Background glimpses

Calligraphers are often looking for backgrounds on which to place their words. Sometimes simple black words on a white page are just what you need. Other times you want the piece to convey something more and working onto a background offers that.

I often find myself looking at paper that has been decorated or treated in some way, thinking what a great background that would make.  Sometimes those great backgrounds sit around in my studio for years waiting for the right words to find them! It feels as if they need a matchmaking service at times.

And quite often if I can't do anything else, if my brain is numb I will spend some time working on backgrounds.  It feels artistic/creative and yet commits me to nothing and has no time frame.

So here are a few of the backgrounds that have appeared in the past few weeks...some with some intent behind them; some with no thought other than to do something, anything.

These lines are one of those days when I just wanted to do something mindless. Noela had made me a cola pen as we call them, and I wanted to test it out, so I just dipped it in ink and drew straight (ish) lines. I am maybe a third of the way across the page, but it was just what I needed on that day. Cola pens are quite free and hard to control to perfection, so I enjoyed the variability it gave me.

I had three long thin offcuts sitting on my bench and finally decided to do something with them.  They felt soft and grey, so I just worked with gouache and layered lots of paint and colour onto the paper then drew some marks and pulled some marks.  They are now quietly waiting and whispering what they need next...

As with all of the backgrounds there is no right or wrong way of looking at them, which I like...

And then with left over paint and ink I danced along another long thin page with no thought or intention at all, but ending up with some nice pages waiting for words...

The other nice thing with backgrounds is you never know if you'll use them whole, or chop them up!