The Giant Makers of Flanders
Handcrafted dragons, bears, miners, kings, and queens have ‘loomed large’ over festivals in the Flanders region for more than 200 years. Who’s making these traditional giants today?
Rediscovering the Craft of Slow Writing
A pen, a notebook, a vintage typewriter, some art supplies: A writer’s quest to reclaim her love of the craft opens up a new creative chapter (so to speak).
Calligraphy’s Hurdles
Picking up a longtime hobby, our publisher tries out some new calligraphy tools and techniques, only to find that mastering graceful script is harder—and messier—than it may appear.
Vintage Machines, Perfect Prints: The Legacy of The Sherwood Press
To letterpress lovers, the Heidelberg Windmill is a beloved icon of beauty and durability. This historic print shop in Olympia, WA, is devoted to keeping its Windmills—and their flawless prints—alive.
The Puzzling Craft of Dissectology
Our contributing editor digs into the fascinating, unusually detailed world of handcrafted jigsaw puzzles—and the little-known word for their devotees.
Reviving the Craft of Plant-Based Photo Developing
For Beatrice Thornton, an artist, photographer, and archivist based in Oakland, CA, nature is more than a muse: It’s also the source of the sustainable materials she uses for developing analog film.
“Why Letterpress Endures,” with Blake Riley of Arion Press
Blake RIley, the creative director of San Francisco’s beloved Arion Press, discusses some of the long history and persistent myths of letterpress printing; what keeps a centuries-old, labor-intensive industry going in a high-tech world; what ‘mastery’ means to him (it may surprise you!)—and why he never gets bored.
The Play Gap
In Providence, Rhode Island, Janice McDonnell started one of the unlikeliest of revolutions. On seven empty lots in the inner city, she set up a new kind of playground—places where kids could build anything they want, break anything they want. Her larger goals? To fight the disappearance of free play brought on by the relentless testing that’s become the norm in today’s schools—and to spread playful opportunities to all children, not just those from wealthy white families.
Written by TODD OPPENHEIMER
San Francisco’s “Last Black Calligrapher” Invites You to Go Deeper
Hunter Saxony III imbues his lettering work with layers of meaning, while also intentionally leaving it open to interpretation. In the process, he’s taking an age-old, traditional art form in a new direction. One summer morning in 2018, the artist currently known as Hunter Saxony III sat down in his San Francisco studio with eight…
