Imagine opening a walk-in closet and finding an alphabet wardrobe. Each letter is a distinctive piece that can be used on its own or in combination with others to make a stunning outfit. Now imagine studying each letter alone. You may contemplate not only its shape but its counter spaces. Start with black on white; now play with just one letter. Create a mini-portfolio for your letter. That was how we began our study of the decorated letter with Nancy Culmone. In reality, our wardrobe was a slide show of contemporary calligraphy; capital letters used as works of art alone.  Our mini-portfolio was real; we chose one Neuland capital letter and studied its parts, four ways: cut, torn, left-over cutouts and crumbled whole. We pasted black letters on white arches text wove. This letter portfolio became the basis for our study for the day.
   Our next project was to choose one of our “letters” created from the cutouts to reproduce in ink. We were to choose an unusual one; perhaps the letter made from all the left over cutout pieces from the four capitals we made. These were fascinating studies, especially the textured letters created with our Stimudent and tongue depressor pens—herringbone capitals are possible you know! 
   Our final task was to make a stencil with a simple Roman capital. We then used water color to define the counter spaces and added colored pencils to accent and enhance the color work. The time flew by so that our homework was to complete a stencil of our Neuland letter and paint the counter spaces. 
   We enjoyed the highlights of contemporary artists who are using capital letters alone to create works of art. We also learned about synesthete Vladimir Nabakov, a Russian man who associated letters with colors. His brain literally interpreted a letter as a color. Nancy explained that there are also individuals who associate musical notes with colors in their minds. Nancy gave us the tools and processes to study contemporary capitals that can stand alone or be used to highlight a calligraphic work in one day with “The Decorated Letter.”

by Linda West

Nancy Culmone and Jacqueline Lacey

Photos by Lorraine Brown