#letslettertogether

[visualpractitioner]

3 Ways to Build Your Lettering library

Image is a slide from Make It Your Lettering Year

Here are 3 ways to collect and organize your letters:

Carol DuBosch shared her approach of using an address book when she taught us Jubilee in March.

We are inspired by Brandy Agerbeck’s “Stack Magic” approach to collecting information on index cards.

And the sketchbook, or better yet: travel sketchbook makes for a great way to capture your lettering inspirations.

Once you find a letter you love, you can also:

Identify the attributes of that letter.

Create an alphabet based on the attributes.

Scale the letter up and down.

Need more inspiration? We’ve had an inspiring year at Let’s Letter Together. From guest master calligraphers to community building.

Here are just a few of the courses you can still get access to:

Illuminating the Dark With Sharon Zeugin

Letters and Scissors and Paste, Oh My! With Mike Gold

Make It Your Lettering Year With Heather Martinez and guest calligraphers including Carol DuBosch, Elizabeth Walsh, Nancy Hays Hills, Margaret Beech, Tamer Ghoneim, Julie Wildman and more!

And unlimited access of some of top favorites from the archives. These courses feature even more experts from the field.

For the Love of Lettering

Lettering with the Masters

Listen, Letter, Draw Together

With so much inspiration, how will you choose? Share your lettering goals with me and I will point you in the right direction.

Until then, happy lettering!

Heather

[visualpractitioner]

How Lettering Can Help You

It’s sounds a bit melodramatic when I say lettering saved my life. But I do give it a lot of credit for making it better.

After giving up my dream as a fine art, alternative process photographer (due to the symptoms related to the chemicals I was using), I deeply grieved my loss and threw myself into a career of becoming a visual practitioner. 

While being a visual practitioner didn’t give me the creative freedom I had as an artist, what I loved about it was the way writing down ideas manifested quickly into reality. Me writing down other people’s visions became true for them. Strategic visualization, coupled with Appreciative Inquiry became a very powerful tool I used in my work as a Visioneer and Visual Coach. But it didn’t become meaningful for me until I focused on my lettering. I didn’t start out with especially good handwriting, and I didn’t understand the letterforms beyond what I was taught in the 3rd grade.

I want to share 3 things I did to improve my lettering and my life that you can do too:

Make Your Own Exemplars


After learning a new lettering style, the practice of making your own exemplar will not only help you master the lettering style, but also help you make it your own. 
Mimicking someone’s handwriting can be dangerous on a psychological level. So first learn the attributes, how to hold the marker or pen (angle), stroke order and letterform. Then write some words and a pangram, and dive into making your own exemplar to use as reference. 

It will increase your ability and your confidence.

After being asked to be a Neuland Ambassador, I created a series of exemplars that other visual practitioners could use in their work and published a free online course called: Unlock Your Neuland Markers. Guido also translated my exemplars in German. You can find them here.

Practice Like You are Performing


Avoid practicing a page full of the same letter and write words as soon as possible. Practicing rote can help but only if you are are perfecting a form at a slow speed. For visual practitioners, it’s important to see the letter and transform it into a form that you can easily write with consistency at the speed you work. Yes, start at tabletop and go slow to get the letterform into your hand. When it’s time to take it to the wall, be sure to start out slow, stay grounded in your body, and speed up until you find your natural rhythm. Each marker has a speed, each lettering style has a speed, and you have a speed. Working to find that rhythm will help you when you get in front of your client.



Shortly after the Pandemic started, I offered lettering meditations sessions. No audio, we just lettered together. These were slow meditative sessions. By working slow, I am able to build a strong foundation so I can go fast. You can learn more here: https://youtu.be/fCKQ9xopjEE

Letter With Others


That means take lettering classes and workshops and letter with family, co-workers and friends. Just like letters: they are meaningless until they live in relationship with other letters. The same goes for us too. We all have lettering in common, or we did at some point. Bring it back to life and bring life to your letters by allowing yourself to learn and be influenced by others.



I highly recommend taking classes that align with your lettering goals. I offer a variety of classes for visual practitioners and calligraphers at www.LetsLetterTogether.com and one of my mentors, Carol DuBosch (www.CarolDuBosch.com) offers several lettering classes and she is an excellent teacher.

What else is new?

Well I haven’t been active lately as I caught the Coronavirus. You can read about that adventure here.

I had to cancel my in-person classes for the month but will be starting up again in July. You can learn more and sign up on AirBnB Experiences here.

Since Covid took me down and I'm working to automate a few of my classes, there is still time to get in on the introductory offer at Tech Host Academy before I automate my marketing plan.

I'd love to hear what's new with you. Having Covid changed how I look at the world and my place in it. I'm looking forward to feeling better and getting back into the studio to letter.

Hope to letter with you soon!

[visualpractitioner]

Moving week! Check out our new studio...

We did it! Let’s Letter Together is officially in-person as well as online. This week we moved into a new studio space. And this is not your average brick and mortar.

Ray and I designed and built a mini classroom in studio #11 in The ArtRoom at the Smiley Building in Durango Colorado.

What does this mean? Small, intimate in-person classes! Check out this gorgeous work table Ray’s brother, Paul made!

What makes the location and the space so special?

It’s not just a studio/classroom. It’s part of a collective of artists working in an open-air studio that is open to the public daily.

The ArtRoom Collective is a treasure trove of creative talent. Housed at the Smiley Building, at 1309 East Third Avenue in Durango, Colorado, the remodeled space is a diverse, working studio gallery where artists create, collaborate, and share their passion with the community. There are 20 studio spaces where visual artists working in a variety of mediums create and exhibit their work.

Owners and building stewards, Charles and Lisa Shaw have a knack for creating a continuously, unfolding dynamic community space. While the pandemic rendered the theatre at the Smiley building useless, that didn’t stop the Shaw’s vision of maintaining a space for arts and education. While Charles loves architecture, it was painful for him to dismantle the theatre. He named the remodeled space The ArtRoom for its connection to the school. Becca Whitehead, longtime tenant of the Smiley, inspired the windows separating each studio—paying tribute to the historical features of the building and allowingnatural light to flow through the space. You can read more about the space here.

As the artists filed into their spaces last fall, many did not know one another and had no idea what the space or The ArtRoom Collective would look like or become. It is organized by studio members, including a newly formed Outreach committee for its involvement with the community and collaborative efforts with other organizations.

Last fall when we learned of the space, we quickly grabbed a studio and Ray set up a portrait studio or headshots and more. After a few months of helping facilitate the monthly meetups for the group, I got on the waitlist should a space come up. There hasn’t been any attrition. I’m the first newcomer to the established group. They have been warm and welcoming. And although I have only been in the space for less than a week, I already have interest in my lettering classes and friends are beginning to stop by and see what I’m up to.

Many of you know I have RA and several autoimmune issues so this was a big, scary step. But the building went vaccine-required during the pandemic and while it’s still very iffy how I will manage my chemical sensitivities, so far moving my studio out of my home has been a great decision.

In addition to the awesome artists and space, the building is a renovation dream come true. Check out this video telling the story how it became what it is today.

This is my third shared studio space at the Smiley building. I have been creating on and off at the Smiley since 1999 when Kit Frost offered a public darkroom. I’ve taken dance, yoga, printmaking, basket weaving, pottery, and Kanji calligraphy classes at the Smiley building from local and visting artists. And I’m so excited to be part of the living history of the learning community here again.

My Offerings In addition to my mini store where I will be selling one-of-a-kind handmade books and collages, I will also have my book, zines, washi tapes, cards and more.

Every participant in my class will receive Neuland markers they can use and take with them, handouts, personal instruction and access to online lettering classes at www.LetsLetterTogether.com so the learning fun can continue.

It’s a big step, into a little space, in a special place. I’m excited to be part of the community again. I hope you will stop by!

Durango is a small mountain town in Southwest Colorado on the Indigenous lands of the Ute, Pueblo and Anasazi Elders past, present and future. It’s a year-round destination for those who enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, mountain biking, white water rafting and kayaking, skiing, snowboarding, and much more. If you choose to visit this magical place, please let me know. I’m happy to connect you with the best places to stay, eat, and be entertained.

Lettering Excursions & VIP Days If you are planning your summer travels and want to put Durango on your list, come visit me for a 1-3 day private lettering or coaching experience.

Can’t make it in-person? No worries! Email me for details on co-designing your own VIP day. Whether in-person or virtual, we can work half-day (starting at $750) or design full-day excursions.

Why go on a lettering excursion or book a VIP day? Travel towards your goal(s) further and faster. I help you envision, design, plan, and execute a plan to meet your creative and/or professional needs.

The BigOne Art continues to make waves

Calligraphers and visual practitioners around the world are diving into the deep end with the BigOne Art and finding new possibilities in drawing and lettering with the world’s largest brush nib.

I interviewed Carrie Imai and learned how she plans to make the marker dance in her work.You can watch the interview by clicking the image below and on YouTube here.

Stay tuned, I will be interviewing, featuring and collaborating with many others using the BigOne Art in their work. Be sure to check out my YouTube channel and Instagram page for the latest creations and to catch lives from my new studio.

What does this mean for online learning? Will the digital classes go away? Yes and no.

At www.LetsLetterTogether.com, we offer dozens of online classes. In May, we are having the last Level Up Your Letter Virtual class in this format. I don’t plan on teaching it in-person again. Future workshops will likely be retreats in Europe and specialty classes held at Neuland HQ in Germany.

Make It Your Lettering Year is open for enrollment anytime. We are in year two and year three is in the planning stages. I highly recommend this class for all experience levels. The live monthly sessions bring us together and inspire.

Only a handful of online classes are being planned. And new evergreen classes are being recorded and will be available soon.

Be on the lookout for these live online opportunities to letter together:

[visualpractitioner]

Planning for the future means investing in yourself now

As you know, we are living in tumultuous times. For some of us it’s been several weeks, some are just beginning to feel the stress, and others are oblivious and will likely create havoc on the system over time. We are also living in a unique time of opportunity.

During this time we can choose how we want to show up. Personally I have been both my best and worst self—all in the same week! Being generous at my best, and showing up as a fierce advocate at my worst. We are uniquely positioned to give, support and fight. How we choose to show up or reflect on the situation is ultimately up to us.

And our field has shown up big! From a variety of visuals shared in social media on how to work from home, stay healthy, and cope—to free and low-cost virtual offerings to help us expand and improve our services.

I’m very excited to share that the IFVP has chosen to make the Digital Scribing series I hosted last summer free to everyone!

You can learn more here:

https://www.ifvp.org/content/digital-recording-age-virtual-0?fbclid=IwAR2MH3VTtXpDgmqJF9k8Jx4pSornR0MZzYJKzCdcWzfCaFxrvXWHjCIgzx0

It’s exciting to see how much our field has grown and how we are sharing information. Just this week I saw six new offerings in our field pop-up from what seemed like out of nowhere. We all have a lot to choose from. So how to choose? And how to make the most out of your investment?

Well, since virtual makes everything so accessible, geography is not an issue. Here’s how I choose what courses to take:

 Subject Matter - We each bring a unique skillset to the wall. If you support software engineers and developers, then you might look to someone who has an Agile background. If not, look closer at what will compliment your skill set and offerings. While I’ve lived in the Agile world and am a certified scrum master, I’m also an Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator so I will look to those offerings that align with my practice: Presencing, Art of Hosting, Human-Centered Design, etc.

Aesthetics - Who we learn from will influence our style. Choose someone to learn from who’s work you like. This is more important than you realize. Not only because you will tend to draw like them, but because it will save you time because they will take you there faster. Don’t take a live drawing course if cartooning is what you want or vice versa. There has been an increase in the number of drawing courses in our field. You get to choose if you want to “go the scenic route” by learning on iyour own and translating it into your work or getting right to it with those who have been there already.

Price - You get what you pay for. A lot of what’s free (including what I offer) may be fun and a shot of inspiration, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg in terms of content and what you can learn. Make a professional development budget and invest in improving your skill set. It’s the best investment you will ever make for yourself. And invest in learning from those who have been doing this for awhile. Sure you can learn from someone who just learned themselves but how far will that take you? If you want to be a pro, learn from a pro at the level you want to be.

It’s not easy choosing what to invest in as things are popping up all the time. And to make the most of your investment, it’s important to do the pre-work and post-integration work. Not sure how? I cover this in sessions 8 & 10 from last years summer Lettering series available at bit.ly/levelupprep

We are in this together!

If you are struggling with the isolation, anxiety, or fears at this time, there are many resources out there you can spend your time exploring rather than obsessively checking social media or reading doomsday news.

Here is one resource I have found helpful:

https://covid19freelanceartistresource.wordpress.com/?fbclid=IwAR2qH6jX3X5XuxlhfbqwPseYbxbY8eAAcohBfAhxmnOkoZ68TrlMANC2sH4&inf_contact_key=378b0aab2636ba50bb3a9e758422c315d18a532c4142cb79caf2b269de1401fa

While It is designed for freelance artists, there is a lot to occupy your mind in a productive way. Please don’t take away from Artists if there is an opportunity to receive support here. But rather, turn to your industry (the field of visual facilitation for example) and see how we can support one another.

And if you are in need of someone to talk to and would like some personal/professional coaching, starting the week of March 23, I will be offering free 45-minute coaching sessions for artists. Please email me to learn how to get on my calendar.

Thank you for continuing to letter with me. See you online soon!

[visualpractitioner]

Bringing in the New Year

As the light of day grows longer, I hope the final days of 2019 have brought you insights that ease you into the new year with confidence and grace.

Big Endings and Important Beginnings

Since the solstice and the new moon solar eclipse, I have experienced so much clarity of how to approach the coming year and decade. I’m anticipating you have too! Here are a few things I have found helpful to keep in mind as support:

Let go of the past…year, decade, ways of doing things, patterns, bad habits

Allow new beginnings...Be open to and receive visions, channel ideas, seek soul connections/purpose

Heal your inner child...Give love to your past self in ways your future self will thank you

Integrate the intentions you have set...Be honest and clear with yourself about what you want

Increase your awareness...Observe, tune in, and receive new information and stay present with evolutionary whispers

Experiencing Clarity and Practicing Apperception

As I sip on a freshly brewed cup of ginger tea I feel the warmth on the inside as the freshly laid snow sits just outside my window. This blanket of cold reminds me how different the internal and external environments can be. Reflecting on 2019, I am reminded that I have been living a dream I dreamt 3 years ago. And while I am grateful to have lived it, I didn’t fully enjoy a lot of it because I was busy dreaming the next dream.

In my early thirties I claimed to be a futurist. For many years, I used the term as a way to describe my mindset to others when I was being impatient about manifesting my visions. Internally I could see, sense, and feel trends in technology, large-scale human behavioral shifts, and where I would be in the future before they would happen. I’ve always been a visual thinker, having the predictability factor was a bonus and a bit of a curse at times.

As my body slows and time seems to speed up, my ability to manifest can be elusive. I’m finding ways to work smarter rather than harder—integrating new processes has always been easy for me. In keeping pace with my next dream, I am changing my relationship with social media and putting more into the new relationships that develop in my travels. So it’s likely you will see more writing, less commenting, less posting on Twitter and Facebook and more on my blog, lettering website, LinkedIn and Instagram.

I’m willing to let go of being a futurist in exchange for being fully present. As an artist, I practice being in the Flow state. With a background in Ortho-Bionomy and Reiki, I can “turn on” the presence when healing is needed. And while graphic recording, coaching, or facilitating I use some of the same techniques combined with learned skills of the practice to serve the group. However, when it comes to understanding the emotional body, intuition, and energetic patterns, I’d like to allow the dancers of these to be within me as I function in any of these areas (art, healing, visual facilitation). I’m ready to integrate presence fully into my life. And I’d love to hear how you are finding successful ways of doing this too.

Stay focused and invite joy!

Practicing lettering can be meditative and when focused with intention is a natural portal into the Flow state-of-mind. Make the time and space to gift yourself the growth process you deserve.

Lettering Learning and Practicing Opportunities

Lettering Tips Tuesdays 2020 This free offering is based on the love of making letters and presenting them in pleasing and practical ways. Grab your markers and join me each third Tuesday of the month at Noon MST/MDT. Check your local time here. Mark your calendars to watch live or make time to watch the recordings. Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/311775798 Recordings will live in the Level Up Prep Portal: http://bit.ly/levelupprep

January 21 :: Lettering Formula 1+1, Part 1 Markers and Words: What to Cap and What to Cursive

February 18 :: Lettering Formula 1+1, Part 2 (pre-recorded) Finding Form & Refining Your Style

March 17 :: The Beauty of Palimpsests What is a Palimpsest? How do we create one from the beginning? Launch: Lettering Journey online course *Note LIMITED TIME OFFER for those who have purchased my book: Post a review by March 17—online where you purchased the book—and email me the link to your review. I will grant you free access to the course.

April 21 :: Transform Your Charts into Books and Journals Bring your charts and make a book!

May 19 :: Choosing Colors and Mixing Inks

June 16 :: Writing Letters and Addressing Envelopes (pre-recorded)

July 21 :: TBA

August 18 :: Lefty Lettering

September 15 :: Ampersands and Punctuation

October 20 :: Variations of Visigoth

November 17 :: Bold Moves for the Coming Year

December 15 :: Shiny Objects = Metallic Flourishes

Throughout the year I will be traveling to teach in-person workshops and launching online courses. I hope you will join me!

European Lettering Tour Part 1 :: February Paris: February 5-7 Zeist: February 17 & 18 England Retreats: February 23-28

The Grove San Francisco, CA: June 25 & 26 Learn more at: www.LetsLetterTogether.com/workshops

In the works...

European Lettering Tour Part 2 :: Germany in June Berlin and/or Hannover (tentative - Please email me if you are interested) Neuland HQ: June 15-19

IFVP (tentative - Please email me if you are interested) Berkeley, CA: July

Lettering Meetup Calgary: August TBD

WorldViz (tentative - Please email me if you are interested) Capetown, SA: January 2021

My hope, my wish for you is grace in lettering and moving through the world as we do this very important work. Please let me know how I can support you on your lettering journey.

[visualpractitioner]

Take a Lettering Journey

I never thought I had a book “in me” because I figured I didn’t have anything unique to contribute. Until now.

When we left Washington, D.C. shortly after the inauguration in 2017, little did we know the journey that was ahead of us. Yes, we knew we had a couple of month-long artist residencies planned and that we were going to pull Flo, a 1947 Tourette teardrop trailer, but where would we go, what would we see? We had no idea.

The road ahead was more than just a cross-country trip, it was an adventure in discovery, survival and lettering.

A synopsis of the book... Take an adventure to power up your lettering! Designed with the visual practitioner in mind, Lettering Journey is a how-to, exemplar book inspired by a cross country road trip and the letters found along the way. This practical guide gives you the freedom to be fast. It includes eight lettering styles that are designed to be learned quickly and used to letter with markers on paper in realtime in front of your client. Each chapter of Lettering Journey starts with a short story of how the lettering style was inspired, a list of suggested markers to use, the best use of the style (when and where), and attributes of each style. Some styles include a ductus—showing the direction and order of each stroke, written at 100% and in grey so that you can see how the strokes join and cross. Each chapter includes examples by visual practitioners in the field and how they use these styles in their work. The book also includes foundational tips and best practices when lettering.

The lettering journey started before we hit the road. Lettering became important to me when I moved to DC to help build the Visioneering team. I realized that I needed to find a strength to serve as a foundation in my work. Honestly, at the time, I didn’t have one. So by accident, I just chose lettering. In 2016, I dedicated all of my professional development resources to lettering. I spent that year taking workshops from master calligraphers, sign painters and graffiti artists. I learned that all of the tools they used could be translated into the tools we use as visual practitioners.

Tina Abert and Amy Sparks help me celebrate my new book. They have been on the Lettering Journey with me since the beginning. They both took breakout sessions from me at the IFVP conferences and they were the first to sign up for my online, Level Up Your Lettering course.

The virtual book launch on June 27 was a hit! We aired three times that day to talk about the book, interview contributors, and celebrated the success of all those involved. You can watch the sessions on Neuland’s Facebook page here.

The book itself is full of lettering styles and techniques designed with the visual practitioner in mind. I cover how to hold the marker, which markers to use for which styles, the angle and direction of the nib, a ductus, and most all of the letters are written with a grey marker so you can see where the strokes overlap.

And with me, there is always more. And more to come! For those who already have the book, there is a free resources portal available on my website www.LetsLetterTogether.com. And I’m putting together a full course offering step-by-step videos for each lettering style.

Because I am so very practical, I originally designed the book in greyscale. And because Neuland is so very generous and loves color, they chose to offer a color version, along with a Handlettering Kit to get people started on their lettering journey. You can find the book and kit here.

For those who just want the book, I offer an Author’s edition. It’s greyscale interior gives you everything you need to get started. And regardless of where you purchase the book, I will send you a signed bookplate and bookmark to go with your book. Just email me your mailing address and I’ll get it to you right away!

I have enjoyed this lettering journey and look forward to the next! I’ll be traveling to Australia, Latin America and Europe over the next year to present and teach. I hope our paths cross and we can letter together. Who knows, perhaps I’ll feature your work in my next book!

Happy lettering!

[visualpractitioner]

Unboxing :: SignPainterZine

Designed with the Visual Practitioner in mind.

After years of studying with master sign painters and translating their letterforms into rapid capture lettering styles for the graphic recorder or facilitator, I've finally published this 24-page zine.

The unboxing...

Most of these zines have been packaged up to go to EuViz 2018. You can pre-order yours here: http://bit.ly/signpainterzine Those who do receive $10 off the online course—coming fall 2018 Thanks Fresh Off the Press for such a quality product!

For more lettering resources, visit: www.LetsLetterTogether.com Free lettering videos on my FB page: @corporategraffitiartist