LYNNWOOD – Clear your mind. Use vertical strokes. Spacing, spacing, spacing.
Ward Dunham, a master calligrapher, spoke slowly and deliberately to his classroom full of adults at Edmonds Community College. His students grew silent as they leaned over their calligraphy sheets, their broad-edged pens in hand.
“The simpler something is, the more obvious it becomes when you get it wrong,” Dunham told his students.
On Saturday, more than 200 book and word artists from around the Pacific Northwest came to Edmonds Community College for the 25th annual Letters of Joy conference.
Dunham, who lives in San Francisco, attended as the event’s keynote speaker. Some participants came from as far as Utah and Texas.
“Coming and meeting all of these people, a lot of the time I only see them once a year,” said Nancy Morains, 59, of Lacey. “They’re all so talented, and I learn so much from them.”
The conference began Friday night, but classes didn’t begin until Saturday. Topics included book binding, embroidery and pop-up books. More than 20 instructors were on hand to share their experiences with participants.
Morains learned how to craft marbled paper more than two decades ago at a folk festival in Seattle. Marbling is the art of printing multicolored swirled or stone-like patterns on paper or fabric.
Now an accomplished marbler and book binder, she came to the conference to share and discuss her crafts.
To create marbled paper is like capturing a moment in a kaleidoscope, Morains said.
“There have always been people who do this,” she said. “It’s one of those things that reaches back.”
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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