Typewriter 2!

 Well, we went and did it. We went and bought ourselves a small compact 1970s typewriter so we could have one to use when we are in Scotland. 

Decadence. Indulgence. Whatever it is, it is nevertheless fabulous to have this wee one with us now and I couldn't wait to get started using it! Here it is all primed to go on my multi-purpose studio bench.

I had so much fun remembering the little quirks of a typewriter, setting tabs and line spacing; and loving the ding when I had room for just a few more characters in my line. I tied it on the usual 80gsm bond paper and that fed through really well. 

The ribbon is brand new so it was quite inky in places. This image also shows how easy it is to make typos; and how you can't readily remove them by simply backspacing or deleting. I like the honesty of the work.

I can't yet tell that ghost effect is me thumping the keys too hard because maybe the typewriter is too high on the bench; or if there is a setting I need to get sorted that will change it.

For the time being I don't mind it - perfection is not the goal - but it would be good to be able to understand what is going on.

As is my want, I then went and picked up all sorts of papers I had lying around - Japanese papers; lightweight tracing paper; used teabags; heavier art paper; and card; and checked to see if they would go through and if the keys would work on them.

I popped the tea bag onto a piece of copier paper and held it down with washi tape, then fed it through. All good.

The 'ghost print' equivalent on the copier paper was a bit of a bonus!

So I can see a lot of fun happening here.

We went away for a couple of days through the week - taking my Dad to see some of his favourite old haunts and some new ones. Here are a couple of shots from our road trip.

Thursday Thoughts...

“Books break the shackles of time, proof that humans can work magic.”

Carl Sagan

I like the thought that books are like magic.

In some ways, it seems as if he is suggesting books almost enable time-travel; they allow the past to speak to the present, and for the present to speak to the future.  And in this way, I guess they are kind of magic.

I keep thinking he means books are magic; but on closer inspection he really seems to say that books are evidence that humans can make magic - and yet I prefer my own interpretation!

Breaking the shackles of time perhaps suggests that books can be timeless, that the recording of information, lessons, philosophies or memories can be just as potent now as they were when they were written. Perhaps it also suggests that fiction can transport us to other times or other futures.

Whichever or whatever, I still think books are magic.

So many time shackles to be broken.

Some moments from here and there...

We have had some lovely blue sky days, and some soft grey days.

On the blue sky days we try hard to get as much washing done as possible, and here is my Dad and me soaking up the sun after a marathon waking effort!

Not sure if it is the same seagull, bt it is the same roof on two different days!

 

A dazzling shimmering sunshiny moment on our morning walk.

Looking across the road to the fields with some lambs and the gorse in bloom.

A grey day was the day for a drive to talking and tongue and there is beauty in the softness of grey as well.

And Spring is making an appearance...

A visit to the Melness cemetery showed me a memorial with a list of heroes; and one heroine, from WWI. I have never seen a nurse recognised on a Memorial before and thought it was truly marvellous!

Kilian Capitals

 There have not been too many moments to play and make and create, but I have been thoroughly enjoying my time with Kilian Capitals!!!

My photos are not transferring properly for some reason so I am frustrated by that; will do my best to make things look reasonable, but that is the best I can hope for I think.

I had drafted three words and practiced a few different layouts here - the missing word is stillness.

I transferred the single line version of the words onto black - looks grey here but is really a nice black.

And gradually filled them out in pencil as I went. I have mentioned my issues with writing the letter S - and boy what a delight it was for me to have all these opportunities to practice!

The finished 'piece'.

I continued on my merry way wth another short piece of one of my favourite quotes, but along the way I caught sight of a folded 'book-et' I had sitting alongside me and wondered if I might be able to bring things together somehow.

And so here it is!

I thought it would make a two-way sample book. I had loved this series of folds (inspired by Annwyn) and I enjoyed finding proportions I liked. I had written the lengths on the back of it, planning to use it as  resource. And then I realised that in fact, some of my Kilian sample pieces would fit within the folds. how excitement! and so then it could be my fold sample as well as my Kilian sample!

It incorporates black on white vertical writing, vertical writing white on black, pencil on white, pencil on black and white on black.

I got an extraordinary sense of satisfaction and achievement doing this small, play piece. Funny isn't it how you just play around and make something for yourself and it is joyous!

Thursday Thoughts...

"The beginning of a friendship, the fact that two people out of the thousands around them can meet and connect and become friends, seems like a kind of magic to me. But maintaining a friendship requires work. I don't mean that as a bad thing. Good art requires work as well". 

Charles de Lint

This quote does two things for me - it reminds me we should celebrate our friendships; and it reminds me that friendships need nurturing.

When I stop and think about the first part of this quote it really can be rather magical that in amongst the multitudes of people we meet in so many settings, we somehow come across folk who get us, and with whom we can simply be ourselves. 

Friendships are such important, stabilising and supporting relationships. They differ to familial relationships in plenty of ways; and I am forever grateful for the women friends in my life.

Maintaining friendships does take work, or investment. Each friendship takes different amounts of input and it occurs in different ways, but taking time to check in with friends is time well spent - an excellent return on investment!

I am looking forward to a new body of work celebrating women friends later this year.

A delightful typewriter

 We had purchased a typewriter several months ago on eBay and I had enjoyed playing with it (after B spent a very long time trying to get it to work). I went to use it for a relatively simple task not long ago, only to discover the roller had decided to no longer roll the paper through! It was disappointing and I couldn't find a way to make it work, and I felt quite deflated.

I had actually been building plans for work around using the typewriter and I was left a bit flat thinking I wouldn't be able to use it.

I thought to maybe check if I could maybe buy another one; but this time not from an overseas eBay seller - from  somebody who was a typewriter seller. That way I would have somebody to go to with questions.

I came across a site and thought they looked marvellous and oooh weren't there some lovely typewriters there!

With B alongside me, I gulped and decided that because we weren't paying rent for the studio space any longer, we could buy this as a treat.

It is a 1965 Olympia in a solid case and what a delight she is.

And to make matters even better, that is the year I was born; and it arrived on my birthday! We went and sat on the deck at dusk with some beautiful soft cheese and a glass of bubbles and unwrapped her.

Isn't she a beauty?

So much care and attention - the original key, and a copy of the manual was inside.

A fabulous note about how to open the carry case.

With a typed note from the seller telling me more about her.

She is in such good condition, and I just love the two tone keys here!

A portion of the note included. I had not known that to type a number 1 I would need to hold down the lower case L key, so I was grateful for that insight.

What a precious parcel to unwrap that was, and I look forward to being able to type the works I was hoping to type, once we return.

Thursday Thoughts...

“Before I start carving the idea must be almost complete. I say ‘almost' because the really important thing seems to be the sculptor's ability to let his intuition guide him over the gap between conception and realisation without compromising the integrity of the original idea.” 

Barbara Hepworth

One of my first responses to this quote by the amazing Barbara Hepworth, is to stumble a bit on her use of "his" when referring to a sculptor's intuition. It may be that somebody has simply transcribed it this way; but because she herself was such a stunning sculptor, I would hate to think that she thought that only men were the worthy sculptors.

To go then to her thoughts on the process... I like how she has the notion of something almost complete in her mind before she begins; and yet leaves herself open to those moments along the way that allow her to respond. To intuition, to the work itself, to whatever it is that might guide her a little bit this way or that, off the main path.

This feels like a very real description the creative process to me.

I think it is also important that she returns to the idea that this diversion or alteration helps to be a link between the thinking and the doing; but that it also doesn't compromise the integrity of the original idea. She wants to make sure that the work still reflects her intention and understandings and that any deviation does not detract from that; rather it enhances it.

Sometimes we can get waylaid and diverted on such a scale that we end up nowhere near where we thought we were headed. Sometimes that's good; sometimes not. Sometimes we need to go back and work our way through the original idea again.

Oval Form with Strings and Colour (1966)

My first viewing of a Hepworth - The Met in New York, 2012.

Kilian Capitals

 I have long loved the look of this lettering style, and before we came away I discovered a short online course about them. So, I signed up and during our first week here have managed to sit down and watch the lessons and do a bit of practice. Such fun!

The view from my 'studio' desk.

I did lots of practice of individual letter from groups and letters.  It is funny how after years of writing, your hand wants to do certain things when forming a letter, and yet this style forces you to do different signs and go in different directions. I had to catch myself quite a bit and slow down and focus on doing what felt a bit unnatural.

One of the things I like most is how he knits and weaves letters; and allows them to cross over into other letters alongside, above and below.

Lots of notes to self!

I then began practising layouts for a phrase Peace is Every Step. For the life of me, I couldn't remember to not make the second bowl of the S equal to the first one - it should stop well before, making the letter quite top heavy.

The advice is to do the layout in pencil first, to work out your ligatures and spacing and placement; and then go on to do the proper lettering. I think in time you could probably commit in one fell swoop - but in these early days it is good to have the opportunity to rub out and try again as the planning of the letter placement takes a bit.

I think I like the last one best - where I have made EVERY a bit bigger, but need to move the E to the left to balance things out a bit.

And then I distracted myself with this pile of scraps I found I had left here last time.

Clearly they had bookmarks written all over them! Just waiting for me to transform them.

So I had a play around which gave me inordinate pleasure, and made four bookmarks!

I will get back to some more quotes and layouts and practice, but this was fun to do.