PAINTINg LETTERS AGAIN

After much time weaving letters, I wondered how it would feel to paint letters again. In Winter 2024 the Bloomsbury Festival included an exhibition: ‘26 Connections’ which was a collaboration between Lettering Arts Trust and Barbican Young Poets. I painted a work using words by two poets, Lisa Andrews and Maggie Wang entitled ‘Declarations on our Kind’. written in response to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I chose to paint on an old linen sheet as something symbolic of human existence from birth to death. Not an easy choice, well washed linen is soft and whist it took the pointed brush and acrylic ink well, the material moved on my board as I worked, even though it was well pinned down.

It was good to paint again, the slowness and medicative action of painting and the attention to detail is what I enjoy and it felt like touching base with something familiar and part of me. Lines were sewn to indicate the fact that the words were part of a longer text which the poets themselves redacted.

Once it was done, it was displayed simply pinned up onto the wall and allowed to drape naturally.

The x-height of the letters is 12mm.

Weaving with vellum

This small triptych is on display at covered . discovered the exhibition of new work by Fellows of Designer Bookbinders and the Society of Scribes and Illuminators.

It started life as an experiment to discover what it was like to weave with narrow strips of vellum. I liked the basket-like weave it created and also the contrast between the vellum and the linens I was also using for the weft. The words are a kind of meditation on Remembrance and how I remember, not the detail of memories but words that reflect an overview of the process of remembering. The eccentric weave is part of that, memories are not usually regular or linear, instead the senses, in particular, recall moments, impressions, feelings. Vellum strips woven on the horizontal would form a regular grid, instead I wanted the irregular contrast if shape and texture that the juxtaposition of linen and vellum give.

Back to Wordsworth

I returned to work with the last line of Wordsworth’s Ode (Intimations of Immortality… etc.), this time a large panel of weaving, finished size: 600mm x 450mm.

White linen, letters about 45mm high

OREITHYIA

The mythological sea nereids of Greek mythology form a key theme of the latest exhibition Simon Lewty and the Nereids, open at the Lettering Arts Centre in Snape Maltings. I chose to interpret Oreithyia - the Nereid of the Raging Waves. Here is the finished piece, woven in linen, wool and silk 30cm x 30cm. I swim in the North Sea every morning often in rough water and I drew upon this experience to choose the colours and decide the textures of the stylised wave forms.

Weaving letters

I’ve recently been working on and finishing two weavings that use different kinds of letters in their design.

The first is of the word PERRIRHANTERIUM, the title of a poem by George Herbert. He uses it as a word for the church porch but it is a Greek word meaning the instrument that sprinkles holy water. So it is a word associated with entering and approach, purification, beginning anew.

This piece is small, measuring 310mm x90mm. The letters are 20mm tall and woven on its side, the letters stacking up on top of each other as they are made. The surround is woven in fine linen on a cotton warp and the letters are in silk.

The second isn’t quite finished as you can see in the image below and it is for exhibition at the Lettering Arts Trust at Snape Maltings later in the month. The letterforms are free-flowing and are partly woven and partly sewn into the weaving as they have been made (not added afterwards). I’ve also been thinking about texture in a way I’ve not done before, this is about the raging sea so I wanted it to show movement. The finished size will be 300mm square. Making this one has been like painting with threads of wool, silk and linen. I’ve used a drawn cartoon for the wave and letter shapes which I’ve had behind the weavings as I’ve worked.

It’s an interesting way of working and one that seems to allow for all sorts of future possibilities. I’ll post an image of the finished work and write more about it later, when it is blocked and backed ready for hanging.

Tissue, silk and stitch

I’m continuing to work with words and ideas from Wordsworth’s Ode, and have taken the last line for my most recent piece of work: THOUGHTS THAT OFTEN LIE TOO DEEP FOR TEARS.

For me, it’s almost a summing up of the depth of the meaning of the poem but as a phrase in itself is evocative of times when there are no words for an experience or one cannot make sense of memories or remembrances.

I’ve recently learnt more about Kantha stitch - small running stitches that piece together and adorn Indian Kantha cloths. Wondering how the stitching would translate to paper, I tried using silk on the same layered Khadi tissue paper that I used for the sewn and stitched pages of the whole poem which you can see in my previous post.

In a glancing light the directions of the stitches show with different subtleties of shine and shade in the silk. I wondered how this could be used for lettering.

So drew out on graph paper skeleton letter shapes and spaces to make the phrase: ‘Thoughts that often lie too deep for tears’ into a geometric-looking block. This was the stitching guide for the work.

I simply ‘filled in’ the areas with continuous running stitch, changing direction for each block. Here is the work against the window to allow the light to come through - the stitching shows quite clearly.

Each line of letters is 25mm high. The whole stitched area measures 225mm x 125mm. Below is a sideways image that shows the resulting texture and play of light across the stitches.

Wordsworth's Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood

Working in collaboration with Hazel Dolby using Wordsworth’s poem which is ostensibly about childhood but is about all of life - the stages of growing older and leaving innocence behind. It ties in with the themes of the passing of time and birth, life and death, which we have been exploring for over eight years.

We have both been using pages made from layers of Khadi handmade tissue paper, working to a decided size and using handwriting for the text. I’ve made sewn lines with silk thread which change colour for the sections of the poem. The pages work as a stack but I’ve sewn them together now into a map-like form to make a large sheet which folds in on itself.

Adapting to circumstances and ways of learning

Late summer and the world around me is returning to activity outside the home - schools have returned and many are back at their workplace. Home-based work is still the normal for me though, and perhaps will continue to be as teaching calligraphy and bookbinding workshops away from home is not yet possible.

Calligraphy and the associated fine technical details are best shown and assessed at close proximity to the student and that is difficult with social distancing. Close detail by digital methods are looking more possible and whilst there have been many excellent courses available by Zoom during lockdown, I miss the one-to-one contact with students. Interacting with people individually to address their concerns and needs is what I feel I do best, so that they can develop their skills in the directions that play to their strengths and to help them with the minutiae of detail that can get lost in a digital group setting.

I am enjoying working with some people on a one-to-one correspondence basis, writing and adapting lessons for them personally. This takes the form of digital and postal work and allows them to follow their interests and for me to give suggestions and specific material that builds upon a sound foundation. I am always willing to talk to anyone considering such tuition.

Sewings

Time has given me space to sew without necessarily trying to create a finished piece of work. Using material I had to hand and natural and white threads, I’ve been working on how to make both sides of the fabric of equal value - no right or wrong side. The colour of cloth is not my usual choice and I have found myself continually trying to tone down the strength of the yellow ochre. The seed stitched name of one of the Catacombs in Rome is one attempt to do that, and on the other side, attaching a strip of natural coloured fabric.

The process of stitching, the time it takes and the nature of the rhythmical movement, gives time for ideas to occur and develop. Much has to be removed and ceases therefore to exist except in my memory - but that visual impression and the feeling of the stitching rhythm feeds what replaces it.

Altars

I’ve now completed five small woven altars and although they started off as individual pieces, they also work together so I’m thinking about how they might be combined into a single piece of work.

Lockdown has given time to think without the pressure of deadlines or teaching commitments - though I was looking forward to the workshops on quills and vellum, pen making and binding in wooden boards I had planned for ELI in Belgium and for West Dean. The subjects would be difficult to teach with social distancing in place - unless I used binoculars to see the detail of someone’s work! So I’m thinking about how the use of one-to-one online tuition might step in and how digital images and cameras could enable me, and those I’m helping, to see something up close.

There is more thinking to be done but in the meantime, if you are wanting one-to-one guidance about anything you might be specifically interested in that you think I can help with, please contact me.

These are made of linen and silks on cotton warps and the tallest is approximately 17cm square.

Manuscripts after Print

I have been collaborating with Aditi Nafde and her team at Newcastle University who have been making an online exhibition about the relevance and place of handwriting. You can find the video on YouTube by searching for The Art of Handwriting Newcastle University and you will see it has this picture as its cover image:

Remembrance of People Past - December 2019

Here are some images from the exhibition of work by Hazel Dolby and me that was on at Sunderland University in December. This is the body of work that has arisen out of our study trip to Rome in early 2012. The photos below show some of the pieces we made in response to the starting point of Early Christian gravestones. Some of our work combines to make a unit such as the small blocks displayed on the wall and the fragile paper caskets. Other work is very much in our own style as you can see from the First Panels and from Hazel’s paintings and my embroidered panel of a poem by George Herbert.

Irena and Fulvia

A year later than my original planning and design, I’ve finished a pair of weavings: Irena, in peace, and Fulvia, sweet soul. These are woven on linen warp as I like the firmness that gives. The wefts are of linen, silk and some wool which I dyed for the purpose, a light and a dark brown. The dye was composed of the same pigments but with different levels of saturation.
The dark/light contrast was an interesting exercise, though the pieces were not done merely as exercises.
The olive branch motif is one commonly seen on early Christian gravestones and is emblematic of peace.

Drawing

Reconnecting with my sketchbook and as always when I do, I am convinced again of the value of drawing. Time for thinking, looking and allowing surprising and unexpected things to happen. I’ve started looking at the photographs I took in the little museum at Chesters on Hadrian’s Wall with the remains of Roman Britain found specifically in the North East. Here are small altars dedicated to gods and goddesses who were revered only in Britain and particularly relevant to the soldiers and inhabitants around the Wall.

I like that I can find Rome close to home; living in the North East means I can easily get to see significant artefacts and remains. And whilst they are not on the scale of those in Rome, they are equally interesting because they are very Roman and yet so specific to this place on the edge of the Empire.

Drawing a fragment of an inscription with pencil and crayon, then refining the letterforms with pencil (bottom) and seeing how they look when painted (English words).

Small altars to the goddesses Coventina and Minerva. These are not very big, the lettering is informal and they look to be personal and treasured by those who made or commissioned them. Coventina was the Romano-British goddess of sacred waters, wells and springs. She represented abundance, inspiration and prophecy. Minerva, goddess of professions, arts and war was particularly worshipped by the Roman Emperor Domitian who led the campaign to bring Scotland into the Empire. But even Minerva couldn’t help him and he had to retreat.

New year and new things to think about

Earlier in January I went to see the Anni Albers exhibition at Tate Modern before going to West Dean for three days of tapestry weaving.

The exhibition was stunning and I have been thinking about it ever since. Anni Albers’ work is very quiet and yet has such spirit and integrity that the pieces radiate energy. Her attention to detail is inspiring and how she used her skill to produce work that had function as well as beauty, results in weavings which one wants to wrap oneself in, either literally or metaphorically. Not for comfort necessarily, but to give life.

My favourite was this one, early in the exhibition, woven in 1924 and made of cotton and silk.

I’ve been working out in my mind why I like this one so much - the edges are not straight, yet she could weave straight edges - there is so little colour in it, yet much is created in the interweaving of tones and combinations of threads. So skilful. The whole piece is honest and visually interesting, it drew me in and then in the detail was layer upon layer of variety and possibility.

Follow that….my own tapestry weaving cannot. But the exhibition gave me some confidence to keep going with what interests me, the colours that I want to use and not to be sidetracked by trying to explore too many possibilities. For now, I want to use neutral lines and silks and to explore the definition and sharpness that these materials give to the letter shapes I want to make.

Here are trials for two small tapestry weavings I’ve just begun (made well before going to Albers exhibition). They will have names and words on them and I’ll post them when they are completed.

Exploring translations from embroidery to weaving

I’ve been continuing to work with the Roman names, first embroidering them and then weaving some. I’m finding it interesting to see how one textile-based work translates into another.

They are quite small, the largest is the woven Eugenia at 80mm x 170mm, the smallest is the woven Sabima at 60mm x 150mm.

How do you want to be remembered?

A new exhibition opened a week ago at the Lettering Arts Centre in Snape Maltings, Suffolk. It commemorates 30 years of Memorials by Artists, founded by Harriet Frazer, working to support the creation of beautifully designed and created memorials.

You can see more details here:

https://www.letteringartstrust.org.uk

Hazel Dolby and I put up pieces from the body of work we have been developing for the last 6 years, ‘Remembrance of people past’, working with the names of the unknown early Christian citizens of Rome whose names appear on fragments of their gravestones which can be seen collected and preserved in the churches of the city. Our theme is about life and death and remembrance and how even those we do not know are part of our collective memory.

Images of our work on the gallery wall:

1. Photographs of fragments from Rome

2. Small blocks, 16cmx7cm, made of different materials, recording Roman names.

3. Hazel’s large panel of paper, ink, dried flowers and tissue.

4. My large painted and sewn fabric panel. Text is ‘Life’, poetry by George Herbert together with

the Roman names.

Learning and writing

In July, it was my pleasure to have Oona Sullivan-Marcus come from Reed College in Portland in Oregon to study with me. She came with a specific aim in mind, to learn to write the Foundational Hand. To be able to write and enjoy the letter g was her particular focus - and she did indeed make some very pretty gs. 

So we looked carefully at the writing of the Ramsey Psalter, Harley MS 2904 in the British Library. Oona spent time analysing and copying the writing and looking especially at how the letters and the flow of the writing are influenced by the scribe's use of a quill. Oona decided to use quills herself and as the best way of consolidating and developing her learning, she decided to write a manuscript book for herself. She is using only a bottom guideline and writing without redoing; everything remains as a record of her progress.

Here's a double page opening of Oona's book to show her writing which is developing well:

Update on Redesigning the Medieval Book

The exhibition Redesigning the Medieval Book has just opened at UWE, Bower Ashton Library in Bristol from 19 April - 29th June. It is showing many more of the books that were made for the exhibition that couldn't be seen at the Bodleian in Oxford and an online catalogue has been made. It has the artists’ statements which explain the inspiration and rationale behind the pieces of work. It can be seen at:

www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/pdf/bodleian.pdf

Designing English and Redesigning the Medieval Book

Thursday November 30th saw the opening of the fine new exhibition at the Bodleian Library in Oxford: Designing English - Early Literature on the Page. 

Alongside the main exhibition is a showcase of new works made by bookbinders, calligraphers and book artists for the competition: Redesigning the Medieval Book. Out of 56 entries, 30 were shortlisted and around 20 selected for show. Those that were not selected for display are represented in a digital presentation alongside the showcase. 

Below are images of the new works. All of them were inspired by the books and texts on display in the Designing English exhibition, some more obviously so than others.  

http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/whatson/whats-on/upcoming-events/2017/dec/designing-english

On the left is the winning piece by Sue Doggett and the open book by Kathy Sedar, one of the runners up.

Paul Johnson's innovative pop-up book was also a runner up.

Not all the entries were traditional books, here is a circular game and on the right is my triptych.