This poem is timeless, thought-provoking and simple. I’ve written it countless times, and it never fails to make me think. This is calligraphy at its best – writing out a poem is a slow process where you have to consider the shape and flow of every word. The slowness of calligraphy lettering also allows time …
Are you struggling to refine your modern calligraphy technique? Do you have all the kit, but you just can’t quite get the technique despite watching every insta and youtube video going? There’s one tip which I teach at the very beginning of all of my calligraphy workshops. It will make or break your calligraphy. Getting this …
Read more “The single most important trick you need to know to master modern calligraphy”
This commission was a gift for Fathers Day – from a previous customer who I remember working with back in 2014! Lovely Sarah had tracked me down through various website changes and a house (and telephone number) move – and had an idea for a poem commission for her husband for Fathers Day. He’d written …
Read more “From a Father – calligraphy poem commission for Fathers Day”
Last week was a bizarre and wonderful mix of calligraphy commissions – if anyone imagines the life of a calligrapher to be all wedding invitations, it couldn’t be further from the truth! It’s one of my favourite things about Etsy: the requests for bespoke calligraphy commissions which come from all over the world can be …
Read more “Something completely different! A memorial scholarship in calligraphy”
This poem almost had me in tears. If you’ve ever lost someone close to you, these words will resonate. Writing pieces like this in calligraphy is humbling. Every stroke of the pen has to be as perfect as I can possibly make it. To somehow do justice to this beautiful piece of poetry is a …
I lose myself in writing. Pen and paper is my happy place. Many of you will too – there is often a moment, halfway through a calligraphy workshop, where I’ll look around and see a calm has settled on the class. Calligraphy kind of needs concentration and the ability to drift off in equal measure. …
In my last blog post I explained about calligraphy pens, how they work and the different types. Today let’s have a look at the nib itself. Nibs are pointy little silver magic wands. A genius combination of design and gravity makes a pointed calligraphy nib one of my favourite inventions in the world. The curve …
Read more “How do calligraphy nibs work? A visual map to explain the magic… Part 2”
Way back in 2012 I first came across Cox & Cox‘s handmade place cards. They were beautiful, handmade paper with soft, torn edges. Cox & Cox advertised them as being ‘beautiful to write on’ – but the opposite was true! These were rough, fibrous and almost impossible to write on with a calligraphy nib and …
Read more “Are handmade papers suitable for modern calligraphy?”