Taking pen to paper
Sandy Mundy warned her students that it might take awhile to warm up their hands — and it wasn’t simply because of that day’s snowy weather.
The group that gathered recently Downtown at the Cultural Arts Center for the monthly Calligraphy Guild of Columbus meeting was preparing to take up the difficult task of penning uppercase letters in formal script calligraphy.
“Nobody is getting cramped up yet?” Mundy, a longtime
guild member, asked after demonstrating a few letters. “It’s a good idea to remember to breathe, swallow and move your head. This is just something that is so different from everyday activity.”
Who knew handwriting could prove so strenuous?
The dozen or so people at the meeting didn’t seem to mind the workout — not to mention the intense concentration — required for the art form, writing defined by thick down strokes with thin, airy upstrokes that are created by a pen with a nib dipped in ink.
And neither have the scores of eager class-goers at various venues across town that host calligraphy and hand-lettering workshops, many of which sell out weeks in advance.
It turns out that plenty of people these days want to learn to write like a princess — particularly Meghan Markle.
The Duchess of Sussex hasn’t been quiet about her beloved hobby, a skill she once used to make money before becoming a TV star turned British royalty. Town & Country magazine reported that she did wedding invitations for actress Paula Patton and singer Robin Thicke, and she even demonstrated her prowess at calligraphy to Larry King.
Practitioners in central Ohio say the art form’s recent boom in popularity can also be attributed to the do-it-yourself movement fueled by Pinterest and Instagram as well as a yearning for the days when people used to send letters and cards instead of shooting off a quick text or email.
“We started hearing after President (George H.W.) Bush’s funeral (in December) that people heard he was really good at sending thankyou cards,” said Allison Chapman, owner of Igloo Letterpress in Worthington. “With Christmas and now Valentine’s Day, it’s go time for sending letters. People want them to look good since that shows you care about a person.”
Chapman’s letterpress and bookbinding company has hosted calligraphy classes — with the help of professional calligrapher Lindsey Buck of Cincinnati — periodically over the past three years. The $115, two-hour courses usually sell out several weeks early, she said.
Hand-lettering workshops taught by Natalie Pariano at her Clintonville shop Natterdoodle and elsewhere also fill up regularly. Hand lettering, she explained, differs from calligraphy in that it doesn’t require a nib but instead is done with a pen, marker or other writing instrument. It’s often referred to as “faux calligraphy” and can be very decorative.
“The last three years, hand lettering has really blown up,” Pariano said. “More people are testing and trying hand lettering in their homes. Every day, I have DMS (direct messages) on Instagram asking me, ‘What type of pen do I use to do that?’ or ‘My daughter is 12. How do I get her started?’”
Many find that although the hobby takes concentration and repetition, it also offers relaxation.
“People are looking for more self-care time,” Pariano said. “With hand lettering, you really take your time and go slow.”
Maybe that’s why the art form is becoming more mainstream, Pariano, 36, said.
“Things I was making five years ago, I now see similar things at Target,” she said. “Then, folks are like, ‘Oh, I’d love to do that myself.’”
Pinterest saw an increase of nearly 700 percent in searches for “calligraphy” from October 2017 to October 2018, according to the Huffington Post. Craft and hobby shops have seen a spike in sales of supplies needed for the activity; beginners can buy the book “Calligraphy Made Easy” at Target, then choose between a variety of pens and inks at Michaels stores.
“We have a whole pen section in the store, now,” Igloo’s Chapman said.
In the past few months alone, the Calligraphy Guild of Columbus’ membership ranks have grown by at least a half-dozen calligraphers, said Carol Kimball, president of the group in its 38th year. Currently, there are around 50 members.
“There’s a resurgence in it,” said Kimball, who has been doing calligraphy since she took a class at a nearby YMCA in 1980. “The internet, on Youtube videos and Instagram, people post examples of it. It attracts people.”
Two common misconceptions about the art form, she said, are that someone must have good handwriting to do it and that it’s rigid in its rules.
“A lot of people think it’s black ink on white paper, but it’s so much more than that,” said Kimball, who sometimes makes her letters more abstract or writes using gold foil.
Bob Mowery and Joanne Adams, a couple from New Albany, enjoy the expressiveness they get to showcase through calligraphy, they said while practicing their uppercase C’s alongside Mundy’s instruction.
“You can add your own style to it,” Adams said. “The most difficult part is being consistent with the letters, the slant and the spacing. The attention to detail does require a lot of practice.”
Susan Houchin, a Dublin resident who’s been practicing calligraphy for about three years since her retirement from a national nonprofit agency, said she’s still trying to fine-tune her own style.
“Calligraphy is way more than just fancy words,” Houchin said. “It’s an art form of it’s own.”
award@dispatch.com @Allisonaward