Watching a calligrapher at work is like witnessing poetry unfold in ink. Each graceful swoop and swirl seems to appear by magic, forming elegant script that feels impossibly perfect to the untrained eye. Yet, as artist Jessica Marissen says, this ancient craft isn’t reserved for the gifted few – with dedication and practice, anyone can learn its timeless beauty.
And learning the craft comes with some pretty practical hidden benefits.
“It’s something that you can’t do well if you don’t put your breath into it,” Marissen says. “That’s really where the therapeutic, meditative effect comes in. Your breath is into it, and then you kind of become one with your writing; it just calms your nervous system.”
Marissen, who will host a calligraphy class for scribes of all levels on October 25, began practising the craft in 2020 as a way to de-stress, particularly because of its meditative qualities. Since then, she has racked up an estimated 2,000 hours practicing copperplate calligraphy – so called in reference to writing masters of the 18th century who would create instructional books by engraving their scripts onto copper plates.
The big difference between the calligrapher’s art and the ordinary handwriting used for millennia to produce documents and letters is that calligraphy is often based on a set of rules and incorporates specific breathing techniques.
“That’s a common mistake that people make, they think it’s just fancy handwriting,” Marissen says. “It’s based on seven different strokes. So the strokes are all up and down. They’re based around an oval.”
Just like a martial artist will practise the identical move over and over, a calligrapher will hone their technique by repeating strokes on an empty piece of paper with a pencil or pen, Marissen says,
“Put a stroke up and breathe in, and then go down and breathe out,” she says. “Stroke up, breathe in, stroke down, breathe out.”
Regardless of their reasons for wanting to try their hand at calligraphy, Marissen encourages anyone interested in joining her class to come with an open mind, regardless of skill level.
“It’s either a nostalgic thing, they’re older, and they’re like, ‘Oh, I remember I used to write with a dip pen, but I haven’t done it a long time!’ So, they want to take the class,” she says. “Or, it’s becoming very popular, people see it on social media, and they’re like, ‘How do you do that?’ It’s an old art form that’s trending again, and they want to learn how to do it. Then, there are some who want to use it in their creative practices, whether it’s scrapbooking or whatever.”
Marissen says she spent 50 hours a month on her hobby when she first started, less afterward.
“For the first six months, I was doing it every single evening,” she says. “My routine was to put the kids to bed (they were really little at the time), and then I would sit and write for a few hours. So it was probably 50 hours a month there for several months. You have to put time into it. This isn’t something you do once and you’ll be great at it.”
Regardless of skill level, Marissen thinks it’s important to first master the strict rules associated with the script – then you can get really creative.
“The rules that I teach are based on copperplate, that’s a traditional font, hundreds of years old,” Marissen. “It has very strict rules, and I feel like it’s very important to learn what those rules are and why they’re important, and then you can put your own twist on it. You can break those rules like an artist.”
When she’s writing for herself, she tends to produce more of a modern calligraphy based on a traditional script. Everything is on a 52 to 55 degree angle.”
Marissen’s class is at 7 p.m. on October 25 in Emo for all skill levels. The cost is $50 per person, and registration is via text message at 807-861-0229. For more information, contact Jessica Marissen at that number.
