Friday, November 20, 2009

19th-Century Calligraphy With a Modern Twist

I love these framed calligraphy pieces from Carlson and Stevenson with such fervor. It's a treat to see the multi-colored inks, and the whimsmical quality of the fonts calls to mind the present-day craze for hand-lettering in graphic design (don't believe me? Check out Etsy).





For the calligraphy-obsessed, Piper Publishing offers a re-issue of the 1881 Real Pen Work Self-Instructor in Penmanship. Seeing the samples, I'm astonished at how our forebears incorporated so much artisanship into their daily lives through the simple act of writing.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Dali? Mais oui!

I just finished restoring the mechanical bank that my grandfather made for me (MANY) years ago, when I was ten.



My aim was to make it look like a turn-of-the-century gent, but methinks he looks more than a little like Salvador Dali, no?



Swallow the coin and . . . voila!



Grandpa’s long gone, but I still cherish all the handcrafts he made for us.