Society of Scribes

Here’s an upcoming workshop that may be of interest to our members…

“Paper & Ink: A Day of Calligraphy, Sand-Painting and Paper-Making”
Saturday, June 22, 2013 from 10am to 4pm
Trace Foundation, 132 Perry Street, Suite 2B (West Village)
Admission: $10, Students: $5

In the age of the iPad, join us for a day free of notifications, broken screens, and outdated software by celebrating the writing arts of Tibet, with calligraphy demos and hands-on traditional paper-making. We are delighted to host international special guests Puntsok Tsering (classical and modern calligraphy), Kunsel Dawa (Bönpo scripts), Tsultrim Gyatso (sand letters), and Jim Canary (Tibetan paper-making) for what promises to be an illuminating tour through a tradition as rich as it is beautiful.

Artwork and hand-crafted paper will be available for purchase.
(Event time includes a one-hour break for lunch.)

More details here!

Photo: Roger Bamber

Thursday, June 6, 2013 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm
The Grolier Club, 47 E. 60th Street
Free and open to the public

The Society of Scribes is pleased to present Ewan Clayton, calligrapher and teacher, who grew up near Ditchling, Sussex, the home of Edward Johnston.

In this slide talk with Christopher Calderhead, the editor of Letter Arts Review, Ewan will touch on his forthcoming history of writing, The Golden Thread (Atlantic Books)… his recent research into Baskerville, Roman type, and 18th Century writing masters… and what he calls “the ancestors in the attic,” the three figures who loomed over this childhood: Edward Johnston, Eric Gill, and David Jones.

A reception and refreshments will follow.

** Bonus! Ewan will give another lecture entitled “Edward Johnston: Calligraphy and Type Design” on Monday, June 3rd at 6:30 pm at Cooper Union’s Rose Auditorium at 41 Cooper Square.

It was such a treat to take Linda Schneider’s flourishing class at last summer’s IAMPETH conference in Milwaukee! I came home completely inspired and completely obsessed with these roller-coaster flourishes and swoopy swirls…

We could not be more thrilled when Linda agreed to come and teach in NYC this spring. If you’re one of the lucky few enrolled in Linda’s workshop, you’re in for a very fun and flourishy weekend! (Even if you’re not taking her workshop, you can still join us at her Friday night lecture…)

Friday, May 17, 2013 from 6:30 to 8:00 pm
School of Visual Arts Annex, 214 E. 21st Street (off Third Avenue)
Free and open to the public!

Linda’s popular workshop, Ornate Pictorial Calligraphy, filled very quickly — but there will be room for everyone to enjoy her Friday night lecture…

Linda will demonstrate how to use the pointed brush marker for flourishes, and for an elegant hand like copperplate. The beauty of the brush marker is that it’s portable — you can take it anywhere, no pen and ink necessary and it can be used on paper napkins, rocks, shells, almost any surface. Everyone is welcome to just watch, but active participation is also encouraged! We will be using pointed brush markers, small size is best. Bring what you have… We’ll have some for everyone to share. Linda’s favorites are Faber-Castell PITT brush markers and the Pentel Sign Pen.

Hope you can join us for this fun and inspiring “hands-on” lecture — Bring your brush markers and come out to play!

Aileen Crow at work.

Fifteen students gathered for the weekend to experiment with a range of techniques and tools, and produced beautiful results! Sketching mostly with pencil throughout the two days, we worked on transitioning from the analytical to the intuitive side of the brain, letting go of meaning in favor of pure form and value gradation. Annie provided a rich packet of reference material; she narrated samples of her projects and process, and let us experiment with many different types of drawing pencils/pens, some water-soluble. Come back soon, Annie!

"8 O'Clock Bank" by Mary Clare Lewy

Review and photos by Diane Oltarzewski.

Friday, May 3, 2013 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm
SVA Annex, 214 E. 21st Street, Room 701A

When you care enough to *make* the very best! Come and celebrate Mom (or any special person in your life) with a hand-made, hand-lettered card… We’ll provide light refreshments and an assortment of card-making supplies. Free and open to the public.

We’re getting a lot of very pretty mail these days at the Society of Scribes’ Post Office Box as talented scribes send in their membership renewals! The top envelope is from Ted Simcha Kadin; the bottom one is from Therese Swift-Hanh…

A reminder to all our members: Please get your renewals in before May 31st to be included in our new 2013 membership directory!

To learn more about becoming a member and to download a membership form, go to our Membership page.

Will Barnet, on 11/10/2012, at the installation of the Annual SoS Exhibition at the National Arts Club.

He had stopped for a moment to look at the work of his former student, Cynthia Dantzic, who snapped the shot, unaware that this might well be the last photograph ever made of him. Will passed away on 11/13 at the great age of 101!

A dozen eager students attended Elinor Holland’s workshop in Kufic calligraphy recently for two Saturdays at our SVA venue, a rare opportunity to study this ancient and challenging form of Arabic writing. Elinor presented a wealth of historic exemplars, showing the rich range of styles that can come under the general Kufic classification. Many of these bold letter forms, with their extreme variation of thicks and thins, are enhanced with elaborate gold and red markings. The group learned to carve chisel-edged broad pens of bamboo and to write a basic Kufic alphabet and several words, requiring much pen manipulation and tweaking.

Elinor enriched the program by sharing many personal experiences and adventures along her path to becoming a certified Arabic calligrapher and everyone hoped to enjoy further studies under her delightful instruction.

Review and photos by Cynthia Dantzic.