Made by Hand: The Art of Lettering
Most “lettering” the average person does on a regular basis involves a computer. We type; we save; we print. The software does the work of arranging our letters in a pleasing way, and the printer magically produces the image of what we see on the screen. (OR – the words may never even be produced in physical form, like this blog for example.) This is a very indirect connection from hand to word, compared to what came before computers.
In the past, letters and words were produced by methods that more directly involved the human hand in their production: handwritten with a quill, pencil or pen; hand-printed from individually arranged type that had been carved from wood or cast from metal; or carved into stone by a precise and artful hand. Even typewriters linked the human hand more closely to the text than today’s printers.
On Saturday, October 29 Historic Deerfield is pleased to host demonstrations that reveal the art of lettering. Carl Darrow will demonstrate letterpress printing from 10:30 to 4:00; Karin Sprague will demonstrate gravestone carving from 10:30 to 4:00.
Karin Sprague about her work:
When I was younger I would stroll around burial grounds. I loved the serenity. And I loved reading the stories on the stones. I was fascinated with letter design; it was intuitive. I can remember cutting out letters from different cereal boxes and was just knocked out by how the “C” in cheerios was different from the “C” in content.
I was introduced to a teacher, David Klinger, in 1991. I had been carving wood signs for twelve years. He was doing beautiful stone sculptural work. David gave me a tablet and asked me to carve some letters. I can clearly say there was an ignition in my soul. I thought, “This is what I’ve been waiting for all my life.”
The first gravestone I carved was in 1996, after my father-in-law died suddenly. I had barely finished that one when an article came out about it and I was commissioned to do four more. It hasn’t stopped. We’re up to about twenty-four a year. Thirty percent of the work we do is for the living. They hear about my work and come in and say, “I want you to carve my stone. I don’t want to leave this to my kids.”
You walk through the new sections of cemeteries today, and you see “John Smith, 1937-2004,” separated by a dash. But how did you live your dash? There’s no story. A lot of today’s signs, everything is computer font and sterile and doesn’t have any soul. The most important tool I use is my heart. I don’t think this art will ever die.
Carl Darrow is a resident of Conway, Massachusetts. He first became interested in letterpress printing as a high school student:
I was in high school and in those days they had a course called industrial arts – shop. Students could learn carpentry, metalworking, etc. They had a print shop in my high school and I did the printing there for tickets for high school events. At the same time my uncle who was my mentor and an artist gave me a small press and some type. He had a job at a letterpress shop in Grovesville, NY. After college I resumed my interest in printing and became involved with others in the DC area and I acquired more and more equipment. I got involved in the Fine Press Book Association. Today there are 12 members in our area. I still do letterpress printing, including limited edition books. I have a full fledged letterpress shop in Conway.
How did you get your equipment?
The technology for letterpress printing became out of date as the technology for printing advanced. Letterpress was out and other forms of printing like offset lithography, digital printing came in. Heavy equipment and lead type were cast aside by commercial printers. They were sent to the dump for scrap metal - or people like myself bought it.
I’ve been involved in doing this now since 1970s – 1980s. The two printing presses I have were both slated to go to the scrap iron place, but I bought them. Today people who sell this equipment have a waiting list because there are a quite a lot of people who are doing this.
The letterpress movement is really having a renaissance now. Letterpress shops like the one I have are now established at major colleges and universities in the US and Europe. They have formed their own association – the Collegiate Book Arts Association. In our area of western Massachusetts there are a number of other people who are doing this, with a focus around Smith College in particular.
Please join us on Saturday, October 29 Historic Deerfield. Carl Darrow will demonstrate letterpress printing from 10:30 to 4:00; Karin Sprague will demonstrate gravestone carving from 10:30 to 4:00.