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

Cadel Letters, Modern Beauty
Massimo Polello
(download the pdf flyer)

Monday, Wednesday & Friday, October 23, 25 & 27, 2023
9:30 to 11:30 AM PDT

This is a Zoom workshop.
$90
All Levels Welcome
FOC members have priority.
Complete registration instructions are in the PDF flyer

Cadels are basically blackletter capitals richly decorated with arabesques, composed of parallel and intertwining lines. The word Cadel comes from the French word Cadeau or gift, and is attributed to Jean Flamel, librarian to the Duke of Berry (1407), who used these great, decorated capitals to write the name of the Duke on the first page of each manuscript.
The great variety and inventiveness of the cadels we find in manuscripts make it difficult to assemble a single complete alphabet. They are easier to draw than their complicated forms suggest. Their formal balance can take on a more abstract value. After studying cadels in their basic form, we will use them in abstract compositions.

MASSIMO POLELLO is a highly respected calligrapher and designer from Turin, Italy with over twenty years’ experience. His work includes designing packaging, logos, interior design, and murals. He studied calligraphy at the Toulouse Scriptorium and with numerous calligraphers and internationally recognized master penmen. One of his specialties is studying historic writing models and drawing on them to produce contemporary work. He has taught at four international conferences as well as for Friends of Calligraphy. His work has been shown in many journals including Letter Arts Review and in various galleries throughout the world. His web gallery is available at: www.lacalligrafia.com

Questions? Contact Elena Caruthers at: elena.caruthers@gmail.com.

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 2023)

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 2023)

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.

If you would like to add special instructions to your order, please send them to Katie Leavens via email.

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.

Engrossing Text
Rick Paulus, instructor
Online
Four Saturday mornings • 10:00 am—1:00 pm PDT/PST
October 28, November 4, 11, 18
$150 non-members / $135 FOC members

This class is full and a waiting list has begun. You must register to be put on the waiting list. If no space becomes available, you will receive a refund.

Select one:

Learn to write Engrossers’ Text like a pro!
Engrossing hands, or engrosser’s texts, are uniquely American hands, derived from the influences of French and German roundhands. These broad-edge calligraphy hands are the workhorses of the certificate and diploma industry. They incorporate slants, curves, and angles which give them a somewhat ornamental feel while remaining relatively quick to write.
All levels of lettering experience are welcome.

Supplies: Basic Supplies, plus: Multiple holders are recommended to hold various sized nibs, 9” X 12” Marker Layout Paper Recommended: Slant board, T-square or parallel rule, use of color is optional.

Rick Paulus has been a calligrapher and a teacher for over forty years and has thirty years experience in commercial and fine art calligraphy. Rick apprenticed for several years at the legendary Tolley Studios, in Washington, DC, where he wrote more Engrossers’ Text than you can fit into a bottle of ink. In 1998, he was appointed chief calligrapher of the White House, where he remained for two presidents. Today, he continues his calligraphic explorations from his studio near the shores of Buzzard’s Bay, Massachusetts.

Friends of Calligraphy Memorial Scholarship

The Friends of Calligraphy has a scholarship fund honoring beloved members.
To apply, click here.

Friends of Calligraphy Lecture

Dancing the Walls
a lecture with Loredana Zega

November 8, 2023
10:00 am PST
This is a free, on-line lecture via Zoom.
The lecture is limited to 500 participants.

Only when we exchange our calligraphy pens for brushes and these small brushes for large ones, only then do we feel that each stroke is actually a dance step. That every movement is in harmony with the brush. And that beauty is created in the fusion of all elements. A beautiful letter is the dancer herself. Loredana will tell us about her journey to big brushes and about her biggest passion: big empty walls and the stage, where she looks for connections between dance and calligraphy with her letters.

Loredana Zega is a devoted freelance calligrapher and an artist from Slovenia in Europe. Calligraphy has been Loredana’s passion for over 26 years! Her aunt studied design and sent many greeting cards to her family written calligraphically. Loredana loved those magical letters and started to learn calligraphy very early. It was really hard to buy calligraphy pens in her town, so when she was on a dance competition in Denmark she bought her first one. This is when her self-learning really started. Loredana was quite a strict teacher and had a passion to achieve perfection. Her first alphabets were the card templates from her aunt, but soon they were not precise enough for her. The next step were fonts. She printed out a letter at a time and started to practice, discovering lots of things by herself and this knowledge is priceless and firm. Loredana discovered CLAS: The Calligraphy Lettering Art Society in London and her first class was with Denis Brown. She gained the National Diploma in Calligraphy in 2007: Intermediate Level and, in 2013: Advanced Level, and passed with distinction. She has been working with many private clients and institutions since then and continues to teach and exhibit worldwide.
Download the PDF flyer
Contact: Nancy Noble

Register for this lecture on Eventbrite.

MEMBERS WHO TEACH

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.

Rick Paulus • Call 774.323.0050

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

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.

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

Sally Penley
Email Sally for a list of current Zoom classes

Jacqueline Sullivan