Lay Members’ Exhibition 2022

Welcome to the virtual edition of
the 2022 Lay Members' Exhibition,
shown at Capital Letters.

Tony Curtis FSSI has kindly written comments
on the submissions.

We hope you enjoy the exhibition.

The uncial letterform adopted for this work is carried through
to the drawn and painted title word where it serves its purpose well,
although the weight of these letters is a little excessive, especially
with the E. Writing formed around a spiral is never easy but it flows
reasonably here and the geometric form adopted for each of
the three verses is accurately drawn (using the ‘offset semi-circle’
technique, very sensible); it also makes good use of internal space.
The uncial texts are a little uncertain in execution, sharpness,
and form; I feel it would be worthwhile revisiting the script with
those essentials in mind. However, this is a nicely arranged piece,
and the decorative elements help to bring a pleasing balance
to the whole.

In this concertina album the three verses of Emily Dickinson’s poem
are written on one page each, with an additional page containing
a bird emblem, gracefully drawn in weighted line‑work. A black
paper cover, illustrated with a gold feather and the poet’s name,
completes (and complements) the binding. The tiny, flourished
italic script, follows a large gilded (raised and burnished) initial for
each verse, itself decorated with a delightful stylized floral pattern
which is both restrained and elegant. All the elements of this piece
work very well together and are testament to the enormous amount
of planning and work that must have been required to produce
this delightful book.

The italic writing in this work is confident, rhythmic, and executed
with consummate skill. Flourishes and stroke extensions, such as
swash serifs, can be quite challenging but with these letters they
are an assured part of the letterform. This is true also for
the capital letters, which have considered (i.e. understood and
applied with care) personal qualities that harmonize brilliantly.
The four letters of the title word follow suit with capitals of
a heavier weight which are again sharp and soundly constructed
– but also free. The colour and composition work well but a
small credit line would have been a good addition. A very nice piece.

This short statement on a variegated background is a celebration
of the colour blue, and the effect on the paper that has been
achieved is bold and strong, cascading effectively down into
a deep margin at the bottom. The lightweight compound capitals,
used for four of the five words, are unified and evenly weighted
and fall gracefully down the page. Some letter pairs are linked
or share constructional elements; perhaps the junctions that
occur in the first two words are the least readable, but this could
be down to the clarity of the photograph and certainly does not
detract from the design. An interesting piece.

This is a clean, sharp rendering of a modern classic format.
The light italic letters flow naturally and with a personal quality,
serifs extend to hairline flicks and many other strokes run on
into light flourishes without hesitation; almost, but not quite,
cursive. There is great energy, but also discipline, in this writing.
The scale of the other text – title and credit – is nicely balanced
and the simple ‘block’ illustrations, as well as the colour scheme,
greatly compliment the piece.

A modern variant of copperplate writing, this script
certainly has energy and momentum, but it is not
always as readable as it might be, causing the
scanning eye to stumble a little here and there.
However, this is a minor issue and the spectacular
painting of the kingfisher, seemingly as it breaks
free, scattering water, is dramatic. There is a great
deal of depth and movement in this piece.

Here we have a strong and bold use of Roman rustic capitals,
nicely decorated and all kept fervently within the ‘blue’ theme.
Rustic caps are by no means easy, but these have caught
the essential characteristics whilst responding well to a few
letterform adjustments to suit their purpose. The four words
written in an open gothic style (more Bâtarde) occupy the space
very well and the closing copperplate line pins the design neatly.
Some of the internal decoration lacks detail but the ‘devil’ header
is well drawn and the whole piece sits nicely within its boundaries.
A neat and balanced piece.

An ambitious panel about some of the ancient origins
of blue pigments and dyes – a good choice of subject,
with plenty of source material. The text blocks are written
in an informal italic, which is fine in and of itself, but their
structure is loose and imprecise – coupled with the rather
generous spaces between text areas it makes for an
unbalanced piece, overall. A title for the panel would also
have helped to focus the observer’s attention. The colour
palette carries the theme well but is rather heavily applied
in places. A reasonable piece, but it might be useful to
examine some of the issues above.

An interesting rendering of one of JRR Tolkien’s poems; I feel
that the choice of a style of copperplate handwriting has suited
the piece, and its context, admirably. Well spaced and arranged
(although the image does not indicate margin sizes on the A4
support), the writing is reasonably accomplished although it
does not include the poem’s punctuation or the author’s name
– which would, I feel, have finished the work better.

The imagery and symbolism used in this piece link nicely,
and appropriately, with the papyrus support on which
they sit. Cuneiform is, of course, a pre-alphabetic script
so it was a bold move to model roman letters on them
for the title statement about Howard Carter, but I can
understand the reasoning and there is some working
imagery there with the triangular serifs (papyrus can
present a difficult surface to work on). An enjoyable piece.

This little piece contains some facts about Howard Carter and
his discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. The monoline
writing is based on an uncial style of book-hand and although
it is written rather freely it does embrace the essence of the
script. The imagery at the top and bottom of the piece neatly
captures the Egyptian theme in form and colour, and everything
is carefully centred. A quite effective piece, overall.

There is bold and colourful imagery in this piece, with black writing
superposed on a kaleidoscopic ground to the left of the piece and
a monochrome three-quarter profile of Howard Carter on the right.
The drawn and painted letters are of a reasonable minuscule form
which I am sure would respond to further study in that area, but
the illustration of Carter is a little indistinct, especially at the
boundary with the multicoloured half. An interesting idea.

The semi-italic forms of this script have a degree of traditional unity
but feel just a little static here and there, possibly due to the vertical
stance. Also, some strokes ‘fly away’ abruptly (notably the v and r),
which also unsettles the scanning line. However, the gilding is ambitious
and effective – it certainly illuminates the work; also, the motif in the
middle of the layout helps to focus the design, pinning the visual centre.
Overall, an interesting piece.

A complex geometric pattern based on Metatron’s Cube and consisting of
equilateral hexagons forms the centrepiece of this work, along with a grid
of overlapping circles, within which a delicate use of colour-blending draws
the eye inwards, to great effect. The quote from Carl Jung, which encircles
the pattern, is written in a monoline capital hybrid alphabet that takes a
modernist form but ultimately becomes itself – it does have some spacing
problems but generally performs its function well. Scattered across the
background on the dark paper are stars of varying magnitude, and the
symmetry of the whole piece – gilding, lettering, geometry, colours –
is tied together very well.

This is a colourful piece that plainly states its purpose,
with painted and gilded compound letters on a very
convincing starscape background. The second O of
COSMOS has been replaced with an image of Saturn
(or Uranus?), but the remaining letters are based
around classical display capitals which generally work
well – some more than others – for example, the M
has a solid double-arched form with a good hairline
serif. A pleasing piece of work.

Pointed italic in its most essential form can be powerful and raw –
tapping, as it does, into essential letterform qualities – but it can
also suit a great many applications, and it does so here. Arguably,
the colour shift in the first word is too pale at the beginning and
it has weakened the descender of the p, but this is not a significant
issue. This piece is pure, elegant, and very accomplished.

The many-circled and beautifully symmetrical South Rose Window
of Chartres Cathedral has been carefully reproduced here. There
cannot be direct comparisons made between works, or copies, of
art made across different media (here we have stained glass and
architectural tracery interpreted with drawing ink and hot-pressed
paper) and neither is it necessary to aim for one hundred percent
fidelity; the work becomes something of its own. Some of the
window’s detail has presented problems and the colours have not
transferred with the brilliance of the original, particularly the blues
and reds, but again, there is a tremendous variation in scale here
and colour works in quite different ways with different media. The
three-line title for the piece feels somewhat detached and, although
lettered in medieval display capitals they are a little late in period
and are rather too ornate. None of which seriously detracts from
the vitality of this work.

This striking piece is, in the first place, a celebration of circular symmetry,
but each leaf (it seems) has been hand-cut and very carefully placed and
assembled – there is a great deal of precision work on display here.
Twelve gilded words in an elegant copperplate script adorn the topmost
layer of the design, all complementary to the shapes, colours, and patterns
that form the rest. A strong and imaginative piece of work.

This interpretation of Magee’s famous poem uses ‘reversed out’ letters,
written with a type of resist against a painted background, and it works
reasonably well. It can be difficult to work with any resist media, but I
feel that the technical issues have been surmounted admirably, there
are also apparent layers and colour tone variations which are also
effective. The writing itself feels at times to be modelled on both italic
and Foundational hand but does not settle to either; I feel that some
revision would be useful there. Minor issues are the line spacing (a little
too tight) and the curving lines which need, perhaps, more discipline.

This monogram of the initials EJ (for the artist, I am sure) is interesting
and does have some of the hallmarks of Bernd – letters and background
formed in proximity with narrow channels of space between them and
on that level, it works very well. However, the letters are largely
rectilinear, and their shared strokes contribute to an overall box shape
for the monogram which, I feel, steers the design more towards the
abstract and unbalances it a little. I also think that adding more weight
to the letters and making use of curved variants of them (of which there
are many choices) would have made for a more harmonious piece.

The green gothic writing in this piece, words taken from the text,
creates a dense pattern of informal compound letters which contrast
powerfully and most effectively with the main body of text; difficult
to decipher but certainly no worse for that. The colours within those
words shift and change in attractive and subtle ways and all the
negative spaces in this piece are well controlled. Competent
semi-formal italic writing completes the quote and makes an informed
nod towards the source material’s period – the spacing is gracious
and measured for letter, word, and line; the credit line floats, perhaps,
too high, but it serves to ‘pin’ the upper right corner neatly.

Foundational hand is a good choice for writing out a quote from Plato,
touchstone letterform that it is, and this model bears all the essential
hallmarks. There is more work to be done on some aspects, including
the essential structure of some letter families and the updating of
archaic forms but with extended practise and growing confidence this
writing should continue to mature very nicely. The geometric pattern
in pencil (plus the credit) is underplayed and therefore balance well
with the writing, and all the working spaces have been carefully
managed. A competent piece of work.

Gothic letterforms can tend to be overlooked when seeking good models
for a piece of formal writing today but there is no denying the power of
the script or its rich, pattern‑making, potential; and this little piece
demonstrates both. While the textura letters are confidently formed,
the rhythm and spacing is a little uneven and the flourishes are somewhat
over-decorative – in that they do not necessarily harmonize with the main
pen strokes. The markers produce colours that are vibrant but patchy;
perhaps a more even film of gouache paint would have been more effective.

Italic writing can distil the very essence of rhythm, energy,
and movement, of course, and it is used to great effect in
transcribing these words from Lu Yu. The curving lines of
writing are carefully controlled, and the letters faithfully
keep track, with the occasional flourish which helps to
reinforce freedom and motion. The underlying drawing in
pastel complements the monochrome theme and is
sympathetically posed – it also ties in well with the writing.
An imaginative piece.

The illustration in this piece stands strong and clear;
tree and leaves are softly tinted and sit behind the clean
and sharp painting of four blackbirds (which I particularly
like); the contrast is very marked. The fruit is beautifully
gilded in different shades of gold leaf which lends a subtle
variety to the whole. Lettering in a circle can be difficult
to manage and there are a few spacing issues with the
slightly weighted caps, as well as one or two problems
with letterform here and there, but not seriously so.
Coloured inter-word dots have linked lettering and
illustration most agreeably – although perhaps some of
the dots are too large. A charming piece.

This is an ambitious project involving, as it does, lettering and
illustration on a circular ceramic support. The painted compound
capitals are modelled reasonably well and are radially aligned
with care, although there are a few issues with letterform unity
and spacing. The central illustration creates an effective focal
point, and the use of colour elsewhere helps to ‘punctuate’ the
aesthetics of the piece, although the colour density is rather
varied. While the text is clear enough, the sector of negative
space and the hyphenated word does tend to hinder readability
towards the end.
Nonetheless, this work presents a pleasing balance.

The shadowy overtones of this Edgar Allan Poe quote have
been handled well here, with an exquisitely painted miniature
of a raven as a centrepiece and expertly written italic and
Roman capitals above and below, all carefully centred and
demonstrating effective use of colour; also, the tight interlinear
spacing encourages the overall feeling. The gilded cartouche
which contains the painting is, perhaps, over-decorated laterally
and the credit text, written along the vertical axis feels
misplaced – but these are minor issues. This is an atmospheric
piece which certainly draws the eye.

Texts written in the Irish language are not very often seen
as works of calligraphy, comparatively at least, so this poem
by Séamus Ó Néill is a welcome submission. The insular-style
writing is sharp, unified, and lively as it drops down the page
interleaved by an English translation in neat red capitals;
all the writing lines are arcs of curves, and this adds another
level of vitality. With decoration in gold leaf and handprints
in paint all elements work together to produce a distinctive
and striking piece of formal writing.

The illustration in this piece is particularly effective, especially
the landscape/marine element in the bottom third with the
washed colours and stylized imagery. The rest of the work
feels more like a nod to medieval illumination, with the use of
metal leaf, star patterns and an almost-heraldic sun disc – all
reasonably effective. The uncial writing is competent but
lacking in certain finishing detail, such as definite serif forms
and sharpness of pen strokes – but these things will continue
to improve with more experience. The writing also feels
slightly detached from the design of the whole, but the piece
is generally well balanced.

A straightforward rendering of the first verse of
Masefield’s famous poem in lightweight uncial
letters which are reasonable interpretations of
most standard model letterforms of that script.
The accompanying illustration on a shoreline
theme is very accomplished and echoes the
light touch of the writing. An interesting piece.

Thank you for viewing the virtual
2022 Lay Members' Exhibition.

We hope to see you next year!