Weathergram

In the middle of the twentieth century, an English and art professor named Lloyd Reynolds developed the weathergram. Since Reynolds was also a master calligrapher, he wrote his “weather writings” in calligraphy. These “poems” of about ten words or less were about nature and hung from tree branches for about three months, many times from summer solstice until the autumnal equinox. Reynolds was inspired by the Shinto prayer strips that were hung from trees in Japan, and so his weathergrams were written on strips of brown kraft paper or used grocery bags and hung from tree branches on the campus. His original project began with the first letter written in red ink, the body written in black, waterproof ink and the loose, spontaneous spacing of words. Although Reynolds used the Italic hand to do his writing, today’s calligraphers use a variety of fonts. Some things that have not changed:
Weathergrams are never sold,
Weathergrams do not convey violence or vulgarity and
Weathergrams never convey a political agenda.
Please bring your own ink and pen. These can also be Sharpie markers or even other non-permanent makers that will fade gracefully with time. We will supply the writing space, the brown paper ready for your design, twine for hanging your weathergram and over 100 weathergram sayings already composed! You might even give your own ideas a chance to flutter in the wind!

Bay Shore Lutheran Church
1200 E. Hampton
Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin
7:00 PM