Welcome to Write On Calligraphers

Write On Calligraphers (WOC) is a nonprofit organization of Pacific Northwest artists who share a love of letters and many things paper. WOC meetings offer special presentations of calligraphy and paper arts. The general meetings are open to the public at no charge.

SEATTLETTERS – 2018 INTERNATIONAL CALLIGRAPHY CONFERENCE

At the August 9^th board meeting of Write on Calligraphers in 2016, it was unanimously voted to sponsor the International Calligraphy Conference in the summer of 2018. Click on the following link for the website to Seattletters! The dates are July 14-21, 2018 and will be held at Western Washington University in Bellingham, north of Seattle. The Co-Directors are Katherine Malmsten and Sue Gruhn.

Click on the link Seattletters Brochure for downloadable and printable information.

GENERAL MEETINGS:

Board Members Needed: The success of WOC depends on the generosity of those members who volunteer their time to make it all happen. The board has two positions yet to be filled. Contact WOC to help our guild flourish!

President – The President of the Board of Directors shall supervise all activities of the Corporation; execute all instruments in its behalf; preside at all meetings of the Board of Directors and of the membership of the Corporation; call such meetings of the membership; present a report on the status of the corporation at the annual meeting of the membership; and perform such other duties usually inherent in such office. The President must have held an office on the Board prior to the Presidency.

LOJ Chair – Our next Letters of Joy will be held the first weekend in May, 2019. Our past LOJ Chair, Katy Huston, will be happy to pass on her wealth of knowledge to help one thrive in this needed position.

General Meeting: 

Join us for our next General Meeting, Tuesday, September 12th, at 7:00 PM. We gather at Artworks.  Kathy Barker will give a delightful presentation on Pointed Pen Flourishing Fun. The evening provides an opportunity to try your hand at pointed pen flourishing using a tool created from a chop stick and Hunt 101 nib. The lesson plan and handouts are generously provided by visiting calligrapher, Hoang Dao, from Vietnam who taught a workshop in Bellevue this past July. ~~ Bring the following supplies: a round chopstick, Hunt 101 nib (Leonardt Principle or Brause EF66); smooth unlined surface paper (Canson Pro Layout Marker, Clairfontaine, or Rhodia); and ink (Walnut, Higgins Eternal, other good flowing ink).  ~~ Supply fee: $5.00. Limited copies of Hoang’s book on Spencerian and Off-Hand Flourishing will be available for $20 each.  Make your checks payable to Lisa Tsang.

The LOJ2017 Bill Henderson Scholarship Fund raffle ticket winners were announced at our May meeting: 

Robin Gebhart – first prize for a five-night stay at The Pines, Sunriver, Oregon
Elaine Engstrom – a one-year subscription to Letter Arts Review
Elaine Engstrom – one-year membership to WOC
Brigitte Hefferen – one-year membership to WOC

Prior Meetings:

May 2017: Annual potluck and election of board members
March 2017: Highlights from  ~Letters California Style~
Kathy Barker – The Art of Certificates & Scrolls: Robbie Saslow
Sue Gruhn – Blackletter to Contemporary Fraktur: Yukimi Annand
Carol Sauter – Spencerian: Bill Kemp
Elizabeth Walsh – Cool & In-Vogue Pointed Pen Script: Jane Shibata
January 2017: Jim Ballard – Laying Down the Ink—The Power of the Brush
November 2016: Christy Schroeder – The Development of a Calligrapher
September 2016: Brad Neary – The Saint John’s Bible
May 2016:  Annual potluck, LOJ recap, and election of board members
March 2016:  Meredith Arnold – Photographing Your Work
January 12, 2016: Nan Robkin – Ribbon Writing
November 10, 2015: Timothy Botts – demonstration of his artwork

Location: 
Our meetings take place at ArtWorks in Edmonds, WA, on the second Tuesday of January, March, May, September and November at 7 PM.

LETTERS OF JOY:

Every spring, WOC sponsors Letters of Joy; a popular one-and-a-half-day mini conference that regularly attracts more than 250 participants and vendors. The conference and accompanying exhibit are dedicated to the memory of Kathleen Joy O’Brien, whose passion for letters helped to establish the dedicated calligraphic community that now flourishes in Edmonds and its surrounding areas. 

Letters of Joy will not be held in the year 2018 so that the Board Members can concentrate on sponsoring Seattletters! The dates for this International Calligraphy Conference are July 14-21, 2018 and will be held at Western Washington University in Bellingham, north of Seattle. The Co-Directors are Katherine Malmsten and Sue Gruhn.

Letters of Joy will return with joy the first weekend of May in the year 2019. Please join us for this anticipated event once again, after enjoying Seattleletters with us, in 2018. LOJ is held at Shoreline Community College in Shoreline, Washington

WORKSHOPS:

Upcoming Workshops:
October 14-15, 2017: Rebecca Wild – Layering Arts and Letters
February 10-11, 2018: Christy Schroeder
May 6-7, 2018: Sally Penley
October 20-21, 2018: Peter Thornton – Adolph Brend Letters
October 22-23, 2018: Peter Thornton – Gilding
February 9-10, 2019: Amity Parks
October 19-20, 2019: Cora Pearl

Past Workshops:
May 7th & 8th: Louis Lemoine – Magic of the Ruling Pen, Folded Pen & Cola Pen
February 2017: Marina Soria – Calligraphy In Blossom
October 2016:  Janet Takahashi – Artful Sketchbook Journaling
May 2016: Barry Morentz – Gothicized Italic – Artworks in Edmonds
January 2016: Gerogia Angelopoulos – Ancient Palettes, New Ways, Colour & Gold
October 2015: Cari Ferraro – Batard

Throughout the year, Write On Calligraphers sponsors workshops conducted by renowned calligraphers and paper artists and lists resources for local calligraphy classes.

OTHER NOTES OF INTEREST:

 Susan Russell passed away on Mother’s Day of this year. She was an acclaimed artist, longtime high school art teacher, wife, mother, and mentor. She often wore hats or other hair apparel all positioned on her distinctive red hair. Susan Jane Russell, 71, died May 14 at the Portland, Oregon, home she shared with Falken Forshaw, her husband of 49 years. Since the 1980s, she had battled cancer several times. A memorial gathering to honor artist Susan Russell is scheduled for 1 p.m. June 25, 2017 at the Schack Art Center, 2921 Hoyt Ave., Everett. All are welcome.

Our dear friend and calligrapher, Pamela Pincha-Wagener, passed away on January 10, 2017. She graciously shared her many talents and gifts with us for many years. She will be missed tremendously.

Please visit her member gallery page from our sister guild, The Society of Calligraphy and Handwriting, to view her artwork and read more about her.

~~~~~

Carol DuBosch will be teaching a year long class in Olympia in 2017. See the Events & Classes page for further information. If you have questions of concerns please e-mail Sue Gruhn at sps1200@frontier.com. 

RESOURCES:

WOC members enjoy many benefits as well as access to an extensive library. We hope you will join us in our exploration of calligraphy and the paper arts.

Would you like to read a book on calligraphy or a related subject? A benefit of membership to WOC is access to our extensive library collection. View our Library page for more information

Are you interested in art exhibits showcasing calligraphy? View our Exhibits page for information on exhibits with calligraphy or related art forms.

Are you interested in reading tips for learning calligraphy? View our Tips & Tricks page for tips and tricks submitted by WOC members.

Looking for a unique tool for calligraphy? View our WOC Products page for items sold exclusively by WOC