The Healing Mind

From left: Nancy, Lily and Bix.

Dear Friends, I write this blog entry from a very different location than I usually do. For the past month I have been in the hospital with pneumonia. I have forgotten what fresh air smells like, the taste of home cooking, and my pups. Still, I am so grateful to have excellent care, my own room, and a window, which overlooks an old dam where the cold salty Atlantic mixes with the fresh water of the Penobscot River. And, on a couple of occasions my pups Lily and Bix have stopped in for short visits. Although they look very serious about my condition, they are acutely focused on small treats I have in my hand.

Throughout this ordeal, the one beacon that offers hope is my mind. . . I find myself constantly focusing on the patterns of floor tiles and curtains, the colors and patterns of nursing smocks, and my desire to sketch and draw what I am dreaming. No matter how delusional I become with fever and pain, my mind is still looking for some kind of Gestalt or connection between what is happening to my body and mind. It will take 6 to 8 months for my body to be back to normal but my mind is okay and will continue to work as my body heals. I’ll keep working.

I’ll write next month. In the meantime, thank you for reading this blog and take care.

 

Nancy’s website: www.nancyleavitt.com

Bookseller, Priscilla Juvelis: www.juvelisbooks.com

 

The Calligraphic Library – books I return to time and again

The books in my library are more than acquisitions – they are my working companions.   My library is filled with poetry and literature, reference books (dictionaries and encyclopedias), and books on lettering and bookbinding.  We reread books to find information missed in the first reading.  By returning to my books I hope to be re-informed and attain a deeper understanding of what I already practice.  Like listening to music over and over again, I revisit books to be re-inspired by familiar stories and illustrations.  And sometimes, it is just the familiarity of the size and shape and weight of a particular book in my hand that I am seeking.  There is great discovery in re-reading. Here are a few photos of my library.

  Shelves hold books of poetry and prose and reference books on bookbinding, craft, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a selection of cookbooks.

 

 

 

Reference books on art and mathematics and calligraphy and design.

Below a portfolio of Edward Johnston’s: Manuscript and Inscription Letters Portfolio for Schools and Classes and for the use of Craftsmen.

Thank you for reading this blog.  I wish you a new year filled with discovery, Nancy Leavitt

Nancy’s website: www.nancyleavitt.com

Nancy’s bookdealer: www.juvelisbooks.com

 

Milestone – 100 hand lettered book titles

mile·stone/ˈmīlˌstōn/noun: A stone set up beside a road to mark the distance in miles to a particular place. An action or event marking a significant change or stage in development.

This autumn I reached a personal milestone – the completion of my 100^th hand lettered book.  And, when I include hand-lettered editions, the number rises to well over 200 books.  Like many artists, I work alone.   Solitude offers a space to think and the freedom to proceed at will.  Working solo also means keeping the books, cleaning the studio, and occasionally celebrating a milestone.

So, how does one celebrate personal milestones? For me, it will be a quiet celebration with little fanfare.  Mostly, I have looked back and acknowledged what I have created and am continuing to move forward.  Included in this blog is a description of my 100th title with images.

Dry Stone Walls, 2011, 84 pages, 8 x 11 inches (W x H) This book, a commission, was designed around the theme of dry stone walls, and in particular, the song lyrics of “These Dry Stone Walls” by Dave Goulder.  The book is composed in three parts including: a narrative on the geological history of England, Goulder’s song lyrics, and instructions on how to assemble a dry stone wall.  The additional text was researched and written by the artist.

The painting and lettering done in watercolor and gouache with brushes, metal pens, and quills on Katie MacGregor handmade paper.  Joelle Leavitt Webber of Mermaid Bindery bound the book in MacGregor paper and made the box.

This book is the artist’s 100^th hand-lettered title. Stillwater, Maine © 2011

I wish you all a Happy Holiday and a Bright New Year, Nancy

website: www.nancyleavitt.com   bookdealer’s website: www.juvelisbooks.com

Jigs – helpful tools

On a recent dog walk I noticed a strip of paper with the words “Lettering and Centering Ruler” caught up on a tree branch.  It was a jig for centering headlines for a poster up to 30 inches wide. The subtitle read, “Relax! It’s not as hard as you think.”

The exact origin of the word ‘jig’ is unknown.  It is thought to have come from the French giguer, “to dance” and to most it means a lively dance in triple time.  In the hand of a crafts person however, a jig is a device or template used to hold work in place or, for guiding a tool. Calligraphers and bookbinders make and use jigs for any number of book making activities. Using a jig or a premeasured template is easier, quicker, and more precise than measuring and marking each time with a ruler, especially when doing repetitive activities. Below are a few examples of the types of jigs I use in assembling a manuscript book.

This layout jig is made of mat board. The frame has been cut to a specified page layout for a book.  I simply place the frame on the recto and trace around the inside of the frame with a pencil and then flip to the verso and repeat.  This marks off the page margins and encloses the page area for lettering and painting.

Lettering jigs are placed on either side of a page and the writing lines are ruled in where marked.

A 2-ply board jig is used to emboss and de-boss curvilinear lines and creates a fluid form on handmade paper.

A punching jig identifies where to punch sewing holes on the inside of each gathering of papers.  Place the notch at the head of each signature for punching to insure that the sewing holes will line up on the spine.

Thank you for reading this blog entry. I look forward to hearing from you.

Nancy Leavitt    website www.nancyleavitt.com

My bookdealer’s website www.juvelisbooks.com

Bindings for Calligraphic Manuscripts

Flowered Alphabet, 2001, rebound in 2011, unique book, 6.5 by 5.5 inches (h x w), 71 pages. The text, an alphabetical list of flowers, is lettered in watercolor and gouache on MacGregor and VInzani handmade papers.  The book is interleaved with pages of floral postage stamps.

A bookbinding protects the text block and is the structure that allows the book to open and close.  Function is important but what other considerations are important when choosing a binding?  A good binding design and decoration can give an idea of what is inside the book and invite the reader in.

Ten years ago I lettered and bound this small alphabet book. The binding was unsuccessful and I tucked the project away in a bookcase. Recently I decided to pass the book onto binder, Joelle Webber of Mermaid Bindery, for rebinding.

Joelle used bright colors to match the paper and lettering colors found inside the book. She covered the boards in green silk and used scarlet red silk on the clamshell box. The box is decorated with a postage stamp outlined with fabric taken from the original binding. Most importantly the binding structure opens up flat to show the full page spreads.

Clamshell box and open book right and a series of page spreads below. Thanks for reading this blog, check out Joelle’s work at: www.mermaidbindery.com

Nancy Leavitt  www.nancyleavitt.com  Priscilla Juvelis www.juvelisbooks.comgouache on handmade papergouache lettering and postage stamps

A Ship of Thought, How Books Carry the Human Soul

Standing box and accordion fold book

                      Open box, cover, and interior with accordion fold book and collages.                                              Collages and hand-lettered text.                                              

The Book: A Ship of Thought, How Books Carry the Human Soul, 2011, is a book of poetry and collage about the magic of books and reading. There are 12 copies in this hand-lettered edition. The text is by Emily Dickinson* and Theodore Parker. Each accordion book is made of one length of transparent vellum paper folded to hold nine paste paper collages and text. The Japanese style boxes are covered in shades of green, blue, and purple paste paper. Both collages and box are decorated with postal stamps of ships, lighthouses, maps, and books.

Sorting box parts for assembly

The Process: Joelle Webber of Mermaid Bindery created the accordion book and box design. She based the book design on a fold by Hedi Kyle. Each collage fits into a fold on one side of the accordion and the text shows through the transparent paper on the other side. A collage tucked under the vellum serves as the book cover and another as the back cover of the book. Nancy lettered the book text in an italic hand and made the paste paper.

Joelle assembles a box

The Box: We covered the boxes entirely in paste paper. The papers were glued onto both sides of 4-ply archival board and cut to size. Joelle used hinges of thin Japanese papers to connect the box pieces. She created a clasp by cutting a slit in the top side flap of the box to fit over a small button sewn onto the bottom flap.

Thanks for reading this blog, I look forward to hearing from you, Nancy

website: www.nancyleavitt.com     bookdealer: www.juvelisbooks.com

*Source: Reprinted by permission of the publishers and the Trustees of Amherst College from THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON, Thomas H. Johnson, ed./ Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Copyright© 1951, 1955, 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Summer Design Collaboration

The garden is a tapestry of green plants.

My Garden  Early in my career as a calligrapher I was part of a group of four; a writer, a weaver, a painter, and calligrapher. We met regularly to talk seriously about art and to look at each other’s work. These meetings helped us formulate ideas about looking at art, gave us experience in talking about our own work, and reinforced the importance of collaborating with others.

A New Design Goal  With that idea in mind, this summer I hired a gardener to work with me in my gardens. Michelle, a woman half my age and with four times my energy, is helping me re-design my existing perennial beds and transform a large section of a lawn into new gardens. We discuss plants and garden design while digging side by side.  The effort is causing me to think about the landscape in new ways.

The Garden Plot  My yard and gardens are located on a rectangular plot of land in a northern temperate climate.  An assortment of trees border three sides of the lot and the house sits in the center, dividing the lot lengthwise.  Composed of hundreds of different plants with varied leaves and flowers, the garden is a three-dimensional tapestry of green that surrounds the house and is slowly growing – reaching for all of its borders.

Lily in the garden.

There are so many ways of working the design elements and principles in any project we take on.  In a garden you work with the color green and texture and architecture of plants.  And working in collaboration helps us to see it in new ways.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, thank you for taking the time for reading this.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Nancy Leavitt    www.nancyleavitt.com

Priscilla Juvelis, bookdealer    www.juvelisbooks.com