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Medieval craft lives on in Harpers Ferry studio

Most people would not recognize the term 'illuminated letters.' But if you own a more expensive copy of the Holy Bible, or a well-illustrated copy of a book of traditional children's fairy tales, you may have seen them. Illuminated letters are elaborately decorated initials, often done in a beautiful script that decorate the first word of a sentence on a page. Illuminated letters have lit up the pages of books since the creation of some of the very first handwritten manuscripts in 400 to 500 A.D. But you don't have to go to a major European museum to see them. Marilyn Etchison, a Harpers Ferry area artist, creates them in her home studio using most of the same materials and methods that medieval artists used, and sells them. Marilyn and her husband Jim moved to the area about three years ago from Indianapolis, Indiana, where Marilyn taught courses in painting and calligraphy at a local university. The more she learned about the history of illuminated letters the more she wanted to know. "I really got interested in the history. I started doing a lot of research on it, I wanted to know how these artists made their paints, what kind of paper they used and how the books were constructed." So Marilyn took a special course in Texas and learned many of the hands-on techniques to create her own paints and dyes just as medieval artists did. Spread out on her studio table are items that bring to mind ancient potions. Tiny jars of brightly colored raw pigments to mix paints, a small tablet with pages of real gold leaf, chunks of bark to make dyes and even pure powdered lead ‹ all the ingredients needed to historically accurate illuminated initials. The letters are painted on vellum, a very thin piece of goat skin that was used in place of paper. Etchison mounts a piece of vellum on a small block of wood, about three inches square. Then she draws the outline of her letter and the accompanying design on the vellum. Next she paints a base of jesso, a fixative, on the initial itself in preparation to applying the gold leaf. The gold adds a special richness to the piece. "People like it. Gold is a fascinating visual experience," Marilyn says. After the initial is gilded, she paints the decorative elements on it, such as flower or leaf designs. Finally, when the piece is complete, she frames them. Everything about them is hand-crafted. "We make the frames, we make the whole thing ourselves," said Marilyn referring also to the help she gets from her husband with some aspects of the work. Etchison does not have an entire alphabet of letters on hand, however. She noticed immediately that people are more interested in certain letters. Customers usually buy the letters of their first or last names, or the initials of friends and relatives as gifts. The letters C, S and J are popular, but she's never sold and X. While the letters are beautiful to almost any observer, Etchison recognizes that if people understand a little bit about the history and the artistry behind them, they have greater significance. "Once people know what these are, then they are interested," she said. She also feels a certain connection to those letter artists of the past, most of whom are unknown, as they were not allowed to sign their work. "We really aren't separated from those people," she said. "There is a continuity in their work that ties things together," she adds.

The illuminated letters are not the only type of artwork Etchison does, but she uses letter arts and calligraphy in other aspects of her painting. She also makes prints, drawings and watercolors.

But she remains engaged with the history of her craft. She notes that the letter arts of different time periods vary. "Each time period has a certain characteristic to it," she says. For example, a letter style known as Carolingen, was popular during the reign of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor. The Roman conquerors brought their books and letter forms with them to places like Ireland, where the famous illuminated manuscript, the Book of Kells, was created in about the year 900. "It is simply fascinating," Etchison concludes.

PdC City Administrator tenders resignation 
On Tuesday, March 15, longtime Prairie du Chien city administrator Gary Koch submitted a letter of resignation to the city's Personnel Committee. Koch's impending retirement from the position became official at a special City Council meeting Tuesday, March 22, when the council accepted his resignation. "I would like to thank everyone who has made my time as a public servant in Prairie du Chien so interesting and gratifying," said Koch in an excerpt from his letter. "I have had a great staff throughout my career here and they have been more responsible than I for any success our office has experienced. The city currently has a very good staff, from department heads on down, and it's a staff you should be proud of and rely on. I would also like to thank the mayors and council persons I have served. And finally, I would like to thank the general public for their understanding, support and cooperation." Koch went on to say, "Most importantly, I would like to acknowledge the sacrifice and support of my wife Kathy. It's not easy to be the wife of a public official, but when times got tough, she was my strength and it made our relationship even stronger." "It has been a great experience, and I look forward to new opportunities in the private sector and volunteering my time to make the city of Prairie du Chien a great place to live, work and play." Koch will retire from his position as City Administrator/Clerk-Treasurer on Friday, Jan. 6, 2006. He said that he was giving notice now so that the recruitment process to find a replacement can be done in a timely manner. By giving notice now, it gives the city time to study its options and to possibly have the new administrator work with Koch for a time in order to ease the transition, Koch said. "It's a big decision," said Koch, who noted that employees in the Wisconsin Retirement System can retire at age 55. Koch will be 55 on Jan. 4, 2006. By the time of his retirement, Koch will have served the city of Prairie du Chien for more than 26 years. He was hired as the Clerk-Treasurer in 1979. In 1992, Koch became the City Administrator/Clerk-Treasurer. Koch was the President of the Wisconsin Treasurer's Association in 1998 and over the years has served on several state committees and organizations concerned with the functions of clerk-treasurers. Koch graduated from U.W. La Crosse with a bachelor of science degree in sociology and came to Prairie du Chien in 1974 to work at Wyalusing Academy, which he highly recommends, saying it helped give him "a basis for how to deal with all sorts of people." Koch has lived in Prairie du Chien for 30 years and said that he is not thinking of moving upon retirement. "I'm certainly not going anywhere. Prairie du Chien is a very nice place to live," he said.

PdC attorney asks council members to make City Administrator an elected position 
After City Administrator Gary Koch announced his retirement to the Personnel Committee on March 15, attorney Mark A. Gillitzer of Gillitzer Law Offices of Prairie du Chien sent a letter to City Council members dated March 18 asking them to consider making the City Administrator position an elected position. Gillitzer's letter states in part, "In light of the recent announcement by the current City Administrator that he is "tentatively" tendering his resignation, it would be a perfect time to amend the City Code such that the position would be elected for a two or a four-year term like the county officials." The letter also states, "Currently, it is next to impossible to remove a city official because not only does it require a majority of the council vote but it also requires "good cause" which is obviously open to much interpretation and litigation since it is undefined." "There is no accountability to the general public by having the current position structured the way it is and for the substantial salary that goes with it, all taxpayers should decide who sits in that position. We currently have many highly qualified elected county officials which negates the argument that the city would never get a qualified individual to run for that position. I would also be interested in knowing why ordinance 92-3 was enacted in the first place." The City Council created the position of City Administrator as an appointed position on Jan. 7, 1992 and the offices of City Administrator, City Clerk and City Treasurer were combined. When interviewed Tuesday morning, March 22, City Administrator Gary Koch said that he believes that whomever becomes the new City Administrator should be someone who has been trained as an administrator and that the position be an appointed one in order to maintain continuity. Koch said that much has changed since he was hired as Clerk-Treasurer in 1979, with the duties of such offices as Clerk-Treasurer and City Administrator becoming much more involved and complicated, thus it would be prudent to hire someone who is "trained in the profession." Koch also said that it would be detrimental to the continuity of the position in running the day-to-day operations of the city should a person be elected for only two years and then be defeated. "Continuity is important," said Koch, who noted that it would be difficult to have potentially a different person in the position every two years. Koch also said that it is unlikely that a person would move to Prairie du Chien with their family if there was a strong possibility that they would be out of a job in two years. Currently, there is no city in the state of Wisconsin in which the City Administrator is an elected official.