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Sarah Capel spends the
weekend learning the ancient art of calligraphy
What is it all about?
If there is a particular piece of written work
that you want to look impressive, such as your family tree, then that is the
workshop for you. In one day you can learn a calligraphic style and complete
a subject-led project over a weekend. This is a chance to load your pen with
black ink and glorious colour to explore the art of lettering in the lovely
rural surroundings of England's secret county, Herefordshire. The groups are
small, enabling the tutor, Christine Oxley, to give lots of individual
attention and the projects are set with ability in mind, so there is no need
to feel out of your depth.
What happens on the day?
I arrived the night before at a homely B&B
tucked away in the beautiful county of Herefordshire. Thankfully, the n ext
day I managed to orientate myself quite easily through the quiet farm lanes
to the old village school where the workshop was to be held. I was welcomed
in and met with the other participants. Christine began by giving a brief
history of lettering, showing us the development of the alphabet. We saw how
the tools and materials influence the marks and lettershapes. It was
interesting to see the variety of things we could use, such as quill
brushes, even lolly sticks!
She patiently encouraged us to make our first
marks upon the page. I had tried before to learn from books but found that
with hands-on directions, it was a lot easier to follow. We were soon able
to get the ink to flow and improve on our first scratchy marks. I began to
enjoy the sensation of the nib on the paper. Lots of individual
demonstrations led us through the alphabet and gave us confidence to write
whole words.
Over a hearty lunch, I asked fellow students
their reasons for coming on the course. The lady sitting next to me decided
to learn a new skill whilst her husband enjoyed the day fishing. Oliver was
a stone mason and had an interest in letters, Jo, who also enjoyed card
making, wanted to be able to write verses inside her greetings. Her husband
was on a trek to the nearby towns of Ludlow and Leominster.
The afternoon flew by, whilst we wrote in
colour, as well as being introduced to spacing and capital letters. We even
had a go at short quotations, which gave us a real sense of achievement.
Some participants were coming back tomorrow to build on what we had learned,
in a workshop devoted to using calligraphy with plant illustrations. By the
end of the day I felt fully equipped to continue at home, having had
practical guidance. I now understood the pleasure of conveying the English
language in a beautiful way.
(Extract from 'Crafts Beautiful'
magazine April 2006)
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