If you still visit my little dusty, cobwebby corner of the internet, thank you. It’s been a while since I updated. Actually, it’s been a while since I touched my calligraphy tools. I still hold calligraphy near and dear to my heart, but I needed some time for other things – like my knitting, my garden, my health (mental & physical), my family, my cats, not to mention my full-time job. I was feeling overwhelmed in more ways than one, but during my time away, I really did miss calligraphy. I didn’t attend Letters California Style in 2023, but I did visit, had dinner with some lovely calligrafriends and dropped off my deposit for 2024. And suddenly here we are!

I didn’t practice at all – just dived into class cold turkey. I got my first choice, too – Romitalic with the fantastic Randall Hasson. When I read the class description: “A rounded, lyrical hand, with elements of traditional Italic and Roman forms,” I knew it was the perfect hand for me to learn and to get back into calligraphy.

I expected my hand to cramp up in pain, but I actually did okay! It took a while to warm up and get started, but with each letter, each word and each line, my muscle memory slowly came back, followed by sparks of mental notes from all my teachers in the past ten years of studying Italic. It really was like riding a bicycle – wobbly at first, but I somehow remembered how to do it. It was not perfect by any means, but I was pleased with how my practice sheets turned out.

It was great to catch up with friends and teachers as well as meet new ones. I’ve really missed being in the company of like-minded, letter-loving people! It was great to have Victor Kams join the Letters faculty this year, too. I met Victor at Rendez-vous in Montreal in 2019 and he’s such a rockstar calligrapher, so talented as well as humble and generous with his time and knowledge.

Three and a half days flew by just like that, and I had a fantastic time. Really enjoyed learning from Randall and with such enthusiastic and supportive classmates. So nice to learn, connect and share laughs. The love of Calligraphy brings us all together, no matter what generation we are.

Really having fun with Romitalic. Now on to practice, practice and practice.