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

  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

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

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

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

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.

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

 In the latest 2011 annual juried issue of Letter Arts Review, 25:2, my work was pictured on page 37. The work, Hanabi, in Black and White, was a collaborative effort with an origami artist, Kathy Schilmoeller.

The Hanabi stretches slightly to fit around a wrist or in this case Mr. Bix’s neck. 

The Japanese word ‘hanabi’ means flower fire.  These structures measure 3 by 6 inches (h x w). Kathy learned this structure at a workshop taught by origami artist, Yami Yamauchi. The structure is made from 12 individual 6 inch square, identically folded pieces of paper, which are held together by linking the folds of each paper. The structure sits comfortably in the hand and works like an interactive toy. Even though made of paper the hanabi is flexible and strong enough to turn inside out. A new design is revealed at every pause in the movement of the ring.

A career as an artist/craftsman can be a solitary endeavor. Working with others or collaboratively gives one an opportunity to share ideas, goals, and problem solve collectively. The definition of collaboration is to work jointly on an activity, especially to produce or create something. Communication is key in collaborations beginning with setting clear process goals.

After discussing the initial idea for using my calligraphic papers to make hanabi Kathy and I worked separately.  Over several months Kathy brought completed hanabi to my studio to assess the success of each particular paper used. We discussed which lettering design created the most exciting hanabi and Kathy spoke about which papers folded easily. Our next goal in the project goal is to create an edition of hanabi, which will contain a legible text.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Nancy Leavitt  www.nancyleavitt.com

Priscilla Juvelis, bookdealer www.juvelisbooks.com

Often I am asked the following question: “I don’t consider myself a creative person but would like to be, is it something I can learn?”

It is the same question I received in a letter from a musician friend: “I have been thinking about asking someone at the visual artists’ guild here about whether they might consider offering some sort of general principles of design class. I really don’t know what I am talking about or what to ask for but I am interested in experimenting a bit more with collage and would feel much better about it with some sort of direction. Or perhaps it would be sort of like teaching improvisation, and if there were not a natural talent there it would be hard to develop. Is there a good starting place for someone who does not naturally show that spark of creativity? Can creativity be sparked externally?”

My answer is yes. Creativity is a habit that can be sparked externally. Working at any art and craft is like cooking. Simply put, cooking is made up of ingredients and recipes. Most of us are happy to explore cookbooks by perusing the pictures of food and following the recipe. Budding chefs develop a curiosity about different flavor combinations. Food critics who grade restaurant menus for a living do not have a stronger sense of taste or any extra skills than the rest of us, but rather a passion for food. People who are intuitive often jump in and learn by doing. Those of a more sensing nature like to have a bit more information before delving in.

In art, design elements are the ingredients and design principles are the recipes. An artist’s focus may vary, but design elements and principles are the same for every art form, from music to painting, from architecture to books. Elements are the vocabulary of work and principles are the grammar.  It is astounding the endless variations one can achieve through playful combinations. Here is a list of basic design elements and principles.

Design elements: LINE, SHAPE, MASS, SPACE, COLOR, TEXTURE

Design principles: UNITY and VARIETY; BALANCE, EMPHASIS and RHYTHM; PROPORTION and SCALE

You may recognize and understand the words in this list as they apply to music or some other art form in your experience. Each of these elements and principles can be appreciated simply or be expanded to include more detailed applications.  For instance color includes light, hue (the name of a color), value (the lightness or darkness of a color), the color wheel, and color theory. We see colors, but we can hear them as well. For example think about how choral voices (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) lend color and timbre, to create a rich composition.

To spark your creativity, start with a 2-D design class. Creating collages is another good way to begin using design elements and principles.  I once taught a class entitled “The Language of Design through Collage.”  Beginning with black and white papers only, participants worked through numerous combinations of design elements and principles.  Gradually we added one color to the mix and only went to full color at the end of the two-day workshop.  Working in black and white allows one to focus on the design of a piece, forcing you to be creative with the choices at hand.  In a way, it mimics studying musical scales and chords – you learn to understand what it is you are manipulating.

From here on I will be updating my blog the first day of every month. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Nancy Leavitt     www.nancyleavitt.com

My bookseller’s website: Priscilla Juvelis     www.juvelisbooks.com

'Considerations of the Book Form' calligraphic broadside, flat and folded poster

I sold copies of my calligraphic broadside, Considerations of the Book Form, which is printed on archival paper and measures 19 by 25 inches. It discusses the process of creating a handmade book by offering a roadmap for all those interested in telling a story and the design of books.

PASSPORT by Fluxus group, Fola Fola Crannóg

PASSPORT is a A democratic multiple produced by Fola Crannóg, a loose group of occasional Fluxus artists. This cheerful book encourages people to treat themselves and others with compassion, respect, grace, dignity, and understanding. . . with room for the reader to add their own musings. The book is made of recycled materials and is housed in a sleeve decorated with stamps and postal decals and measures 3 1/2 by 5 inches. Signed by Fola, 2002.

Paste papers in spring colors

My paste paper sheets are made with wheat paste, distilled water, and acrylic paint brushed on Arches text wove.

Collage Paper packets

These packets of collage materials contain an assortment of candy wrappers, envelopes, decorative paper, handmade paper, labels, maps, numbers, paste paper, postage stamps, receipts, stickers, tickets, etc. OR printed maps and map stamps.

Today I’m back to work in the studio. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Nancy     website   www.nancyleavitt.com

Bookdealer    www.juvelisbooks.com