Postcards in the Air : MAKING MARKS

Thursday, October 19, 2023

MAKING MARKS

A mural in Capitola with some lettering fonts used by graffiti artists

Some weeks I find it hard to sit down and write. World events get in the way. Yet, I also know what value and calmness I receive when I write my thoughts or draw what I see around me. I think about the calligraphy classes I have taken and the meditative quality they create from concentrating on one task. Maybe today is a good day to work with my hands. A moment of solitude.

A part of a piece of graffiti in downtown San Francisco

Last Saturday I took part in a class led by Cora Pearl, who is part of a group of five amazing calligraphers each offering a one-day class this month. Their subject, the line, is my favorite design element. Line is the fundamental element before shape, value, color, texture, or contrast. Without lines we have nothing.

Lines across the front of a building

Humans make marks on everything they touch including caves, buildings, canvas, and the sand beneath our feet. We also now make marks in the sky. Last weekend over our heads the Blue Angels performed aerial stunts that mark the sky and follow a long tradition of aerial acrobatics that began with the early barnstorming pilots during the Roaring Twenties of the last century.

Mosaic of jet trails by Bill Slavin

Since moving to San Francisco, I've noticed how many empty storefronts trail along the streets. They have become a venue for graffiti in quantities that I haven't seen since the beginning of this century. Many people then were outraged by the seeming desecration of public spaces and rightly so, yet some of the graffiti artists, such as Banksy, Dondi White, and Lady Pink, became well-known because of their fantastic flourishes on grey concrete walls. Their work exists in museum exhibits now. Many cities adopted the practice of public murals in response. The murals fill the ugly grey walls, with ideas, lines, colors, and honors to citizens of their communities. In the Bay Area, murals proliferate in Oakland, Santa Cruz, San Jose, and Walnut Creek.

on a San Francisco side street

You may or not like the graffiti put up by taggers or you may or may not like the designs made by architects and designers that appear on the outsides of buildings. For me, one of the values of art is to present new ideas in interesting ways that test your comfort zone. Once I take the time to look and try to understand the other person's feelings, ideas, and process, I can decide whether I like what they produced or not.