So, if you know me and my always aspiring-to-be-an-artist-at-everything attitude, then my journey to becoming a professional calligrapher/ink artisan might not be so shocking. I have painted text and done hand-lettering since I was little, and always had a love for texture. Not to mention, I was birthed into this world naturally good at penmanship, but also had a mom who was crafty as hell and always had to make everything look beautiful and perfect. My bedroom was never plain--always dec'd out with a theme, my long hair was never undone, we were never allowed to dress ourselves (because, let's be honest, kids suck at that), and pretty much everything she ever did was handmade. From our halloween costumes (I admit my conditioning still has me believing it's a cop-out to buy one from a store) to her heavy hand in our creative school projects (guys, I still turned out alright and can tie my own shoes it's okay), I know I gotta credit my mama for my many creative talents.

I would say my love for cursive handwriting started with my mom too. I remember thinking she had the most beautiful handwriting and always copied her perfect signature. It turned into obsession after receiving a beginner's calligraphy kit from my aunt for Christmas when I was 11. In high school and college I painted text and murals for my schools' fund raisers, chapels, plays, ad club events. And now in Blue Daphne, as I have been doing since I started my business, I do hand-lettering for event signage and paper details. Always trying to perfect this craft though as there are endless fonts and so many techniques I have yet to learn and consistency I have yet to hone.

I have recently enrolled in a Copperplate Calligraphy course with the famous Younghae Chung of Logos Calligraphy. Wow what a wealth of information and tools I am picking up from this class! Seriously, if any of you are interested in developing your skill or even if you're a beginner, TAKE THIS CLASS. She really explains everything step by step and gives you all kinds of amazing instruction and digital tools to forever keep and look back on for practice.

So that's it for now, just a couple thoughts on script and one of my skills I am working on currently. Here are a few of my favorite hand-lettering projects from over the years :)