Karen Ter Haar

Karen Ter Haar (from Melbourne, Australia) has been extremely instrumental in helping us to learn about these " inks' " capabilities. An accomplished instructor and commercial calligrapher, Karen has the inquisitive mind to want to learn about, how to apply and how to create beauties that become legacies. Here she tries out the Midnight Blue in an Automatic pen point. Note an interesting technique she uses - application of pressure to force a thin outline edge of ink on the outside of the strokes.

In one of Karen's classes, they decided (if I remember correctly, I think Diane Ting and Cecilia Sharpley had a hand in this too) to see what could be done mixing various mediums with the Ziller Inks. So, with several adept hands, I am told that this beauty was created in about 15 minutes using various real gouache mixtures and various Ziller Inks. Not bad for just foolin' around!

OhHo.....so you think this is just an "Ink", eh??? Put it to use marbling paper too, and then pen some of your favorite verses on the built in guidelines in your favorite pointed pen style. Sweet Grass Green is the color of choice here for lettering.

Prairie Fire Orange blends with Sunflower Yellow for a bright and lively presentation.

Karen's ......."Swimming Tails".........there's just got to be a story waiting to be penned in the open area. I'm told that this pattern was lifted from waste paint trailing left behind by a previous pattern lift. One thing about these inks they have quite a bit of pigment waiting to go to work.

"Layering it out" by Karen. Multi layer the color using paste paper techniques..........then over-letter with ???? dealers choice here!
Here is the gist of what Karen had to say about this piece:
This was not a particular attractive piece of work, but it was done specifically to evaluate application techniques. When making paste paper experts say that in order to write on the surface you must add gel medium (which is expensive). To test the Ziller Ink, we left the gel medium out......and after the first pasting, when it was dry, Karen wrote with a veneer pen and Higgins Ink ( a thin ink).....but no bleed. She then went over the top with Ziller black and found no shifting of either the sub-strate, or Higgins letters.

"The Eye of the Dragon"........Don't even think about calling this a bookmark. Been there, done that and was corrected bonza quick mates. :-) Actually, this is one of my favorites. Using the plastic wrap technique the Wild Viola Violet blends nicely with the Sunflower Yellow.....creating a delightful brown that adds interest and depth to the work.. The dragon's eye as I recall was done with Spectrachrome. The plaited hand-dyed cord serves to bind the books (six of them!) that reside inside this beautiful cover. This was a very special gift that Karen made for a *Very* special someone. She out did herself!

Ahhh, books, books and more books! This is one of the six books previously mentioned.
These skillfully blended backgrounds were created using the plastic wrap techniques. Bound into book form they make for a handsome presentation of some fine lettering. And you should know that the plastic wrap technique is also quite effective on black paper stock. So don't just use that "ordinary" white or cream stock to plastic wrap with. Try the daring - go black!
Can you see how the Northwind White could be used here too? Karen tells me these were lettered using a silver mica interference powder with gum arabic as a binder. The lettering tool - a pointed pen. Ziller "Inks" were solely used in the backgrounds.

Wild Viola Violet and Sweet Grass Green marble effect made with plastic wrap lets you fly and soar and swoop.

The famous Snowflake Cover. Once again with plastic wrap, Sunflower Yellow and Midnight Blue. The snowflake in the center has been cut out of the heavy paper stock. What would you put inside?

This verse was penned on a plastic wrap background and will end up being mounted to another piece of paper with a specially colored background made with Ziller Inks. See Lord of the Rings #2

Lord of the Rings #2
One of Karen's favorites is the Tolkein series. Here the Lord of the Rings book inspired her to create this beauty. Note the gold leaf work for the rings and the folded plastic wrap designs that sit atop the background. There are two pieces of paper, see the previous presentation, Lord of the Rings #1. The papers were glued back to back through a central diamond, and the pieces are folded in such a fashion that on one side they form four squares.
The background is not black!! Now, listen carefully at what this master crafter did: She painted the background with the Ziller Sweet Grass Green -- three times! -- and found it marked horrendously....and so. she burnished it!! And it turned to a beautiful purple/green. Seems the 'iridescence' found in some of the Ziller inks created an intriguing look. Green/purple in one light and a deep, deep green in another. So, this is something else you can do with the product -- paint with it and then burnish it, to resemble smooth leather.

More prose from Karen's pointed pen adorns this plastic wrap folded design. A blending of Sunflower Yellow and Buffalo Brown make you wonder what is on the inside, but first you have to figure out how to open it!!! No instructions included.