Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Venice: Ewan Clayton and East Meets West

In October and November of 2014 I took part in two fabulous calligraphy workshops in Venice, Italy.

The first workshop was a study of the influences of Venetian lettering masters from the 15th and 16th centuries on early type designers. By locating this workshop in the the library of the Correr Museum on San Marco, Ewan Clayton, Professor of Design at Sunderland University in England, made it possible for us to view applicable written manuscripts and early type-set books from the period. Ewan recently published his excellent book, The Golden Thread, A History of Writing, which I heartily recommend.


The second intensive workshop was an amazing experiment in blending the eastern calligraphic discipline with personal handwriting from the western tradition. Kazuaki Tanahashi and Monica Dengo collaborated in encouraging individual expression within the traditions of both cultures. I made a great deal of work in the workshops.




1 comment:

  1. Did you get to see the "chalkboard" manuscript painting at the Peggy Guggenheim museum in Venice when you were there? I'd been to Venice several times but always seemed to miss her home so the last time we went, I made a point of staying at the old Russian embassy which is now a lovely small hotel and a short walk to her home. She was something.. she had the last privately owned gondola, and is buried there w/ all her Lhasas. I bet you saw it but just in case, don't miss it the next time you go.

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