My dad loved English classics, so as a young child I was surrounded by volumes of Brontë, Austen and the Shakes himself. Those books were beautifully bound and had elegant, detailed typeface. I’m one of those annoying people that will occasionally buy a book based purely on how the cover looks- ‘I may not like the story, but look how pretttttttttty it is!’
My parents are pretty much teetotallers, save from my mom’s annual pina colada and my dad’s ‘for medicinal purposes only’ brandy (true story). But growing up it was the obligatory sweet champagne on New Year’s Eve that got me hooked onto fine lettering and filigree. A few hints of gold foiling on a label transformed it from something nice, into something exquisite.
Calligraphy and lettering, to me, is something familiar, nostalgic and celebratory. It is richness and simplicity, it reminds me of my parents and it takes me back to being a little girl, feeling like a grown-up as the clock struck midnight and a time when magic felt so, so real.
The thing I love most about calligraphy and lettering is that they are everywhere. From a newspaper title name to the label on the bottle of your favourite gin (teetotalling has skipped a generation), from a wedding invitation to the careful inscription on the trophy your favourite team just won. There’s a reason I chose to have my first photo feature drawn on a brown paper bag, to pay homage to the fact that anyone can appreciate and create anywhere and on anything and that you do not always need the priciest tools to make something extraordinary.
So, I’d like to invite you to join me, an utter non-expert, on my calligraphic adventure and hopefully share some helpful tips and showcase things that are beautiful, dreamy and quirky (the things that I like most)
P.S. My dad bought me my first calligraphy set when I was 12 years old and I loved it! Over the years I lost interest in calligraphy, until 2015 when I discovered modern calligraphy and a passion was sparked again.
Thank you :)