The Society for Calligraphy & Handwriting (SCH) meeting schedule is listed below. View the meetings page for directions to the meeting. Please arrive fragrance-free out of respect for others with sensitivities.
Decorated Letters with Kathy Barker
Date: Thursday September 19, 2024
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online and in-person at the Titan Robotics Warehouse in Redmond, WA
Drawing from historical sources as well as a collection of contemporary botanical illustrations, we will explore ways to embellish our majuscule (upper case) decorative letters. In this presentation, sample sheets of two alphabets will be provided and demonstrated to guide you in incorporating decorative elements into your chosen letters. Historical and contemporary border guides will also be included. As the holidays are just a few months away, this presentation could also give members a head start on creating special gift ideas or decoration for holiday card salutations.
Supplies:
- Eraser
- Tracing paper (suggested: Canson Tracing paper pad-9”x12”)
- Mechanical pencil (suggested: 0.5 Pentel Graphgear 500)
- “C-through” ruler
Calligraphic Brushstrokes in Sumi Horses with Caroline Callender
Date: Thursday October 17, 2024
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online and in-person at the Titan Robotics Warehouse in Redmond, WA
Equine artist Caroline Callender asks the question: what do brush painting and calligraphy have in common? As it turns out, everything! Her two-dimensional work is alive with motion and life. This workshop starts with a slide show about her ideas on depicting the power and energy of horses in motion using Sumi-e and other media. Her presentation is followed by a hands-on demonstration, in which the audience is encouraged to follow along.
“Every painting I do starts with me literally feeling in my own body the twist or turn, leap or rear of the horse’s body. Where would the energy flow? Which leg pushes off the ground, and how would the spine bend? …it the way of capturing the essences of its movement that is of utmost importance to me.”
Perhaps after Caroline’s presentation, you can begin to find your own rhythm and movement translated to the calligraphic brush.
Supplies:
- Rice paper
- Sumi (Chinese or Japanese)
- Pointed brushes
- Ink, water, and mixing dish
- Paper towels
- Ink stone and stick are optional
Commissions & Projects from Start to Finish with Tim Hall
Date: Thursday November 21, 2024 This meeting is cancelled due to local power outages and downed trees on the roads and will be rescheduled in the new year.
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online and in-person at the Titan Robotics Warehouse in Redmond, WA
Join us as calligrapher and SCH founder Tim Hall leads us through his method for tackling commission work.
“For commissions, it is important to understand the clients’ thoughts and needs and estimate costs. Then, the steps I follow are conceptualizing the project; roughing out ideas (papers, scripts, colors, size etc. etc.); letting it sit; order of steps to completion.”
Supplies:
- 1mm or 1.5mm pen
- Different inks to try
- Paper samples provided
SCH Meetup: “Retreat Day”
Date: Sunday January 12, 2025
Time: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Location: In-person only at the Titan Robotics Warehouse in Redmond, WA
This laid-back program will encourage people to bring their own art projects to work on in a no-pressure environment. Use this day to catch up on projects, try to finish something you’ve started, or just hang out and see what others are working on in a supportive environment.
Art Nouveau Lettering (Late 19th Century) with Violet Smythe
Date: Thursday January 16, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online only
Art Nouveau is well-known for its dynamic movement in linework, ranging from energized whiplash lines to longer, sinuous curves. This whimsical movement was largely inspired by nature; ornaments included insects, flora, and even mythological creatures. In this program we will look at some of the styles of hands used in the late 19th century and letter a hand or two. We will be working primarily in pencil but will, depending on time, work with a round bent nib (see supply list) and/or gel pens on dark paper.
Supplies list:
Paper
- Borden and Riley #37 Layout/Marker paper OR Rhodia Bloc Rhodia No. 18 paper OR practice paper you use with your nibs and ink
- Black paper, bond or card stock
Tools
- Pencil, like Blackwing or 2B (wood or mechanical)
- B-nib, Brause Ornamental Nib 500 (size 0.75, 1, 2, or 3), and/or Speedball (B3, B4, or B5) you need different nib sizes for this demo
- You can purchase Brause Ornament Nib and Speedball B-Series from John Neal Bookseller
- Gel pens (Sakura Moonlight Size 10 will be used in the demo)
- Any ink of choice
- Color pencils (optional)
Sculptured Paper Roman Capitals with Kay Lewis
Date: Thursday, February 20, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online and in-person at the Titan Robotics Warehouse in Redmond, WA
Kay Lewis will lead the workshop to create gorgeous paper Roman capitals – a perfect gift for any loved one. Papers and handouts will be provided, participants are encouraged to re-create their own initials.
Supply list:
- Cutting mat
- Xacto-type knife with new #11 Blade
- Glue stick
- Fine stylus (or any tool that can be used to score Bristol)
- Straight edge
- Bone folder
- Eraser
- Pencil
SCH Meetup: Exploring Gelli-plate Printmaking with Nan Robkin
Date: Sunday March 16, 2025
Time: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Location: In-person at the Titan Robotics Warehouse in Redmond, WA
Join us on Sunday as our beloved Nan Robkin leads us on a print-making adventure. If you’ve never heard of gelli-printing, hold onto your hats! We will introduce this super easy and fun way of creating prints using this gelatin plate. Textural objects, stencils, acrylic paint, and paper will be provided. Bring your gelli-plate, if you have one, and some paper; get ready for two hours of fun!
Mini Masterpieces with Sally Penley
Date: Thursday March 20, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online and in-person at the Titan Robotics Warehouse in Redmond, WA
Come learn to create beautiful little art masterpieces using acrylic paint, layering techniques, and several forms of metallic “bling.” Participants will create 24 (or more!) sparkling, 2” x 2” “mini masterpieces” to place on greeting cards (templates provided), book covers, mobiles, oversized gift tags and more!
Mark your calendar and check back for the supply list as the workshop approaches.
Weaving Our Stories with Suzie Beringer
Date: Thursday April 17, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online only
Paper weaving has been done over the decades but how to combine this with our lettering allows us to experience our work in a different way. Come and enjoy an evening of creating new and different art pieces with Suzie Beringer.
Mark your calendar and check back for the supply list as the workshop approaches.
Book Making with guest instructor
Date: Sunday April 27, 2025
Time: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Location: In-person at the Titan Robotics Warehouse in Redmond, WA
Join us for a fun day of book making in a no-stress environment.
Supply fee to instructor for materials.
Calligraphy and Watercolor: Holiday Card Design Process with Jocelyn Curry
Date: Thursday May 15, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Online and in-person at the Titan Robotics Warehouse in Redmond, WA
“The challenge: you have volunteered to design a holiday card for a regional organization. After you send samples of your previously designed cards, the team selects “trees” as the primary theme and they want images done in watercolor. They would love to have calligraphy, but are open to the use of fonts if fonts work better for the provided sentiment that will appear on the card front. Where would you start with this assignment? How would you pair calligraphy with the images you have painted that feature trees?”
In her presentation for SCH, Jocelyn Curry will show you the creative process she followed to create four rough “tree theme” card designs to present to the team. The image shown here was not selected as one of the final two chosen for further refinement. However, the calligraphy Jocelyn created for this particular image was selected as the final calligraphy for one of the other two chosen illustrations. At the end of this presentation, you will see the printed version of one of the two final card designs. By the time you see this presentation on May 15, 2025, the card will have been sent to the organization’s 2024 holiday mailing list.