Friends of Calligraphy offers classes and workshops
that meet the needs of those beginning calligraphy as well as those who are ready for more advanced techniques. FOC workshops are open to current FOC members. Basic calligraphy classes at Fort Mason are open to the public. They are sponsored by FOC, and taught by FOC members. Also listed below are classes by FOC members who teach in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. They are not sponsored by FOC, but are listed here as a courtesy to our members. Please contact individual instructors for details.
FRIENDS OF CALLIGRAPHY WORKSHOPS
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Visigothic Versals
a 6-day workshop with Risa Gettler
(download the pdf flyer)
Six Mondays: October 7 to November 11, 2024
10:00 am – 12:00 pm PDT/PST
Online via Zoom
$140 (FOC members only)
Complete registration instructions are in the PDF flyer
Everything we see is a source of inspiration to be mixed with the movement of our own hands to create new ways of working. This class is about introducing you to the work of unusual and sublime lettering artists and letting their lines influence yours.
What are Visigothic Versals? In addition to being a national hand they are the unique and exclusive writing style of early medieval Spain. And what do I love about them? They free us from the restraints of slavishly trying to reproduce letterforms by offering alternatives that better ‘translate’ the written message. Visigothic Versals provide playful ligatures while demanding a keen eye to balance and form. We’ll be working to achieve same line length with the aid of ligatures, selections of decorative capitals, knotted letters and zoomorphics. Visigothic Versals are rhythmic and give you, the artist, as well as your readers something distinctively individual and creative. Included in my class is early medieval Spanish music, flamenco dance videos, list of Spanish authors and poets.
RISA GETTLER: When my nieces and nephews, and now my great nieces and nephews, ask me about college I giggle and say, ‘calligraphy was an elective’. You just never know when you’re going to turn a corner and walk into a classroom and fall in love. Decades later, 2003, I saw Visigothic Versals for the first time and, just as Spain was conquered by the Moors in 711, so too was I inextricably captured. From that moment to now I have been exclusively studying and teaching Visigothic art and letterforms. I’ve achieved many accolades by following my bliss, the top being a certificate for His Holiness Pope Paul, II followed by regional and international recognitions, including a CD cover design for Early Medieval Spanish Music via The National Endowment of the Arts.
Questions? Please contact Evelyn Eldridge at escrita@gmail.com.
FRIENDS OF CALLIGRAPHY Fort Mason Classes
Open to the public, these classes are meant for beginners and for scribes who wish to continue improving their skills.
(Download Fort Mason pdf brochure for 2024)
Basic Supplies: Non-waterproof black ink (i.e., Pelikan 4001, Higgins Eternal, or Dr Ph Martin’s Hydrus Carbon Black), all sizes Brause pen nibs, one or two pen holders, pencil and eraser, 18 or 24 inch metal ruler, notebook, cotton rag, a small water jar.
If other pens, nibs or holders are specified for a class (e.g., Engrosser’s Script), then it is not necessary to buy the Brause pen nibs on the Basic Supplies list.
There may be additional supplies specified by each instructor that are listed after each class description in the Fort Mason brochure. (Download pdf brochure for 2024)
Calligraphy supplies, especially Brause pen nibs, can be difficult to find. Call or visit your local art supply stores, such as Arch, Dick Blick and Flax. If they don’t have what you need, contact the calligraphy mail order vendors:
John Neal Bookseller, 1-800-369-9598 • www.johnnealbooks.com/
or
Paper & Ink Arts, 1-800-736-7772 • www.paperinkarts.com
Please register for any class at least six weeks in advance. Class size is limited to 16. You will be notified by the Fort Mason Class Registrar if you have a place in the class or are on the wait list. Payment of tuition is necessary to hold your place on a wait list. If you need to withdraw, a full refund will be issued 14 days before the class begins. Otherwise the tuition fee is forfeited unless a wait-listed student can take your place.
Classes will be held at:
- Online via Zoom
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Fort Mason
2 Marina Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94123
Free parking outside the gate and metered parking within.
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Introduction to Engrosser’s Script
Rick Paulus, instructor
4 Sat. mornings • 10:00AM–1:00PM • Online
November 2, 9, 16, 23
$150 non-members / $135 FOC members
Among the pointed pen hands, Engrosser’s Script stands out for its elegant strength and formality; it has been used to inscribe presidential appointments for over 100 years, and is the primary script hand used in White House entertaining.
Inspired by the Zanarian School’s “Roundhand” or “Engrosser’s Script,” we will begin by practicing the surprisingly few basic strokes required to create a minuscule alphabet. After a series of exercises designed to familiarize the eyes and the hand to these new shapes, we will move on to majuscule letter forms and numbers, thus laying a solid foundation to developing an elegant script hand.
All levels of lettering experience are welcome.
Supplies: Basic supplies, plus an oblique pen holder with brass flange, flexible pointed pen nibs (Leonardt Principal EF, Nikko G, Gillotte 303, Zebra, etc.), and a 9 x 12" marker layout paper.
Friends of Calligraphy Memorial Scholarship
The Friends of Calligraphy has a scholarship fund honoring beloved members.
To apply, click here.
Friends of Calligraphy Lecture
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The Hebrew Letter - a Calligrapher's Journey
An illustrated lecture by Hebrew scribe Izzy Pludwinski
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
10:00 am PDT
This is a free, on-line lecture via Zoom.
Spaces are limited.
Join Izzy for a peek into a thousands-year-old scribal and mystical tradition, through his own personal journey from traditional religious scribe to the world of modern calligraphy. This journey started out with a fascination of a single Hebrew letter, leading Izzy to become a Hebrew scribe (Sofer STaM). At some point this branched out into the wider world of calligraphy as an art form in and of itself. This lecture will venture into both worlds, touching a little bit on Jewish scribal objects, mysticism, calligraphic rhythms, typography, and perhaps even a bit of Zen, all leading to the writing of his book The Beauty of the Hebrew Letter.
Izzy Pludwinski is a Jerusalem-based professional calligrapher, and Sofer STaM. He is the author of Mastering Hebrew Calligraphy (Toby Press), which was chosen as a finalist for the National Jewish Book Awards in 2014, and the recently published The Beauty of the Hebrew Letter, published by Brandeis University Press.
His works have been included in international exhibitions in England, the U.S., Japan, Germany, Russia and Austria, as well as several one-man shows in Israel. His works have been showcased many times in the prestigious Letter Arts Review journal as well as other publications, and he has been featured for articles in LAR, Alphabet, the Scribe, and Scripsit.
Though firmly entrenched in the world of traditional Judaica, Izzy's calligraphic passion lies in finding ever-new expressive forms for the Hebrew aleph-bet—a path that has led him to anywhere from font development to Zen-influenced abstract Hebrew calligraphy.
Download the PDF flyer
Contact: Elena Caruthers
Register for this lecture on Eventbrite.
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Life and Times of an Off-Paper Calligrapher
An illustrated Zoom presentation by Brody Neuenschwander
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
10:00 am PST
This is a free, on-line lecture via Zoom.
Spaces are limited.
Brody has been a calligrapher his whole life. As a teenager, he embarked on an illuminated Psalter, getting all the way to Psalm 119 (the longest) before setting the project aside in his first week at college. College presented many other opportunities, this being the pre-digital age: posters, certificates, and more came his way, and he wrote them with enthusiasm and zero understanding of letterform.
This lecture will be a sightseeing tour through Brody’s long career, stopping along the way to see projects in every material, on every scale, and in a hundred styles of calligraphy.
Download the PDF flyer
Contact: Elena Caruthers
Register for this lecture on Eventbrite.
MEMBERS WHO TEACH
San Francisco:
- Katie Leavens
Calligraphy & Illumination classesEast Bay:
- Patricia Coltrin • Call 510 524-5208
- Meredith Klein • Call 510.205.1119
- Raoul Martinez
Copperplate and blackletter classes for beginning, intermediate and advanced students.
- Carla Tenret • Call 510.526.1214
South Bay:
- Melissa Dinwiddie • Call 650.938.3939
Calligraphy, book arts, and illumination- Sara Loesch Frank • Call 408.446.3397
Ongoing calligraphy classes for beginners and intermediates.- Ann Thompson • Call 408.378.6965
Marin County:
- JoAnn Burchfiel Brand • Call 415.924.2625
Mendocino:
- Judy Detrick • Call 707.964.9276
Ongoing classes at all levels.Sonoma County:
- Christine Renden Haggarty
Ongoing classes in Asian calligraphy for beginners and intermediates.- Sherrie Lovler • Call 707.528.1723.
Calligraphic Abstract Painting.Yolo County:
- Sumner Stone
Type design workshops in Rumsey, CASanta Cruz/Monterey/Carmel:
- Ruth Korch
Art and calligraphy classes in the Santa Cruz areaKern County:
- Chris Paschke •Call 661 821-2188
Ongoing classes at all levels in TehachapiReno/Tahoe:
- Carol Pallesen • Call 775 329-6983
Ongoing classes in calligraphy and book artsNew Mexico:
- Bill Kemp • Call 505 235-4983
Teaching and tutoring in AlbuquerqueOnline:
- Harvest Crittenden • Call 517 545-3031
Online classes in Spencerian, Flourishing, Copperplate and Photoshop for Calligraphers.- Nancy Hills
Email Nancy for information about current classes.- Elizabeth McKee
Ongoing classes in pointed brush- Ann Miller • Email, or call 650 558-8270
Art 50 and Art 53: Two zoom courses at Stanford Continuing Studies
- Kestrel Montes
Pointed Pen Calligraphy and Engraving- Rick Paulus • Call 774.323.0050
- Sally Penley
Email Sally for a list of current Zoom classes- Jacqueline Sullivan