Do you wonder where the next idea is coming from? It’s a challenge we all face. This workshop will help you gather your thoughts and work with your own words to produce a broadside (work of art on a single sheet or canvas) using new calligraphic styles, illustrations, and “words in liberty.” This is a workshop about Text Art, about words living with images, about words AS images. Can words on a wall compete with paintings? Can we overcome the art/craft divide? Serious questions. We will look at some seriously fun answers.

Contemporary calligraphy has a grand future OFF paper. My career has been full of fascinating commissions in metal and glass for architecture and other applications. You will learn to design for laser-cutting, including some basic plotting techniques to prepare your files for the laser. (Simple options for those without digital skills will be discussed!) You will learn to make a mock-up for large-scale architectural works and to develop the content (theme, meaning) for a specific project. The course will also look at applications on glass, both architectural and small scale. At the end of the course, you will have a sandblasted glass object and, budget permitting, a laser-cut metal object for all to admire.

Kozo paper from Japan is one of the most flexible and exciting papers available to calligraphers. We will be working with rich colors and a special resist technique to create two-sided sheets that can be used for many purposes. Kozo is tough but thin, so the sheets you produce can be collaged onto just about anything. Your sheets, even the failed experiments, can be used for book pages, bookbinding, Japanese-style hangings and much more. Kozo opens a world of colorful possibilities.

Life is a collage. We are always bringing things together and hoping they will stick. Collage turns this daily experience into art. My collage technique uses rice papers (white and hand-colored), old and odd papers from around the world, whitewash, sgraffito, gold leaf and more to create a layered surface that reflects the layers and emotions of our lives. We will be inspired by our own words, weaving a story on the surface as we go. The process is endlessly variable, allowing you to adapt it to your own practice…and even invent new styles and techniques to express your inner life.