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I grew up in Raleigh at a time when the nuns taught at Our Lady Of Lourdes. They lived out back of the school and wore those imposing yet Holy Habits that commanded your adoration, attention, and, quite frankly, your fear. So, when they asked you to "sit up straight" with your "feet flat on the floor" and compose your letters properly according to the Palmer Method of Handwriting, you did just that! I believe it was at that impressionable age that I became infatuated with the formation of letters. When I was introduced to calligraphy in 1978, it was no wonder I fell in love with this beautiful art form. My first taste of the calligraphic world lasted no longer than one hour. The instructor turned a piece of chalk on its edge to form calligraphic works of art from A to Z on the chalkboard. That was that! But it was all I needed to fire the embers that had been sparked in elementary school. Watching the slow, rhythmical shaping of those letters was like listening to classical music. It was not until 1997 that I enrolled in my first formal calligraphy class. Boy, were my eyes opened! I knew I had a lifelong road of learning ahead of me. It's been 38 years since that white piece of chalk was laid on its side. I am still learning. Come learn with me!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Text As Texture
















This exercise (done in a Peter Thornton workshop) demonstrates text as texture, sort of like the way the stitches in knitting interlock to make a row. As I lettered from top to bottom, nibs became larger and the letters more compacted. The same ink was used, but the different nib sizes and the gradual closeness of the letters makes the writing completely different. The letters are just a bunch of m's, n's, i's, and u's since they are all vertical letterforms. Can you tell what's what? As you go down the page, the more difficult it becomes to differentiate between them. I threw in a few s's and c's just to make a small change.
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1 comment:

  1. Martha LeverJuly 1, 2010 at 1:37 PM

    WOW! Your calligraphy is gorgeous!!! I have enjoyed looking at your blog and I am a new follower. Thanks so much for your email and yes, I did do an Italic Calligraphy online class that has been fairly successful. It was so good for me to do it, I think it helped me more than anyone else!

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