A couple of years ago I signed up for an online modern calligraphy tutorial offered by Lindsey Bugbee on her website The Postman’s Knock.  More than wanting to learn decorative lettering, I wanted to learn flourishing and calligraphic drawing.  I never got around to completing the course.  Until now!  In a lucky convergence of events, right before quarantine happened, my friend Amy put together and gave me an entire set of colored Windsor and Newton inks from her store Hello Good Morning in the Cargo Emporium. On top of that she gave a set of Kuretake Starry Colors metallic watercolors - turns out they are perfect for calligraphy. Brilliant timing, Amy!

Jump ahead to now. Everyday, since quarantine started, I try to put aside time to play with my inks and pens.  I practice my calligraphy and I work on drawing.  One corner of the kitchen counter has become my studio. So far my Mom hasn’t complained. Thanks to the The Postman’s Knock tutorials, I’ve also been learning to draw lace, another thing I always wanted to do! TPK also has a water color tutorial that I am dying to do.  One thing at a time. 

On top of all this, Lindsey Bugbee is nutty about mail art, and I’ve been totally inspired by her beautiful mail. Right on cue my nephew sent my mom and I a letter - the first letter I have received in a long time. I wrote back, and he wrote back, and I suddenly I’m a letter writing fool who’s obsessed with decorating envelopes.  Which brings us to my stamp obsession. You can’t have a dandy of an envelope without swell stamps. Since I was a kid I have loved stamps and collected them off the letters my friends and family would receive. I noticed Lindsey always put a number of stamps on her letters, many no longer available through the post office, and wondered where she got them.  That led me to discover Postage Stamp Studio on Etsy.  I was thrilled to received my order of terrific random uncanceled stamps. I chose stamps in red and blue color themes to start out with.  I also ordered Civilian Conservation Corp stamps to send a letter to my uncle because we both love the  amazing log construction the C.C.C.’s were responsible for in the 1930’s on the Metolius river in central Oregon.  To round out my order I threw in some old fashioned looking Herman Melville stamps which are going to look amazing with a black envelope.

Yesterday I tried my hand at my first calligraphic drawing. Artist Schin Loong, a legend in the calligraphy world, has a great tutorial for drawing a swan which you can find on The Postman’s Knock blog. The result was not terrible! I’m actually pretty pleased with my first try and I think I will try another one. Practice, practice, practice.

If you’d like, you can follow my progress on instagram @a.elliottmiller. 

Got to go, the postman is coming! 

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