The word calligraphy comes from two Greek words joined together; kallos, meaning "beauty", and graphein, meaning "to write" — literally "beautiful writing". There is a wealth of history behind the beautiful work that I do, and I am excited to be part of it and to be able to spread and share it with you.
For centuries, it has been written with a quill dipped into ink, and not much has changed. The same tools that were used then to write historical scrolls are now used to create a mix of traditional (Copperplate, Spencerian, Italian Hand, etc.) and chic, modern calligraphy.
Calligraphy is the art of letters. As such, it really has nothing to do with your everyday writing. You can have awful everyday handwriting, but that doesn’t mean your dip pen calligraphy won’t be fantastic! Dip pen calligraphy, and your writing when you jot down notes, are two entirely different beasts. Don’t let that discourage you!
The workshop I provide focuses on learning the basic traditional letter forms and then tweaking them to create a modern take on calligraphy. With lots of hands-on practice, you’ll find that calligraphy is not only beautiful to look at, it is also very therapeutic and addictive!
Words By Charlotte Chan
Pictures provided by Charlotte Chan