The familiar heart shape dates back to medieval times but became a prominent symbol in fraktur art of the late 1700s and early 1800’s. Learn more of this history as you create your own small fraktur that we then make into a card. Using historic images and patterns, workshop participants will learn how to take a design, alter it, and make it their own. Instruction on how to use watercolors, using a pallet of traditional fraktur colors, will complete the piece.
About Fraktur:
Fraktur was created by Pennsylvania Germans during the eighteenth through the mid nineteenth centuries and features calligraphic text decorated with colorful birds, hearts and flowers. The tradition has its roots in the illuminated manuscripts of medieval Europe but evolved into a distinctive part of the local Pennsylvania German culture. Today, those who appreciate this colorful folk art enjoy drawing their own fraktur designs based on the work of the early fraktur artists.
About Emily:
Ever since sixth grade, Emily Smucker-Beidler has been creating Fraktur after learning from Roma Ruth, a well respected Fraktur Artist from Montgomery County, PA. After receiving an Art Education degree and Master’s degree in Art Education, Emily made her 33 year career in teaching art her passion, while continuing to create custom Fraktur for hundreds of clients. Now as a newly retired teacher, she brings her experience and enthusiasm for teaching to her Fraktur workshops and welcomes artists of all ages and ability levels.
In the case of inclement weather on February 13, this workshop will be postponed to February 21.
