Sometimes calligraphy is not the answer to a lettering conundrum. Earlier in June I was contacted by designer Anita Bell to write several sentences on two 3 metre split and steam bent branches of Ash. The wood had been crafted by Ambrose Vevers, and was to be part of a larger sculpture, designed by Anita, that was to be installed in a contemporary office space in Shoreditch, London.
Anyhow, I met up with Anita and we concluded that my calligraphy might not be the answer… a cleaner, fresher, more contemporary lettering solution was needed…

Okay, there is no easy way to explain this other than:- Bodoni Font; tracing paper; 0000 paint brush; black acrylic paint, and 26 hours of painstaking very awkward painting…

After installation

Installed

Close-up

Close-up

Tricky to take a picture of…

Still tricky to photograph…

I swear that this was one of the hardest projects I have ever worked on… working out if the sentences would fit… dealing with an uneven surface… fitting the branches into my studio without breaking a window… Although when I finished the pain was worth it, it was what Anita wanted, and for me, it was an achievement. Plus, this has given me a new, and healthy interest in well designed font lettering… there may be more of this sort of thing going on on this blog!