Paper Joy!

After clay(Sumerians and others), papyrus (Egyptians), thin wooden strips(Romans), parchment(Greeks) and vellum(Germans), along came PAPER. The idea for paper sheets and early sheet-making technology was imported from China along Arabian trade routes.

The clearest, most readable site that explains this is:

http://personales.upv.es/gbenet/teoria%20del%20color/water_color/paper1.html

As long as this link is up and running we don't to reinvent its excellent explanation of the nature and applications of paper and its variety of surfaces.

So, when you get to the special room of paper at Askew Taylors, or pay a visit to Jerry's or dive into Xpedx, you can have a better grasp of why you are investing in certain papers.

Weight, texture, color, pH, rag content and writability and printability are all factors that will influence your choice of papers for your project – whether it is for your writing or for binding or embossing or for broad applications.

Making your own stationery, binding your books or just having the right paper that makes your gouache or gold look more brilliant is important.

Some suggestions:

1. Have a supply of your favorite papers. Some people just want to have some 32# Cranes or some big sheets of Pergamente, Bainbridge, or Roma in the house, just for comfort. Name your paper and keep it near just in case you bust out in a writing frenzy.

2. Your will need to have a supply because the frenzy will come when the stores are closed. You can learn the hours of the stores, but they will be closed when you are at the most rabid creative moment. This need for a supply applies to ink and gouache as well.

3. Keep your pounce and sandarac handy.

4. Have some pens, water, mixing dishes and quills at the ready. You shouldn't have your writing board at the back of the closet and you shouldn't have to dig through five layers of holiday supplies to get to your lettering goodies. You don't want to lose that letterin' feeling.

When you are finished or even when you have your basic layout set up, share the energy and joy with a colleague. Scan or photograph what you have done and send the image along – it might inspire another person to create their own new art – on this wonderful thing called PAPER. © Tim

www timjohnsonphoto.com

Meeting Beyond The Greeting

Epictetus [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epictetus] was a first century Graeco-Roman philosopher[http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/epictetu.htm] . He had been born a slave and had earned his freedom. It is easy enough to find collections of his thoughts, thanks solely to the fact they were written down by one of his students.

If Epictetus had managed a blog, this entry would have been one of his favorites.

He was ranting over the number of people who come and “see” him. Granted, philosophers did have rock-star status in that day and people wanted to meet him. Of course, these visits interrupted his thinking and teaching.

People traveling through his town would “take him in” just like running past the Eiffel Tower for a snapshot or walking past THE WALL in DC just to say, “Been there; done that”.

Epictetus and his teaching were famous and people wanted to say that they had met him, but the great philosopher would not let the public off so easily. His observation runs:

But a man who meets a man is one who learns the other's mind, and lets him see his in turn. Learn my mind--show me yours; and then go and say that you met me. Let us try each other; if I have any wrong principle, rid me of it; if you have, out with it. That is what meeting a philosopher means.

Obviously there is much greeting and very little meeting going on.

I am watching, as are we all, a very intelligent, sincere President Barack Obama attempt to meet (according to the definition of Epictetus) with many people. He is trying to engage fellow leaders of a variety of cultures and countries. I believe his mind and heart are open to them and I believe just as sincerely that his efforts are being met with bull-headed opposition. He is dealing with that opposition in our own Senate and House Of Representatives and in the world forum.

For that I am sorry. People are holding onto their biases, won't budge on their budgets and the walls of ancient bigotry don't seem to crack.

He is past his first few months as our nation's leader. We can continue to pray for him as we have prayed for our leaders in the past. We can also pray that there is another world leader that will rise to begin the process of MEETING our President.

Coming back to earth, just how many people have you met (according to the definition of Epictetus) in your span of years?

In THE DAY we called it FORMATION. Those precious few who we know and have known us and have chipped and smoothed and formed us into useful tools in society are on that short list.
Obviously you can't meet (according to the definition of Epictetus) every acquaintance.

However, don't be satisfied with a book of autographs when you could have met the one or the few who could have changed your life and, through you, perhaps the lives of many others. © Tim
www.timjohnsonphoto.com