly on the paper painting with a one inch brush. I used my 3.8 mm Pilot Parallel pen and Uncial calligraphy for the quote by George Burns. On the next page I painted Yellow Oxide for the background leaving some white space and used a UHU glue stick to attach the tiger. I chose a 1.5 mm Pilot Parallel pen for the quote in Italic calligraphy.

I was working quickly while we talked for a couple of hours.  I cut out a turtle from an old calendar. For this background I painted Ultramarine Blue, lightened a bit with Winsor & Newton Permanent White gouache. My 3.8 mm Pilot Parallel pen was perfect with Italic calligraphy.

For my last page I cut out a seabird called a blue-footed booby and left in some of the rocks, water  and sky background. Using the Ultramarine Blue I lightened with Silver gouache paint by Pebeo. I used a 6.0 mm Pilot Parallel pen for the quote: I am my possibilities by Gabriel Marcel. 

The quotations are from a book by Richard Kehl, It Takes a Long Time to Become Young. I may add more collage elements or writing to each page. Visual art journaling is all about self expression, so we can see where it takes us.