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

Two Lines Interacting (Download pdf flyer)
John Stevens, instructor
Wednesday through Sunday • June 18–22 • 9:30–4:30 pm
International House • 2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley
$510 FOC members only. Join FOC.
Be prepared to pay a materials fee which will include a workbook, and also expect to pay $50–55 for parking for the week.

A deposit of $255 is required to reserve your space. The balance is due no later than June 3, 2014. You may also pay the full the amount.

Select one:

There is the line, there is the letter. Somewhere in between, there are: just two lines interacting. In this class I want to balance the moving free line with the controlled line, and I want to combine both into a composition. (A book or at least a book page.) I want to combine practice, exploration and the making of a composition into one class. You can hang in any one area if you please, or you can complete the circuit.

There will be two main approaches and goals: 1. Using brushes to explore lines and relationships while moving our bodies. 2. Then anchoring our work with readable letterforms. We will essentially be exploring moving line vs. structured line and playing the two energies off of each other. The freedom we experience with the brush will be more meaningful if we counterbalance it with the discipline of writing with the pen and think how we will use each.

On many levels, there will be interactions, and we can develop our overall sensitivity to these forces to become more aware artists and calligraphers. Capitals and cursive are two of the most important structures. Interaction is what happens between them. We are going to practice our calligraphy and develop our awareness of these important elements. If we are lucky, we will have a book by the end of the workshop.

Skill Level – Intermediate/Advanced

John Stevens is an internationally acclaimed calligrapher, designer of logotypes and illustrator of expressive letterforms. John is author of the book Scribe: Artist of the Written Word. www.johnstevensdesign.com

The Cursive line: Unique and Imperfect (Download pdf flyer)
Monica Dengo, instructor
Saturdays, July 12, 19, 26, August 2, 9, 16, 2014 • 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
Arlington Community Church • 52 Arlington Avenue • Kensington, CA
$475 FOC members, $515 non-members (non-member fee includes 2014-15 FOC membership)

Payment for this workshop via PayPal will begin at 8:00 AM (PST)
Monday, April 21.

In intercultural communication, non-verbal forms, such as gestures and expressions, assume great importance. Similarly, forms of handwriting become a vehicle for visual communication between cultures. Handwriting, intended not as a container of content, but rather as a higher expression of values and emotions through form, is fundamental in becoming acquainted with another culture. In the digital age, when people are losing the ability to write by hand, Western culture is acknowledging the importance of mark making and the handwriting/body movement/expression relationships. This also implies a relationship between handwriting and music, handwriting and dance.

Students will compare the gestures and movements of mark making in different cultures and in relation to their music. The course will be devoted to a spontaneous approach to writing, closer to handwriting than to the controlled movements of traditional calligraphy. Students will then explore different ways of holding a pen or a brush and new relations between gestural marks and the use of space. They will then develop a free cursive hand implementing the new gestures and a more formal, highly legible hand. A concept will be given and students will make a book using both their new cursive and formal hands. The relationship between gestural marks and legible text, use of color and composition will be discussed and developed.

Students are expected to work 8 to 12 hours every week, between sessions.

Born in Italy, Monica Dengo lived in San Francisco from 1993-2003 and currently lives in Arezzo, Italy. After design and calligraphy studies in Venice and at the Roehampton Institute in London, Monica moved to San Francisco where she studied manuscript production techniques, design and calligraphy with Thomas Ingmire and figure drawing with Eleanor Dickinson. From 2000-2003 she taught at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Currently she collaborates as a curator and teacher with the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, organizing international workshops and exhibitions, and with the University Ca’ Foscari in Venice, on the teaching of handwriting in the digital age. Monica has taught in Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy and the U.S. and has exhibited worldwide. She recently published a children’s workbook, Pick Up Your Pen, winner of the 2012 Parents’ Choice Award. She co-founded the Centro Internazionale Arti Calligrafiche, a cultural non-profit organization based in Arezzo, which offers classes in Rome and Venice. See www.monicadengo.com and www.freehandwriting.net for more information about Monica.

FORT MASON classes

The basic calligraphy classes at Fort Mason are open both to FOC members and to the public. The class size is limited to sixteen people. Classes may be paid online via PayPal using their secure online payment service. You do not need to have a PayPal account; simply click on the Pay Now button for the class of your choice. All major credit cards are accepted. If you wish to register by snail-mail, please download the Fort Mason brochure and send the registration portion of it with your payment. For more information on Fort Mason classes please contact Elizabeth Nisperos.

Please register for any class at least six weeks in advance of the first meeting. Class size is limited to 16. Payment of tuition is necessary to hold your place on a wait list, and will be refunded after class begins if no space opens.

Cancellations: A full refund will be issued up to 14 days before the class begins. After that, tuition is forfeited unless your place can be filled from the wait list.

Basic supplies and additional or different supplies specified by each instructor are listed at the end of each class description. The term “Basic Supplies” refers to: black ink (Higgins Eternal or Pelikan Fount India), all sizes Brause pen nibs, one or two pen holders, pencil & eraser, 18”– 24” metal ruler, notebook, cotton rag, a small water jar.

Calligraphy supplies, especially Brause and Mitchell pen nibs, can be difficult to find. Call or visit your local art supply stores, such as Arch, Dick Blick, Flax, Michaels, Pearl, Utrecht. If they don’t have what you need, contact the calligraphy mail order catalogs:
John Neal Bookseller, 1.800.369.9598, www.JohnNealBooks.com
Paper & Ink Arts, 1.800.736.7772, www.paperinkarts.com

The folowing classes are on the schedule for 2014
Download the Fort Mason brochure in pdf format.

Humanist Bookhand
Georgianna Greenwood, instructor
Seven Tuesday evenings • 6:30–9:00 PM
March 4, 11, 18, 25, April 1, 8, 15
$140 FOC members / $150 non-members

Select one:

A small group of Italian Humanists developed this sweetly legible script for making books in the early 1400s. It was the model for the first roman typefaces used in printing 50 years later, and is a natural partner for italic. The design of the capitals was based on examining local stone-cut Roman capitals. Class projects will introduce basic principles of page layout and design.

All levels of lettering experience are welcome.

Georgianna Greenwood graduated from Reed College and the Portland Museum Art School in 1960, and has been teaching and practicing calligraphy in Berkeley since 1964. She has given lectures, demonstrations and workshops in the United States, England, and Germany. Her work can be found in the Harrison Collection of Calligraphy and Lettering at the San Francisco Public Library, and at Reed College.

Fraktur
Judy Detrick, instructor
Seven Saturday mornings • 10 AM–12:30 PM
April 19, 26, May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
$140 FOC members / $150 non-members

This class is full with a waiting list. Payment of tuition is necessary to hold your place on the wait list, and will be refunded after class begins if no space opens.

Select one:

Since its appearance in the early sixteenth century, this beautiful alphabet has been in continuous use for everything from manifestos to packaging to tattoos. Not as formal as traditional Blackletter, Fraktur is its more open and curvaceous relative. It is wonderfully capable of expressing many moods. This class will introduce the basic letterforms, including capitals, and special attention will be given to the spacing and arrangement unique to Fraktur’s distinctive appearance.

All levels of lettering experience are welcome.

Judy Detrick has taught calligraphy and graphic design at College of the Redwoods on the Mendocino coast for more than 25 years, and developed the Graphic Arts Certificate Program there. She was editor of Alphabet, the Journal of the Friends of Calligraphy, 2007–2010. Her work can be found in the Harrison Collection of Calligraphy and Lettering at the San Francisco Public Library.

Beginning Italic
Susie Taylor, instructor
Seven Tuesday evenings • 6:30–9:00 PM
September 9, 16, 23, 30, October 7, 14, 21
$140 FOC members / $150 non-members

This class is full with a waiting list. Payment of tuition is necessary to hold your place on the wait list, and will be refunded after class begins if no space opens.

Select one:

Evolving from the Humanist cursive writing which originated in the Italian Renaissance, the italic hand is one of the most versatile and expressive styles in the contemporary calligrapher’s repertoire. This class will focus on the fundamentals of its minuscule and majuscule alphabets, including letter form, proportion and spacing. We will also touch on simple page design.

All levels of lettering experience are welcome.

Susie Taylor studied calligraphy with Byron Macdonald, Arne Wolf and Hermann Zapf. Examples of her work have been published in Contemporary Calligraphy, Calligraphy Today and Artist & Alphabet. She served for many years as the curator of the Harrison Collection of Calligraphy and Lettering at the San Francisco Public Library.

Italic Handwriting
Patricia Coltrin, instructor
Four Tuesday evenings • 6:30–9:00 PM
October 28, November 4, 11, 18
$80 FOC members / $85 non-members

Select one:

The italic hand was used as both a formal and a cursive script during the Renaissance. Its clear, elegant forms provide a wonderful model for modern handwriting. Using pencils and fountain pens, students will study the construction and proportion of the letters and methods for joining them into a cursive script. The class will start with a slower, semi-formal cursive, and work toward a more freely written version through exercises for developing rhythm and speed. Many historical and modern examples will be shown.

All levels of lettering experience are welcome.

Patricia Coltrin has been inspired by letters since 1985 when a friend loaned her a Pelikan pen. Initially studying with John Prestianni and Thomas Ingmire, she began a freelance calligraphy business in 1992 and has done both commercial and private commissions. Her work can be found in Belle Lettere (1997).

Friends of Calligraphy Lecture

Treasure From the Bog: The Faddan More Psalter (Download pdf flyer)
An Illustrated Lecture, by John Gillis
Friday, May 30 • Reception: 6:00 pm • Lecture: 6:30 pm
San Francisco Center for the Book • 375 Rhode Island Street • San Francisco
This lecture is free.

This lecture tells the story of the discovery of the Faddan More Psalter, an early medieval manuscript unearthed from a peat bog during turf cutting operations in Tipperary in 2006. The discovery presented many challenges: archeological, art historical, paleographical, and required innovative approaches to conservation. We will examine the contents of the manuscript which contains fragmented remains of 150 Psalms from the Old Testament, and includes areas of illumination and decorated lettering. The lecture will chart the complex conservation process and the exciting discoveries made along the way. Link to more information about the Psalter.

John Gillis is a Senior Book and Manuscript Conservator and has worked in Trinity College Conservation Department for over 20 years. He also worked as Head of Conservation in the Delmas Conservation Bindery at Marsh's Library in Dublin. He has been teaching book conservation techniques at schools in Spoleto and Cremona, Italy for the past 15 years. His major achievement to date has been the conservation of the Faddan More Psalter at the National Museum of Ireland Conservation Department, for which he won the Heritage Council of Ireland Conservation Award in 2010.

MEMBERS WHO TEACH

San Francisco:

Thomas Ingmire • Call 415.673.4938.
International Calligraphy Correspondence Program. Classes at all levels.
CPA-HO, 1040A Filbert Street, San Francisco, CA 94133

East Bay:

Patricia Coltrin • Call 510 524-5208

Georgianna Greenwood • 510.841.6924

Antonia (Nini) Smith • Call 510 526-7249
Year-round classes at Piedmont Adult School

Erma Takeda • Call 925.284.7368

Carla Tenret • Call 510.526.1214
Year round classes at Albany Adult School

Holly Ynostroza • 510.655.7591
Private classes; Adult Program, Orinda Community Center

Sonoma County:

Christine Renden Haggarty
Ongoing classes in Asian calligraphy for beginners and intermediates.

Sherrie Lovler • Call 707.528.1723.
Calligraphic Book Hand for Book Artists.

Melissa Titone • Call 707. 573.3810
Ongoing classes and private lessons in Santa Rosa.

Marin County:

JoAnn Burchfiel Brand • Call 415.924.2625

Patti Cooke • Call 415.888.3299

Mendocino:

Judy Detrick • Call 707.964.9276
Ongoing classes at all levels.

Sacramento and Placer counties:

Phawnda Moore • Call 916.630.0505
Ongoing classes in lettering styles, correspondence, journaling, and the creative process at beginner to intermediate levels

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.

Marian Gault • Call 408.395.8026
Calligraphy classes at South Side Community Center

Ann Thompson • Call 408.378.6965

Monterey/Carmel:

Debra Ferreboeuf • Call 831 655-4311

Kern County:

Chris Paschke • 661.821.2188
Ongoing classes at all levels in Tehachapi

Reno/Tahoe:

Carol Pallesen • 775.329.6983
Ongoing classes in calligraphy and book arts

New Mexico:

Bill Kemp • 505.235.4983
Teaching and tutoring in Albuquerque

Online:

Ann Miller • 650.558.8270
Calligraphy and Letterform. Advanced Calligraphy. Two accredited Online courses through San Francisco Academy of Art University

Harvest Crittenden • 517.545.3031
Online classes in Spencerian, Flourishing, Copperplate and Photoshop for Calligraphers.