A Little Scrollwork . . .

One of the things I have always appreciated about the scroll as an art element is the simplicity of its line.  Theoretically, a perfect scroll can be executed in one confident stroke.  The line can vary from thick to thin, adding intensity and drama.  It’s almost like reading text because as you follow the beginning to the end of the scroll, it feels like you are on a little bit of a journey–stopping here to admire the view and there to see the bend ahead.  It’s not exactly what Frost meant when he wrote in 1916:

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both 

And be one traveler, long I stood 

And looked down one as far as I could.”

And yet I picture the path the artist’s hand took just like that.  How far could that scroll be if I sent it curling on into infinity?  In homage to the great calligraphers who spent their lives in pursuit of untraveled scroll roads, here is a deco scroll.