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Seventeen eager calligraphers assembled in Rancho Bernardo on October 14, 2006, for the first of a two-day workshop titled BIG BAD BONE with noted teacher Carrie Imai from the Los Angeles area.
This alphabet was an invention of Jaki Svaren, based on Foundational--but you throw all the rules away! She recommended the #5 Automatic pen, but some used 3/8 Coits and even the widest Parallel pen. The wider pens show the actual pen strokes better. We learned to prepare brand new pens by cleaning the manufacturer’s wax off with toothpaste and sanding in a particular way. Then, just dip the pen in Gum Arabic before each writing session.
The first day we learned the lowercase alphabet. She taught us to “shake hands” with our pen…..holding it lightly with our fingertips. The pen is held upright. This way the pen can be manipulated by rolling it forward with the fingers and backward with the thumb; achieving the thicks and thins by manipulation. You start flat, roll the pen so the left side of the blade leads and the line narrows. As you get toward the bottom of the downward stroke, you reverse the manipulation letting the right side of the nib take over to give you a wider base of the line and a nice exit stroke. (This is just as hard to describe as it is to perform!!!) 
We started to practice the basic strokes shown in the exemplars (part of the 45-page book we each received). After each demo, we imitated the strokes on our papers. There were quiet moans and groans…..and finally, “I got it!” throughout the day…..it’s not so easy. It took some of us longer than others, but eventually we all did “get it”, as shown by our finished pieces on the second day. Carrie came around the room, helping each of us, as we worked by showing the actual movement of the pen for the letters that were giving us difficulty.
BONE can be fun! It’s best when the letters are packed and overlapped. It can bounce, fitting letters into spaces created between letters. Use the corner of the nib to make fine, hair-line flourishing strokes.
On the second day, we did a quick review of the capitals and used our newfound skills with the 12- piece experimental writing kit we received. We learned that by photocopying small lettering text on transparencies, we could try out layouts by placing it over one or two big Bone words.
Carrie packed so many fun techniques in the last half of day two: using crayon resist as an element, cut out counter spaces and backing with decorative papers, four styles of Halloween cards. And the most fun – making a spider by puffing at an ink blob through a straw!!!
It was a most enjoyable 2-day workshop with a delightful teacher and a new alphabet to use in many fun ways. We all hope Carrie will come back to do another workshop with us next year!
By Marilyn Dailey
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