The creative process

I've been thinking about the purpose of blogging, and what I might want to accomplish by doing it. Some of the posts on here have been a lot of fun to write. These are usually my process-oriented posts. I like to show how something new or unexpected can be made from paper, calligraphy materials, or paints. And I love how spending time in nature inspires my work.

I have decided that the focus on this blog will be the creative process itself. I will continue to show some of my works-in-progress, as opposed to more elaborate, finished artwork. I'd like this blog to show creative, everyday play with paper. I want it to be fun, and to inspire those of you who are visiting to try something you see here because it looks like it would be fun for you, too.

And I would like to show you how you can create some amazing things. I wish I still had the little books I made when I was a kid (I remember making a miniature catalog for a department store on Mars!). My mini books were tiny sheets of paper stapled together. I would have loved to learn the ways paper can be manipulated to make a book. My favorite books are often the simplest-- accordion folds, pop-ups, and single sheet books. I am always experimenting with ways to use these to express the beauty I find in nature.

 Thank you for reading this! Let me know if you try any of the ideas you see here. I would love to know!

Around the Corner

Open any book of quotations, and you will find a lot of G. K. Chesterton. He was a master of wit, and there are so many quotable sayings in his writings. Most of them are long, though, and difficult for a quick calligraphy project. This quote spoke to me at this particular stage of my life, and I decided to try to do something with it, even though my paper was only 9x12.

It says, "There is one thing that gives radiance to everything. It is the idea of something around the corner."

Chesterton was an inherent optimist. I think it shows in this quote, and it is a sentiment I share.

The quote is lettered in a very chunky Italic. It really is too chunky for my taste, but again, I was limited by the size of my paper, and by the size of the pen. I used a Parallel Pen on Strathmore multimedia paper. You can see the hint of shine in the gold acrylic paint I swirled around it, and the center is a graphite rub. The Parallel Pen is wonderful for a spontaneous project, since there is no setup or cleanup involved. I keep one filled with Higgins Eternal ink for quick projects like this.

I also wanted to try a new calligraphy style, something more modern. Since I was already working with Chesterton quotes, I chose another one, and again lettered it with the same parallel pen. The script is (very!) loosely based on John Stevens's Latina. My practice paper was thin, and not conducive to the gymnastics required to do this script justice. I would like to try it again on better paper. It was fun to play around with.

These were fun to do, if not serious attempts at refined calligraphy. What a wonderful way to spend an icy afternoon! If I get around to redoing these, I will post it here.