Washington Calligraphers Guild
Snapshots from past workshops

Workshop participants The Washington Calligraphers Guild offers weekend workshops in the spring and fall, taught by internationally renowned calligraphers as well as local talent. Aimed at all levels of skill, the workshops are held at various locations in the Washington, DC area. Below are photos taken at selected workshops.

At right: Guild members (from l.) Vicki Futscher, Lorraine Swerdloff and Esther Washington at a WCG workshop in 1999.


Sheila Waters' "Basic Italic" workshop:
Anne Harrison Henry Tham
Sheila Waters Sheila Waters
Sheila Waters' March 2000 workshop
photos by Lorraine Swerdloff


Peter Thornton's "Contrast: The Magic Ingredient" workshop:
portion of Thornton artwork Peter Thornton
Peter Thornton's May 2000 workshop
(photos by Shelly Freishtat)


Kate McKulla's "Luminous Layering" workshop:

Kate McKulla (seated on left) guides WCG members in experimenting with the "luminous layering" of Ziller inks in an April 2000 workshop. Kate lettered the Guild's name at right. Below, participant Sally Phillips creates "joy" with Ziller inks.

Ziller class by Kate McKulla
Sally in class by Sally Phillips


David Meckelburg's "Enlivening Your Italic" workshop:
Meckelburg workshop Meckelburg italic
Meckelburg sample Meckelburg samples
Leve workshop


Above: David Meckelburg (seated) enlivened the italic alphabet for WCG members in two November 1999 workshops (photos by Dottie Gray and Shelly Freishtat).

Left: Patty Shaivitz Leve (seated) taught Hebrew lettering in October 1999 (photo by Lorraine Swerdloff).


Karen Ter Haar's "Flatly Floral" and "Lose Your Marbles" workshops:

Karen Ter Haar by Karen Ter Haar

During her fall 2000 workshop tour of the U.S., Australian artist Karen Ter Haar (top left) showed WCG members how to use flat lettering brushes and strokes to create floral motifs for their art. "Kaz" created the bamboo piece at top right. Above, participants (from l.) Cynthia Campbell, Louise Harris, Sandeep Makkar and Maureen Murray practice the strokes. On the following day, Kaz taught two marbling techniques. Below, Dianne Garrett (l.) and Sandeep Makkar (r.) pull newly marbled paper from their ink baths.

Garrett Makkar


Jean Brinton Jaecks' "Raised Gold Leaf Letters" workshop:

Jean Brinton Jaecks, whose artwork is shown at left, conducted a December 2000 workshop on the materials and techniques used by medieval manuscript illuminators. She guided participants as they created their own decorated initial caps, such as the one at right by Ann Pope (actual size 2 x 2 3/4 inches).

Jean Brinton Jaecks cap Ann Pope cap


Pat Blair's Spencerian workshop:

Pat Blair

Spencerian expert and WCG member Pat Blair taught a November 2000 workshop on this opulent hand, developed in North America in the mid-19th century. Characterized by large flourished capitals, Spencerian is written using a pointed, flexible nib in an oblique pen holder.



Ann Pope's "Lombardic Versals" workshop:

WCG member Ann Pope shared her love of Versals, the decorative letters used by medieval scribes to begin verses of texts, in an April 2001 workshop. The artwork below was produced in class by (top row, from l.) Linda Farquhar, Dale Stein, Phyllis Ingram, and Jennifer Kolls; (second row, from l.) Karen Daly, Sallie Halley, Kate Purvis, and Lorraine Swerdloff.
Linda Farquhar Dale Stein Phyllis Ingram Jennifer Kolls
Karen Daly Sallie Halley Kate Purvis Lorraine Swerdloff


Stan Knight 's "Uncials Unleashed" workshop:


Julian Waters' "Blackletter Variations" workshop:

Julian Waters demonstrates

 

 

 

 


Eliza Schulte Holliday's Basic Edged Brush workshop:
Eliza Holliday workshop   by Eliza Holliday
November 2002 workshop participants learned to letter using an edged brush with Eliza Holliday (seated above). Shown (above right) is one of her pieces.
     
Diane von Arx Anderson's Layout and Design workshop:
Diane von Arx workshop   by Diane von Arx AndersonDiane von Arx Anderson taught a WCG workshop in Spring 2002 on layout and design. Shown is a piece from her portfolio.
     
Sheila Waters' "Pointed Gothic" workshop:
Sheila Waters   Pointed Gothic workshop

In March 2003 Sheila Waters continued her series of workshops on various hands with Gothicized Italic (Pointed Gothic).

Sheila Waters' "Adventures in Color " workshop:

 
Students learned how to mix colors to match anything! See more photos of Sheila's Fall 2005 weekend workshop on color theory and matching.  photos by Ann Dorsey
     
Ewan Clayton's Uncials workshop
Ewan Clayton  
British calligrapher Ewan Clayton, an authority on the Lindisfarne Gospels, taught the Uncial script in June 2005. At right, a student practices the basic strokes. photos by Ann Dorsey
 

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