REFRESH

One Saturday in January, members of the Friends of Calligraphy gather for Trivial Pursuits, a day-long workshop that gives us a chance to catch up with friends, meet new ones, and try our hands at art projects. The day is like a game day for calligraphers, unlike the rigorous routine of regular calligraphy classes.

I arrived at the church hall near Japantown where the event is held each year. I looked around the room to see familiar faces and some new ones. Six members of the group volunteered to lead classes that allowed us to experiment with paper sculpting, stamping, eco-card making, and practicing meditation by drawing circles with a Chinese brush.

My results from Trivial Pursuits
 a bookmark, two letter stamps,
an eco-card with envelope, Enso circles, and Celtic knots.

As I looked at each table, I could see the packets each instructor had meticulously prepared for us. The packets held the supplies needed for the project they presented to the group. I grabbed a cup of coffee before I sat down to construct an ornament of paper circles from paper that had calligraphic writing on it already. 

After the first class finished, I moved with a different group of members to a table where we wrote a quote in a circle on a piece of eco-printed paper. Once finished, we fit the paper inside a black frame and addressed the envelope provided. 

At the next table, I found a completely different experience. Holding a Chinese brush at the top of the brush instead of near the brush end, I made circles following the practice known as Enso, a form of meditation. The circles are drawn slowly and helped to quiet my own rapid mind.

After lunch, we gathered for our fourth lesson. I opened a folder to find instructions to make Celtic knots, the complex pattern often appearing in Medieval manuscripts. Making the pattern reminded me of setting type for a letterpress. I needed to concentrate on the pattern and the world around me disappeared.

Celtic Knots

In the next class, we created letters cut from sticky-backed foam which we inked and stamped onto a piece of paper. The stamps could be a good way to mark authorship of a project.

In the next class, we made bookmarks using acrylic paint. I randomly placed removable Scotch tape onto a piece of watercolor paper and then brushed various colors of acrylic paint over the entire surface. Once the paint was dry, I removed the tape, which left the white paper showing. I cut the watercolor paper into strips of different lengths and widths and adhered some to the bookmark provided. Along one edge I wrote a quote by Fran Leibowitz about reading.

My bookmark with an error in the quote.
It should say, "Think before you speak. Read before you think."

All day the room was buzzing with laughter and questions, with people showing each other completed projects and learning about new tools. At the end of the day, tired from all that creativity, we all cleaned tables, folded chairs, rolled the tables into storage, bundled up our projects, hugged friends, and walked out feeling refreshed and motivated to continue to explore the techniques learned at Trivial Pursuits.

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Jim Costa:  Don’t give into the lies. Don’t give into the fear. Hold onto the truth and to hope.