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.

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.

Did you know that the class listing for Seattletters is up and running! Have fun browsing the website, for Seattletters Classes. Enjoy!

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BECOME (OR SUGGEST) A SEATTLETTERS SPONSOR

WOC and Seattletters are proactively offering $1,600 scholarships to cover the double occupancy registration fee option to the conference.  We are seeking scholarship donations in any amount as well as cash sponsorships for the traditional, fun social events everyone is looking forward to.  Sponsors enjoy many benefits in addition to feeling proud about continuing a 37-year old tradition for their favorite type of people in the whole world.  Conference volunteers will add a sponsor’s product or insert to the 450 participants’ welcome bags. Our international faculty members and attendees will go home and share these new products and ideas with their students, colleagues and fellow guild members.  Sponsor names and logos will be prominently displayed at social events they have sponsored while all sponsors will be recognized in our social media and programs.

Information on sponsoring scholarships and/or social events on the Seattletters website can be found at https://seattletters.org/about/donations-and-sponsorships/

Contact us with any donation or sponsorship questions or to suggest a person, organization or company whom we can invite to become a sponsor.

A special message for WOC members about a Scholarship to Seattletters for a Current WOC Member

Please thoughtfully consider WOC’s responsibility, as the host guild, to ensure this calligraphic experience for one of our own who needs assistance to attend the conference.  We have 160 members (okay 164) and each scholarship is $1,600.  What if every WOC member donated $10 and together we changed someone’s calligraphic journey forever?  For only $10?  That’s an amazing investment don’t you think?

This investment breaks down to less than $1/year since WOC hosted the Black and White Conference in 2006.  It will probably be another dozen years, maybe more, before we host another international lettering arts conference.  Please be part of this project by sending a check for $10, or more if you like, payable to “Write on Calligraphers” with “WOC/Seattletters Scholarship” in the memo to the secure mailbox at:

WOC Scholarship
9302 NE 135th Street
Kirkland, WA 98034

Please mail your check no later than May 15^th or click on
https://seattletters.org/about/donations-and-sponsorships/  to use Paypal.

Gratefully,
Marita Sheeran
Seattletters Sponsorship Coordinator

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SEATTLETTERS VOLUNTEERS

Seattletters, Sponsored by Write on Calligraphers, Needs Your Help!!

We are excited for the upcoming conference of Seattletters in Bellingham! Our conference is run by volunteers and we invite you to use your talents and service abilities to help the conference run smoothly. There are service opportunities open outside of class time that we invite participants to fill. We also welcome family and friends. Please consider becoming a part of our volunteer community! We need your help and believe that you will get to know others and have fun in the process! You may:

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1) Fill out this form (click here) and mail to Seattletters Volunteer Coordinator c/o Becky Kelly 11264 132nd Ave. NE Redmond, WA 98052

2) Fill out, scan and email to David.Becky@frontier.com

3) For those registered, fill out the Conference Preferences tab on the Seattleletters website

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Below is a list of the invaluable service opportunities. You may download the PDF Flyer which contains the information below. Then please circle all areas of your interest for service. Choice option 1 or 2 above. Nearing the conference, you will be contacted with information and times for the needed help by the appropriate chair leader. Truly, thank you for your help!

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Transportation

Airport Greeters – Greet instructors and participants as they arrive and help give directions for the next leg of the journey to the campus.

+     One or two volunteers to cover the baggage areas. Bring a friend to join you or meet a new friend!

+     Cell phone needed to make connections with those arriving.

Housing – Help prepare rooms at the conference.

+     Dorm signs should go up on Friday the 13^th.

Signage – Put up signage around the campus.

+     Directions to various locations; arrows; other signs as needed. This includes classrooms signs.

+     Help needed on Friday the 13^th and Saturday the 14^th.

Facilities – Setup before and after the conference. (The college will move/arrange tables)

+     Help needed to cover tables with roll paper.

+     Help needed to organize and distribute buckets of supplies to the classrooms.

+     Help needed clearing off paper from the tables and collect any leftover supplies after the conference.

Exhibitions – Hang banners, etc.

+     Help need on Friday the 13^th to hang conference and guild banners and help with other exhibits

Registration – Day of arrival; 10 people needed.

+     Times: starts at 12:00 AM

+     Help arriving participants check-in and pass out the conference packets.

+     Direct people to areas of interest.

Gallery Sitter – Oversee the art gallery.

+     One person during non-class hours to look after the visitation for the art exhibit.

Hospitality – Available for our social functions.

+     Greeters at the door and runners to help with all hospitality needs.

+     Prepping faculty baskets and delivery.

+     Greet attendees at the doors and check name tags before the Sunday program.

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FACEBOOK:

WOC is active on Facebook and would love your likes, comments and shares as we continue to grow our fans.  Please follow our Facebook page and share your letter love with all your friends: https://www.facebook.com/WriteOnCalligraphers/

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 positions yet to be filled for the next year. Contact WOC to help our guild flourish!

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, the second Tuesday in September. We gather at Artworks.  Have an Artful summer!

Prior Meetings:

May 2018:  These Are a Few of My Favorite Things
March 2018: Sally Penley – Japanese Art of Etegami
January 2018: Sharing Correspondence: Writing & Receiving Letters
November 2017:  Kellie Moeller, Jocelyn Curry, Katherine Malmsten, Marita Sheeran – Marching to a Different Drummer
September 2017: Kathy Barker – Pointed Pen Flourishing Fun (Hoang Dao)
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 20-21, 2018: Peter Thornton – Adolph Bernd Letters Workshop
October 22-23, 2018: Peter Thornton – Gilding 1
October 25-26, 2018: Peter Thornton – Gilding 2 – Repeat of Session 1
February 9-10, 2019: Amity Parks
October 19-20, 2019: Cora Pearl

Past Workshops:
May 6-7, 2018: Sally Penley – Let’s Make Books
February 10-11, 2018: Christy Schroeder
October 14-15, 2017: Rebecca Wild – Layering Arts and Letters
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 2017. 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.

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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.

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