Take a look below to see what we all got up to:
Workshops ran from 12 till 3:
A children's workshop hosted by Alice Mazzilli of Ampersand Alice.
The children learnt how to control their handwriting and studied the sizes of ascending and descending letters. Lots of young faces were concentrating hard as the kids all learnt to master beautiful handwriting!
We kicked off the adult workshops with a beginner's course in Modern Calligraphy, with esteemed Modern Calligrapher Joyce Lee of Artsynibs. For the workshop, our new Modern Calligraphy Set was used, that we were lucky enough to design with Joyce's help.
Everybody got a copy of Artynibs' worksheets to take away and continue to practise their new skill!
Artist and Designer Rob Draper demonstrated his work on everyday objects like paper plates and Starbucks coffee cups with his fun and exciting hand-lettering workshop. All the participants came away buzzing with inspiration and creativity! Even Artsynibs stayed to take part and learn some new skills!
The workshops came to an end with traditional calligrapher Stephen Duckett giving his workshop on how he uses poster nibs to create his own style of ornamental letters in his work. Originally intended as a pointed pen workshop, plans changed due to the vast interest in Stephen's ornamental letter works. Also demonstrated was 'How to create perfect wax seals' for your cards and gifts with everybody having a go at creating their own sealed envelopes to take home as a souvenir.
Take a look at our Artist Hub that ran throughout the day:
Throughout the day we had calligraphers creating pieces and responding to everybody's varied questions and requests. We saw lots of interest in the varied styles and expertise on offer from the professionals while they worked.
Artists on the day: Cyndy Cooper; Ampersand Alice (Alice Mazzilli); Sandro Bonomo; Rob Draper; Stephen Duckett; Joyce Lee (Artsynibs) ; Jangir Rashid (Ottoman Calligraphy); Suleman Desai and Gulam Hussain.
Sandro Bonomo created a large scale piece for World Calligraphy Day:
Sandro worked throughout the day creating this showstopper piece in the entrance to the museum which certainly got heads turning.
Jeremy Collingridge showcased his vast collection of precious and unique fountain pens.
There was a great deal of practising going on in the "Try Me" areas where there was everything from Duotips and metallic markers to our popular fountain pens and wax sealing ranges.
Here you can see two of the top social media posts celebrating the day. Click the images to view!
Relive the highlights from the first World Calligraphy Day with the short film below
Film Created by: Enzo Iantosca
Soundtrack Composed by: Neatbeats
