Course Information

This course won’t teach you how to be a calligrapher. It won’t teach you Copperplate, Roundhand, Gothic, Uncial or any of the historical/traditional styles of script. It won’t teach you classic form or how to build each letter of the alphabet. All of that takes years and years of dedicated practise. So what will it teach you? It will teach you how to create stunning pieces of work using your own handwriting; anything from a beautiful, personal card for a friend to a framed artwork. I can hear some of you muttering “but I hate my handwriting, it’s awful”. I can hear you listening to an old teacher’s voice in your head; “don’t be so messy, be neater, try harder, make fewer mistakes blah, blah, blah”. Banish that thinking and banish that voice – no matter what you (or anybody else) thinks of your handwriting, it’ll be more than good enough because legibility isn’t necessarily the name of the game. The name of the game is the creation of fabulous texture, great line and shape, sensitive use of colour and simple but elegant composition. We will celebrate spatter, uneven edges, lacy textures, bold graphics and turn failures into beauty. You’ll learn how to adapt your handwriting using both lower case and upper case. You’ll extend it, stretch it, compress it, squeeze it and slant it. You’ll make it loopy or spiky, chunky or thin, delicate or bold. You’ll rotate and over-write, trace and blot. You’ll build texture and density, use colour and consider how to use text to communicate visually. 99% of this course is about working on paper. However Claire will also share examples of how she's used text in her own textile work and how to co-opt other tools to get good results on cloth. Many of these techniques aren’t restricted to paper - ceramics, encaustic, cloth and 3D forms - the possibilities are truly endless!