Barely held together by the ziplock bag in which it is preserved, the March 1900 paperback was displayed at our May 2022 craft meet-up. I was struggling to settle down after dealing with a minor crisis earlier in the morning. As soon as my eyes fell upon this treasure, I was captivated. Carefully turning the pages, I let out one gasp after another as the incredibly beautiful alphabets took more and more of my breath away.
As the organiser of the event, I should have been attending to the hosting duties. I felt my responsibilities guilt-nudge me but the allure of the treasure on the table was far too gripping. I abandoned my duties and reminded myself why I started the Crafters’ Clubhouse. First and foremost is creativity and enjoyment.
Part of me overheard the conversation around the table and I made a clumsy attempt to join in but I soon accepted that I was already far down my rabbit hole in wonderland.
What makes a torn book of letters from 1900 a wonderland? I have been lettering since I was 12 years old. I never took it seriously or perfected my penmanship but the love and admiration of artistic lettering stayed with me somehow. One of my fond childhood memories are the fairy tale books in which the first letter of the story was a prominent and decorative piece of art. I recall admiring those letters and all the imagination and wonderment of the story seemed to be captured in that one letter for me. Perhaps I have projected my inner child love of fairy tales onto decorative letters and considering she is very alive and active, it’s no surprise I would tumble so easily into wonderland at the sight of these vintage beauties.
Having forgotten my brush pens, I was unable to do my watercolor painting. I think that was a Freudian lapse of memory. I decided to work with the letters. No pencil between us, it was time to trust my hand, take up a marker and go with the flow – lessons abound! What followed was a wonderful trip into the world of fairy tales where everything begins with a beautiful letter.
Another obvious connection to these decorative alphabets are manuscripts, sacred texts, magick and other wondrous works of ritual and ceremony. I don’t need a second invitation to such things. I will be there before you can say “drink me“. When an artist or scribe spends so much dedication creating a document, it inevitably acquires a certain mysticism which I find irresistibly intriguing.
While I was lettering a single letter M for the whole morning (between group chatter), I also teleported to a 1900-type London. I imagined people like me practicing their letters or embroidering them as monograms. I recall saying to our group, “I want to live in these times. I don’t think I was meant to be in this time.” Had I been remotely close to the standing stones, I would have time travelled for sure. Us old souls have an uncanny way of vividly remembering the things we loved back then. Letters from 1900 are like standing stones and other time travel portals. They take us back and feed our souls with the yearnings we hold dear for 100 years or more. I think we are like stitching between centuries.
Times Between with Michelene 