Heroes and Champions

We all have heroes ... those who accomplish remarkable achievements with qualities we admire greatly. Judith Kilburn, a calligrapher with the Gold Coast Calligraphy Society, is once again the force behind the 2nd "Heroes and Champions" collaborative book with contributions from 25 Australian calligraphers.

"Heroes " by Ruth Venner, Macleay Is, Northern NSW

The first Heroes book was completed in May 2007, and was displayed at Art shows, Art galleries and Calligraphy Societies throughout Australia. Viewers were astounded and delighted at the various ways each artist/calligrapher chose to describe the people (and the one heroic horse!) they admired. It even inspired visiting English calligrapher and CLAS Honoured Fellow, Jan Pickett, to produce a UK version with her students!

"Judith Wright" by Linda Upfold, Sydney NSW




"Norman Lindsay" by Susan Bradshaw, Toowoomba, QLD

Vol.2 is now nearing completion, and like it's predecessor, celebrates those that inspire. We are fortunate to be able to have a sneak peek at some of the pages before the book is even completed. Each calligrapher was free to choose their own hero or heroes....the only guidelines being a landscape layout, uniformity of page size (560mm x 380mm) and permission to write about their chosen one/s.

"Eric Bogle" by Vanessa Crisp, Evans Head, NSW

"Vincent Lingiari" by Gemma Black, Canberra, ACT

All 3 team members here at calligraffia were amongst those who rose to the challenge, and Judith tells me she had challenges of her own...."Your's and Gemma's arrived on the same day - her's in a giant tube, your's in a box. I looked like I was walking down the main street with the crown jewels and a rocket launcher!!!!"

Well, they were rather large pages to package up and post!!

"Volunteer Firefighters of Australia" by Rhonda Ayliffe, Sam's Creek, NSW

"Edith Cowan" by Colleen Little, Coff's Harbour, NSW

Judith is currently designing the covers and binding the pages together. The enjoyment of participating in a project aimed at fostering enrichment between calligraphers, and providing opportunities for others to view, is something to be celebrated. Vol. 2 will tour around Australian societies and other venues to be announced throughout 2009 and 2010.

Photos by Bill Kilburn