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| "Create" by Dawn Spagna |
Calligraphy.
Beautiful writing.
From the Greek:
kallos = "beauty" and
graphein = "to write."
As a typographer, I love letterforms and was excited to propose
Calligraphy as the March theme for my
FiberAntics Artist Trading Card (ATC) swap. Calligraphy elevates letterforms and the written word to more than the carrier of a message... to something of visual beauty.
I often hear my friends that are teachers (or former teachers) say that penmanship and cursive writing are no longer taught in schools. This makes me sad. I can only hope that children find interest in the beauty of letterforms through classes and books about art and design, typography, graphic arts, printing, publishing, book arts or through collections and exhibits in libraries and museums.
When moveable type was first invented, the type was cut to mimic hand lettering. There was more than one version of an individual letter—say, for instance, 3 variations of the lower case "a" and 5 variations of the lower case "e." This was so the printed text looked like it was penned by a person—not a machine—with the inherent variations that come with hand lettering. Like our Artist Trading Cards, there is an intrinsic beauty, a uniqueness, and a personal quality to letters and texts that are created by hand.
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| "Calligraphy" by Karen Downer |
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| "It is Writ" by Cathy Dillon |
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| "Freeform Calligraphy with inks" by Marilyn League |
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"Calligraphy. The more you practice, the better you get."
by Veronica Hofman-Ortega |
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| "Calligraphy" by Debbie Joyner |
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| "A Palindrome" by Diane Pineschi |
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| "Calligraphy (One of my Favorites)" by Bonnie Stevens |
When was the last time you penned any letters by hand?
