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

Suzie Beringer

Tea Time Lettering
A Calligrapher's Journey
(download the pdf flyer)

Saturday, October 12, 2024
9:30 am — 4:30 pm PDT
Online via Zoom
$75 (FOC members only)
Complete registration instructions are in the PDF flyer

Add special instructions to FOC:

Ever thought of what you can do with a tea bag other than having an enjoyable cup of tea? Come and discover a new and substainable way to create unique art using your creative/lettering skills. Suzie will walk you through her exploration of making art out of tea bags and show you how you can use your own voice in making yours. Suzie will share many examples.

Suzie Beringer is a lettering artist who makes her home in the Pacific Northwest. With a degree in commercial art with a lifetime passion for calligraphy and mark making, she is constantly exploring new possibilities and pushing herself creatively.
Her work has been published in Letter Arts Review and other publications. As a teacher she loves to share her passion for mark making and design with others. As an artist Suzie loves the challenge and discovery that lettering on different surfaces brings. It has been said, that if something around her doesn't move quickly enough it may end up with letters on it! You can see more of her work on Instagram: penstrokedesignstudio or visit www.penstrokedesign.com

Questions? Please contact Nancy Noble at nrnoble@sfsu.edu.

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
Fort Mason
2 Marina Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94123
Free parking outside the gate and metered parking within.

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, Gillott 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

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 classes

East 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, CA

Santa Cruz/Monterey/Carmel:

Ruth Korch
Art and calligraphy classes in the Santa Cruz area

Kern County:

Chris Paschke •Call 661 821-2188
Ongoing classes at all levels in Tehachapi

Reno/Tahoe:

Carol Pallesen • Call 775 329-6983
Ongoing classes in calligraphy and book arts

New Mexico:

Bill Kemp • Call 505 235-4983
Teaching and tutoring in Albuquerque

Online:

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