Sunday, August 2, 2009

once upon a time...

There were calling cards and regular correspondences via handwritten letters. Paper was handmade, and people used natural objects: feather, ink, wax.


Letters have a romantic quality, and are undoubtedly personal -- one hand grazing the paper as it writes, another hand opening the letter once it has arrived, the individual shapes of a person's alphabet, and the places where mistakes are still visible. Letters carry the evidence, perhaps, of the journey: water stains, folded corners.

Letter-writing is by no means a lost art, only a more expensive one. Fine recycled papers and eco-savvy inks, rising postage, and most especially, time, can be hard to come by.

Still, isn't it lovely to open the mail and find an envelope that doesn't contain a bill or an advertisement? The greeting card, the notepad, carefully designed gift wrap--they may not be necessary, but aren't they nice and easy on the eye?

This blog is about paper, and about the process of creating letterpress cards, and seeing where it goes. I am a writer by trade, but one creative endeavor seems to beget another, and so I'm trying out a new venture, just for fun, in whatever spare time I can make.

Expect things to change. The logos here are a work-in-progress collaboration with my brother, Andrew, who recently graduated with his art degree from San Jose State University, and who is hard at work on a fledgling silkscreen printing business. The name 'sublime' has a sentimental inspiration from my own college days, but is mainly inspired by a photograph. We're currently at work transforming that photo into a graphic. Plus, I like the idea of something tart and cheeky, and using a nice chartreuse.

2 comments:

  1. can't wait to see your creations!

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  2. Sublime will forever remind me of the retreat we went on freshman year of college when we barely knew each other. We had to introduce ourselves to the circle with a same letter adjective and our name. You were "Sublime Suzanne." I like the logo as long as you don't sell limes that aren't worth it.

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