On the flipside...because of the modern calligraphy boom, I found Flourish Forum and am in the process of delving into Copperplate! I hope many others new to the art of calligraphy feel the same desire to learn the letterforms and I am sure there are many others like me that have a new appreciation for the work and skill that goes into truly beautiful lettering penned by masters and those that have been calligraphing for years upon decades.
I am a complete newbie...in fact, this is my first day as part of this forum. I want to thank you all for this conversation. I have only recently re-discoverd my interest in calligraphy that started over 35 years ago. I find it helpful that the expectation is not that one becomes a good calligrapher over night. I figured that it would take me a couple of years to be passable/good. I knew from my feeble attempts to learn calligraphy when I was 12 that it was HARD and took much time. Now that I have a bit of life under my belt I realize the value of hard work and perseverance. I look forward to the day that I can look at my work and say to myself, "not bad". As it stand right now practicing my letterforms is very meditative for me. I am sure my family thinks it boring but I do not. I love the way the ink flows on the paper, the black against white. Even in these early stages I see a beauty in the art even if my letterforms/lines are wobbly.
My long story short...
Picking up calligraphy again after years entrenched in career, raising kids, etc., I wondered what on earth could I do with it except envelopes and way too many framed quotes on the wall! So the "Modern" thing got my attention. But know what? That got me back into traditional, esp. copperplate. Then, realizing it was going to take me the rest of my retirerment years to become anywhere near as accomplished as all you FFF's (Flourish Forum Friends), I let go of any agenda and simply settled into the pleasure of writing; dipping; mixing; ordering (JNB & PIA); reading blogs; googling calligraphy; youtubing calligraphers (some leave me breathless); looking at road signs and telling my wife to look at
that lettering; driving along and scrambling for note paper to jot down the flourished capital "B" on a Budweiser beer truck; saving so many instagram & Pinterest sites to My Favorites that it is completely unmanageable now;
continuing to add to My Favorites because I just don't want to lose the reference to someone's creativity or skill that has literally caused me to whimper in delight; hiding a new color of ink or paper from my wife because she already thinks I'm a bit "over the edge"; okay...I'll stop now.
Guess I lied
... that wasn't very short, huh? My ultimate realization: sometimes one plays the piano all alone only to enjoy it; some run miles just because it feels exhilarating; many sing along to the car radio because it's therapeutic; my grandmother was so proud of the too many tacky afghans she crocheted just to have on hand for newborn family members. None of this to plan a business, a website, or a wedding. Perhaps a special birthday card envelope, gift tag, or labels for spice jars can be enough. So...I'll probably never be featured in
dasherie, but I'm having the time of my life!
Anyone need a well-used afghan? It would come with a gorgeous gift tag.
Arlen