An Exhibit of Artwork by the Members of  the Philadelphia Calligraphers’ Society

2007 Call For Entries:
Rhythms of Nature

About the Exhibit

This year's PCS exhibit, The Artful Letter, will be hosted by Briar Bush Nature Center in Abington, Pennsylvania, during the month of September. Briar Bush Nature Center is one of the largest nature educators in the Delaware Valley, helping families and individuals learn about the environment through a variety of programs and a beautiful nature trail that winds through woodland and meadow. The PCS exhibit will be in the center's upstairs gallery, which can accommodate framed and three-dimensional work.

The theme for the 2007 exhibit is Rhythms of Nature. Although we won't exclusively reject submissions that don't include a nature theme, we strongly encourage you to use nature as a springboard for your creativity for the exhibit. After all, nature as a subject is pretty wide open!

Judging

Four jurors will select works for the exhibit. Entries will be judged for excellence in both letterform construction and overall design and craftsmanship. The jurors will designate awards for general entries and a "First Flourish," for beginners' work. Please give careful consideration to the presentation of your artwork. In the past, good pieces have been reluctantly rejected because of smudges and smears on mats, visible guidelines, badly cut mats and poorly crafted or inappropriate frames. If your artwork is not selected, exhibit volunteers will rewrap it and contact you as to when and where you can pick it up.

This Year's Jurors

Carole Maurer

Carole Maurer is a calligrapher who does commission work and teaches privately in her Wynnewood home. She has studied calligraphy at the Philadelphia College of Art and at the Calligraphy Workshop of The New School in New York City, where she earned a Certificate in Calligraphy. After her artwork was published in the Calligraphers Engagement Calendar, she joined the Calendar team, first as Production Assistant and later as Co-Editor with Eleanor Winters until 2004. Carole is a “graduate” of the Hermann Zapf Master Class at the Rochester Institute of Technology and the year-long Reggie Ezell Class. She has also completed several week-long classes with Sheila Waters. Although Carole is proficient in the major hands, italic and pointed pen scripts are her favorites. She also enjoys bookbinding and is a member of Bound Together, a local book arts group. As a teacher, Carole says, “my greatest joy is in seeing my students progress and gain confidence and proficiency and the love of letters.”

Leslie Coren

Leslie Coren, of Villanova, is a calligrapher and product designer who currently creates and hand-produces stationery, invitations and announcements. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in English. Her artistic pursuits have taken her from conducting freelance product research for Lenox Collections and the Franklin Mint to starting a small cottage company designing and manufacturing hand-beaded, neo-Victorian picture frames. Her picture frames have appeared in Victoria's Secret stores from San Francisco to New York, the Gallery of Wearable Art in New York, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, the Beverly Hills Hotel, Trimingham's of Bermuda and many other boudoir, bridal and gift stores in the United States and abroad. In 1989, she won the Philadelphia Dresses the World award for creativity in giftware and accessories. Leslie was awarded first place in the PCS 2006 exhibit for her embossed and raised gold leaf work "Honest Man or Thief."

Carol and Edwin Nagel

The Nagels are both Abington artists; Carol in watercolor and egg tempura/watercolor, and Edwin in watercolor. Carol holds a BFA in painting from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University; Edwin earned a BFA from the University of New Mexico and an MFA from Tyler/Temple. Edwin taught art and art history at Abington High School, where he met and married Carol, who was one of his students. Because of his interest in landscapes, Edwin has traveled extensively, spending many summers in Rockport and Gloucester, Mass., and visiting Mexico, Hawaii, Germany and New Mexico. He has had a number of solo and group shows. He also finishes his own frames, each frame designed for and inspired by the painting it holds. Carol is founder of a decorative painting business that produced murals and faux finishes. She returned to full-time painting in 2003, focusing on nature. She works in series, finding inspiration in her own photographs of trees, birds and insects.