Patricia Lovett MBE

Calligraphy | Illumination | Design

Tag Archives: Lettering Arts Trust

The Lost Words – Forget-me-not

It is always very sad when we lose words, not just because we can’t remember what to say in a conversation, but when the very words themselves seem to have lost their value. It was noted that a children’s dictionary decided to leave out words which it judged to have ‘lack of use’. These very words conjure up images in our memories – of collecting blackberries from brambles, of threading a piece of string through a conker, of pigs pannaging for acorns in the New Forest, of a lark ascending, of holly and ivy in the Christmas carol, of a sea of bluebells swaying in the wind. All these words have been removed from this dictionary. To mark their loss, the Lettering Arts Trust exhibited a number of beautiful letter-cut artworks at their gallery in Snape Matings in 2019. They also produced a wonderfully designed, exquisitely illustrated catalogue to accompany this.

The ingenuity of the letter cutters, demonstrating also their craftsmanship, is shown in this piece by the great Tom Perkins. With his distinctive letter-forms, the letters R and U nestle under their respective preceding Cs, and the letter O is replaced by a gentle opening crocus but still retaining the letter-form.

Hazel is often used for weaving and basketry and here Emi Gordon has woven the strokes of the letters so that they interlace and overlap, with a gently twisted crossbar to the letter A and an elegant flourish at the end. The selection of the paint colour for the letters is particularly appropriate.

The delicacy of hazel is in sharp contrast to Gillian Forbes’ piece, with the network of pointed leaves sitting like hands cradling the gilded conkers. The style of lettering seems particularly apt and the way in which the leaves have been cut outlines their shape in the top left-hand corner.

Occasionally, the letters themselves aren’t really necessary to convey meaning and shape. Here the word pasture is suggested in a field of pasture. Let your eyes blur a little to work out the shapes – they are there! Phil Surey’s work certainly gives new meaning to ‘pastures new’!

And very graphically, here a little boy is fishing for minnows, sitting on a deck which is supported by the very word. Gentle reeds blowing in the wind add movement to the piece and point the way to the boy, his float bobbing colourfully on the water. A very evocative piece by Stuart Buckle.

Work out willow here in a piece that mirrors the gentle willow swaying in the breeze. Joe Hickey mourns the loss of the word where the wood is used for weaving and for cricket bats.

The exhibition is on at the Lettering Arts Trust at Snape Matings, Suffolk IP17 1SP from 15th March to 26th May 2019 and is well worth a visit. The catalogue is available from their website.

This entry was posted in Blog, Calligraphy and lettering, Craft, Exhibitions, Uncategorized and tagged Emi Gordon, Gillian Forbes, Joe Hickey, Letter carving, letter cutting, Lettering Arts Trust, limestone, Phil Surey, slate, Snape Matings, Stuart Buckle, The Lost Words: Forget-me-not, Tom Perkins on 14 April 2019 by Patricia.

How do you Want to be Remembered?

Thirty years ago Harriet Frazer MBE set up Memorials by Artists – now the Lettering Arts Trust, of which I am a proud patron. Harriet had had problems finding just the right headstone for her step-daughter who had died young. Not wanting the usual impersonal polished granite, with machine-made letters, Harriet found it difficult to locate someone who could produce what she wanted. To help others who might be having similar problems, Harriet decided to set up the charity, putting those wanting a memorial in touch with the best craftsperson who could fulfil that.

But first, she needed to have some sort of identification – a branding or logo. Here are various lettering artists’ interpretations of the first name for the charity. On the top right, and what was chosen, is a wood engraving by Michael Renton, and below that the outline design by Tom Perkins. Nicholas Sloan’s design, bottom left, was lozenge-shaped, and Madeleine Dinkel’s design has exuberant flourishes and incorporates the dove of peace.

The potential individuality of each design, as opposed to a standard headstone, is shown here in this stone for Cynthia Felgate who was the co-originator of BBC’s Playschool and was one of the leading authorities on children’s television. Richard Kinderley’s design delightfully has two children playing hide-and-seek around the stone.

The charity doesn’t just focus on individual memorials as is shown by the Bali Bomb Memorial at the foot of the Clive Steps in Horseguards Road in London. Gary Breeze and Martin Cook both worked on this inspired design which consists of a large stone globe carved with 202 doves, each one different, representing the individuality of each person killed in the incident.

Names were carved into a curved wall, with stone seats.

And to show what a difference lettering style, shapes and decoration can make, Nicholas Sloan carved three different memorials for his mother. Each one reflects a different aspect of her character, a formal design cut into slate, then one which is more casual with an uneven edge, and lastly one which shows the interest in gardening and bee keeping.