Taking a line for a walk…

The other day I met my friend Sharon at the San Francisco Main Library to see the Friends of Calligraphy triennial member show. I was prepared to see beautiful lettering, which I did, but there was a lot more. There was Chris Paschke’s encaustic piece, right, which I wanted to reach through the glass and touch. There were also cut paper pieces, a chiseled alphabet, a very delicate, precise paper casting, illustrated books, and illuminated letters. There were quotes and poetry of all kinds, some legible, some not (but still wonderful to look at).
I wrote down the names of a lot of the calligraphers, so I could look up their work at home. I’ll be writing about them in the upcoming days. The title of this post is a quote by Paul Klee, mentioned by one of the exhibitors in her statement about her work and her mark-making. (Klee was a master draftsman, and many of his works are elaborated line drawings; he described his technique in these drawings as “taking a line for a walk.”)
The exhibition continues at the library until Aug. 23 and you can also see photos of some pieces in the exhibition at this flickr stream.