Monday 4 July 2011

Calligraphy

Regular readers will know all about my love of text fabric.  This is a beautiful example, Calligraphy fabric by Suzuko Koseki.  I bought mine from Etsy seller, Lucky Kaeru.
I have mentioned my creative primary school education before.  Calligraphy was a standard lesson and from age eight we all learnt to write italic handwriting as our normal script with Platinum ink pens.   Sounds idyllic?   It worked better for some than others; for those who struggled with the chiseled nib and ink flow, their work was always a blue smudgy affair  I also  remember going to the secretary's office to have cartridges refilled with a syringe. 
This is my original work booklet- my mum found it in a cupboard recently.  This was my bible and it gives me a big wave of nostalgia seeing it again.
You can see how this style of instructional imagery has influenced the SK fabric.  I found some of my  exercise attempts in ink and shock horror, biro- I think I did these at home.  I didn't stick with the hymn long before going off on on a tangent. 
This page would make a wonderful fabric print.
As I moved further up the school I did move on from my biro scribble.  In my final year, age 11,  I produced a book for a class project on Lindisfarne inspired by the illuminated gospels.  We made books each year, I have my book on sheep and another on Victorians, great mementos of a lively education
I was so lucky to have such a creative education in the state sector, it's stuck with me and every time I choose a text fabric for a sewing project I am reminded and thankful of Mr Cowper and many others.
sib blog

13 comments:

  1. I also had to write with a pen and ink ( fountain pens we called them in Australia!) And can you imagine the difficulty I had being a left hander!!!! No fun at all! Your manuscript book is great, all the same!!!!

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  2. One day you should bring out your own calligraphy fabric line :-)

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  3. Do as the boss says, destination Spoonflower!!
    Lovely childhood mementos x

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  4. I also learned to write with an ink cartridge pen. It was a beautiful blue color and I
    loved how you had to wait for it to dry. My own children barely know how to write in cursive, everything is printed! I fear we are losing yet another part of our culture.....thnak you for some fond memories!

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  5. You could scan in your handwriting and get spoonflower to print it! And don't laugh, but I'm a total fountain pen geek, and I did postgraduate work in English language and literature so I knew exactly what Lindisfarne was. Geek alert! Your writing is sooo beautiful! And thanks for the link, might just have to get some. I've got a thing for handwriting fabric too.

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  6. It is the bane of my existence that my two teenagers were never taught to cursive write. I should have taken matters into my own hands and made them do it at the kitchen table after school! I can't believe you did that book at age 11. That's very impressive. I went through a self-taught calligraphy phase around age 12 and enjoyed the discipline of it very much...or maybe just because it made me feel sophisticated!

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  7. Lovely fabric... and beautiful writing! I've just bought both my boys ergonomic pens (I have one lefty, one righty!) and I can imagine their faces if presented with fountain pens! I used to love my fountain pen - I always used purple or green ink - trying to be cool!!

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  8. I'm left handed so writing is difficult for me but recently had a go at chinese caligraphy with a brush and ink - what a challenge that was!

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  9. I totally understand your love for printed words. Used to use a fountain pen all of the time, then life got in the way.

    Food for thought - it often occurs to me that watching someone quilt is a lot like watching someone write with pen and ink. Magical!

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  10. I've taken calligraphy classes which I so enjoyed. Thanks for the fabric link. I really want some of that fabric!!

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  11. I did Italics at school too! And I still love to write with a fountain pen! (struggle finding the right chisel nib these days)

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  12. I'm with Lynne you need to be designing your own lovely calligraphy fabric. We used to do a bit at school but not as much as you did and I am sure we didn't have proper books.

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  13. What a wonderful education you had. And the book is so lovely. I'm with Lynne, too, you should design some prints for spoonflower!!

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