So golf clubs have become my latest fun thing to engrave for a few simple reasons. 1) The metal is predictable & easy to work with. (Unless it's graphite….no graphite please. It's very soft and messy compared to steel or titanium.) 2) Sparks emit from the club during engraving. Pretty spectacular to see actually. This golfer wanted his name on the upper portion of the shaft. I like it!
It is extremely difficult to get great pictures of the clubs due to the high level of reflection, but here we go!
As you know, this is one of my passions. Engraving brings a personal touch to the joy that will be found inside each bottle. During my last event, 73 bottles were engraved over the span of a 4 hour event! These were engraved to order as customers waited roughly 3-4 minutes/bottle. Next time, I look forward to engraving even more bottles. It was a ton of fun for myself and everyone involved. Cheers!
So anyone paying attention will notice that some of my work is of a different style from most other calligraphers in Houston. The difference that you see is called Spencerian calligraphy, which was the first American handwriting/calligraphy form started in the 1800's by Platt Rogers Spencer. This writing form evolved into a fancier form called Ornamental Penmanship. The greatest talent known for Ornamental Penmanship during the Golden Age was Louis Madarasz. As his family was exiled from Hungary, Madarasz was born in San Antonio, TX.
This is where my calligraphy passion lies as it is exhibited quite heavily in the website gallery. Below is my first attempt to imitate this particular specimen of his. HIs specimen is on top and my partial attempt is at the bottom. It's not his work by a long shot but closer than I expected to get for the first try.
This piece was commissioned by a client for his wife. I receive requests for commission pieces quite frequently. However, this one was special because the client wanted this piece to have a vintage feel. With that in mind, he purchased paper with an antique appearance and I carried on with the theme and used walnut ink. It came out beautifully. Now it's time to go back and erase my graphite lines :).
I like to change things up a bit. This is an option for either casual correspondence or formal correspondence with a flair.
Sometimes it's nice to change things up. Let's place part of the address on a slant!
This company is sending engraved wine bottles to their clients. Love it! Who couldn't use a little sauvignon blanc?
The tine split and folded upon itself!
It's almost that time again! I've engraved with Macallan scotch and Martell cognac over the years and it is always a blast. Get ready for the holidays with on-site spirit bottle engraving with calligraphy around Houston. See you soon!
I'm loving the juxtaposition of block lettering with Spencerian/Ornamental Penmanship right now.
Calligraphy on metallic paper does not always yield the beautiful results that you see on cotton based paper. However, these turned out beautifully. Must ask the bride what brand this was :) (Picture taken at this angle to protect addresses.)
'Tis the season to engrave golf clubs as gifts.
This bottle engraved like silk and it looks nice as well. It was a fun night.
It's that time of year.....
This project was a first for me. I wrote a nice saying on cell phone cases. For the calligraphy folks out there, this was executed with an Esterbrook nib and gold ink. Now only 60 more to go....
LSU Tigers, Bourbon and Calligraphy....That's what I call a great Saturday. Photography by Ralph Smith www.smithphoto.com
