Friday, September 14, 2012

Flourish Friday - IAMPETH Reflections: The Fundamentals of Flourishing with Jake Weidmann

I spent day four of IAMPETH in Jake Weidmann's class: The Fundamentals of Flourishing.  Bill Kemp (on right) introduces Jake to the class.

Jake is the  most recent person designated as a Master Penman by IAMPETH.  Although young in years,  I feel he's an old soul when it comes to respecting the Golden Age of Penmanship.  He has studied and knows the fundamentals, but his skill goes way beyond the fundamentals.  


Jake wanted us to try flourishing as the penmen of old. That meant throwing the strokes away from your body using a straight penholder.  To help prepare us for throwing strokes, he had us practice with a pencil.  The goal was to freely throw long strokes that we wouldn't be able to accomplish by pulling with an oblique holder.

Then we moved on to ink with the nib in a straight holder. (Lord, help me!)  I felt as though I was using my other hand; it was incredibly awkward for me.  Jake encouraged us to keep the entry and exit of the strokes feathery.  In order to do this successfully, he wanted us to start the stroke motion before the pen  hits the paper and continue the stroke after the pen has left the paper.

It will definitely take more practice before I feel comfortable throwing strokes, but I have to say there is more life and freedom in throwing strokes. You can also work much larger by throwing the strokes.  In the photo above, the two plumes on top I threw with a straight holder.  The feather and plume on the bottom,  I pulled with an oblique holder.  Although the strokes are less wobbly, the bottom two seem tighter and more contrived.

After lunch, Jake taught us his method for creating a bird resting in its nest.  We used a pencil to rough in the areas for the different elements.

My bird! :)

Jake's lovely work on screen.

 A copy of Jake's feather was made available to the students. Yay!

 Jake's gorgeous work - Love his capital C and the capital B on "Because"

More of Jake's incredible work.

This is a note my tablemate and friend, Glenda Swan, passed to me during class. :) 
I couldn't agree more!  Jake is extremely gifted and talented, including being an excellent and fun instructor. If you have the opportunity to study from him, seize it!

Visit Jake's website by CLICKING HERE.

Thank you for visiting.
Go forth and flourish!

5 comments:

  1. Jane, Thanks for sharing your experiences from IAMPETH. Your work is wonderful. I am very impressed with your bird:) So lovely and elegant.

    I love to read about the instructors and events, especially since I have never been able to attend. It just falls at the wrong time of the year for me.

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  2. Beautiful work, Jake's and yours, too! I am a bit envious of all that talent! Have a great weekend. p.s. The mysterious 'package' has been revealed on my blog. :-)

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  3. Great post Jane!!! Looks like flourishing magic!

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  4. Jake is truly amazing! In a league all his own. What a treat for you to study with him. I can see, from what you have shown from the week, you learned quite a bit at the conference! xo~

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  5. You are so fortunate to have studied with him. His work is almost magical. I would probably "throw" the pen across the room. Bucky watch out! Beautiful work, Jane.

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