In 2002 I was commissioned by a Quaker (Society Of Friends) couple to hand letter their marriage contract. The words are traditional and I got to add their personal touches. The wedding took place in Texas, so one of the decorations is a stylized Bluebonnet. The names of the bride and groom are in traditional European Royal Blue and Red, both Cardinal colors. All the writing is gouache and there are touches of 24k gold leaf.
Traditional words, their touches, my writing and drawing, the best part, to me, are the signatures of the witnesses. The paper is laid finish Bainbridge. And is 12x16. Without the signatures, the whole piece would have been terribly incomplete, as would have been the wedding.
I love the signatures and the way everyone kept the lines fairly straight – though everyone was afraid of both left and right margins. There were NO LINES to help. I did provide pigmented pens, so that the signatures would be permanent, just like the intentions, vows, promises, papers, gouache and gold.
The following quote came to me in with the sweet spirit and teaching of Peter Thornton, my lettering tutor and a great and handsome British calligrapher (Peter, did I say that correctly?) I first met in 1982. The quote is from A Dream Of John Ball by William Morris, (yes, the guy that made the furniture too):
Forsooth, brothers, fellowship is heaven, and lack of fellowship is hell: fellowship is life, and lack of fellowship is death: and the deeds that ye do upon the earth, it is for fellowship's sake that ye do them, and the life that is in it, that shall live on and on for ever, and each one of you part of it ...
The fellowship is a lifetime centered on a day and then back to our normal orbits, enriched by a memory. Yes, ink, promises and images. Meeting, reunion and new friendships all because of the catalyst of a wedding.
Some things are worth sharing, worth the travel, worth the effort because in the day or two of great fellowship we have that little bit of heaven. And THAT is worth everything. © Tim http://www.timjohnsonphoto.com/
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