I Don't Panic!

Today I've sworn off facebook and the news. I can't stand reading all the political ads & posts today so I've decided to focus on my long neglected blog. Yes, I have already voted.

This past weekend I attended a class given by Randall Hasson, artist and calligrapher from Sante Fe, New Mexico. The title of the class was, "The Layered Journal: Text and Texture". The purpose and goal of the class was to learn to add texture to flat surfaces, and experiment with how calligraphy works with texture. The class worked with several different Golden mediums, my favorite was the Matte Medium. This was a clear matte acrylic that could be put down on a journal page and, once dry, gone over with an acrylic wash to give the page a two toned texture effect. The picture below is an example of that.

The calligraphy is not mine. Randall offered to write anything in our journals that we wanted. I wanted the words, "Don't Panic" at the beginning of the journal. Randall started and didn't like the mark made so he turned it into the letter, "I". Kind of changed the meaning of the phrase. It went from a directive, "Don't Panic!" to a declarative, "I Don't Panic!", which sounds a lot braver to me. So I have this reminder at the beginning of my experimental journal that reminds me that I DO NOT PANIC. So I must remember, that I will create without fear.

Click here to visit Randall Hasson's website.