Come learn how to using a gel plate to print your own fodder and then on day two play with your fodder to make collages.

Day 1: Learn and explore the basics of Gel Plate printing. Bring your gel plate, acrylics, and paper to create an assortment of decorative papers for use in collage, journals, and other mixed media art. 

Day 2: Create collage(s) with your newly created gel prints and other fodder (indicated on supply list). *Bring some calligraphy tools or work already completed to add to your collage (optional). 

Members may choose to attend: just one or both days.

WHEN: 10am-4pm August 23-24, 2025
WHERE: The Upton Community Center, 9 Milford St., Upton, MA
COST: $50 for two (s) days; $30 for one (1) day. (Must be a Masscribes member to register.*)
LEVEL: Beginner to Advanced Calligraphers
SUPPLIES: List will follow after registration.

*To pay your dues or to join Masscribes, refer to the Masscribes membership page. Email treasurer@masscribes.org if you are not sure of your membership status.

To register for this workshop, please scroll down to submit the registration form in the bottom of this page (if it does not load, please click here) and proceed to the payment page.

Come and learn how to create Celtic knot designs that will beautifully combine with your calligraphy! This class is being offered as either a one or two day workshop. You may register for Saturday only — or for both Saturday and Sunday.

DAY 1: Diane will introduce you to the art of Celtic knotwork through a brief history, live demonstration of methods of construction, and hands-on practice. While learning the process of plotting out and interlacing the cords of formal knots and borders, we will concentrate on balance, spacing, and intersections, looking for symmetry, shape, and weight of negative spaces.

DAY 2: Building on the lessons from Day 1, each student will create a border design or accent element to incorporate with calligraphy. The afternoon will include a lesson on Uncial script. The final piece will include knotwork rendered with a f ine line marker and students’ choice of watercolor or colored pencil, and calligraphy done with a broad edge pen. Highlights, shadows, shading and blending of colors for creating depth will be demonstrated.

WHEN: 9am-4pm February 22-23, 2025
WHERE: The Upton Community Center, 9 Milford St., Upton, MA
COST: $50 (2-days); $25 for Saturday only. A $10 Supply fee will also be assessed. (Must be a Masscribes member to register.*)
LEVEL: Beginner to Advanced Calligraphers
SUPPLIES: List will follow after registration.

*To pay your dues or to join Masscribes, refer to the Masscribes membership page. Email treasurer@masscribes.org if you are not sure of your membership status.

To register for this workshop, please scroll down to submit the registration form in the bottom of this page (if it does not load, please click here) and proceed to the payment page.

Join Masscribes' own Rachel Diamond Calow as she teaches us this beautiful art.

To register, please click complete the form at the bottom of the page (if it does not load, please click here)!

Family Trees come in all shapes and sizes. Rachel designs them in a circle. Come and learn how to combine family data and history with design elements to create a one-of-a-kind family heirloom. We will be using compasses and rulers and will first lay out everything in pencil before we move onto the lettering and design elements. Through live demonstration, methods will become clear.  

Together, we will develop a design that fits your family history.

Rachel Diamond Calow is the daughter of two genealogists and has combined her love of family history with calligraphy and color. Her work can be found at www.calligraphyforalloccasions.com.

COST: $50 for Masscribes members, which includes vellum bristol sheets and circular graph paper. Workshop limited to 12 participants.
LEVEL: Intermediate to Advanced Calligraphers
SUPPLIES: List will follow after registration.

Please note we will be writing 1/8th inch high letters.

Please bring at least 3-4 generations worth of data for your own tree. This includes full names, dates of birth, death and marriage. You must have this information as that is what you will be using for your project.

To pay your dues or to join Masscribes, refer to the Masscribes membership page. Email treasurer@masscribes.org if you are not sure of your membership status.

To register for this workshop, please scroll down to submit the registration form in the bottom of this page (if it does not load, please click here) and proceed to the payment page.

 “Getting your pen to fly, glide and land with speed, purpose and precision, and what beach calligraphy has to teach”

Engage in an entirely unique workshop! We have selected a studio near the beach and the beach will teach us all sorts of wonderful things about pen and paper calligraphy.

The workshop will begin at Rick Paulus’s Wareham, MA studio with a study in hand-arm mechanics and how they can be used for easier precision, for getting your pen to go where you need it to go. Then, we will delve into how different rhythms can be used to naturally produce different styles. We’ll apply the concept of ergonomics to calligraphy, exploring how your posture and height at the table relates to your calligraphy, right down to how to change it for different hands. We will explore sensing the body’s momentum and tension for specific movements in your calligraphy using wind-up and release.

If you are surprised how liberating all this can be you will be blown away by the effect of beach calligraphy! Over 3 days , one full day and 2 mornings will be spent indoors with pen and paper and 2 afternoons will be spent on the beach. Check out Andrew's Instagram (@beachscriber) to see his calligraphy works in motion! As calligraphers we tend to think in two dimensions -- the plane of a page -- but cutting into the sand of a beach gets you seeing the third dimension, and ink and paper calligraphy in a new light. This part of the workshop will alternate between play (lots of cool tools to explore) and rhythm and movement insights.

WHEN: September 29, 30 and October 1, 2023, 9AM - 5PM
WHERE: Rick Paulus’s Studio, Wareham, MA, and nearby Scusset Beach
COST: $250 for members, $280 for non-members (includes $30 annual membership). Workshop limited to sixteen participants. Eight student minimum must be confirmed by August 1 to avoid cancelling this workshop. To pay your dues or to join Masscribes, refer to the Masscribes membership page.
LEVEL: All skill levels
REGISTRATION: Opens June 30, 2023 at 10AM Eastern Time

Download the flyer with registration information HERE.

Click HERE for SUPPLY LIST.

Click HERE for TRAVEL DIRECTIONS, LODGING and FURTHER INFORMATION.

Click here for Andrew van der Merwe's BIO and his Instagram (@beachscriber).

To register for this workshop, please scroll down to submit the registration form in the bottom of this page (if you don't see the form, please click HERE) and proceed to the payment page.

The Monoline letter is ubiquitous and has many voices. It was a favorite of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods and continues to thrive today. Discover the diverse and lively world of the magnificent monoline letter in this colorful workshop. From creating White House invitations (really!) to expressive calligraphy pieces and logo design, monoline lettering is as diverse and as easy to create as it is fun! Regardless of skill level, this workshop will bring new, exciting life to your work.

Rick Paulus has been a calligrapher and a teacher for over forty years. Rick apprenticed for several years at the legendary Tolley Studios, in Washington, DC, before becoming the engrosser for the US State Department. In 1998, he was appointed chief calligrapher of the White House, where he remained for two presidents. Today, in addition to enjoying calligraphic explorations, Rick is dedicated to sharing the knowledge gained through many years of studio production and experimentation to students young and old alike.

WHEN: September 17 & 18, 9AM - 5PM
WHERE: Norwood Sportsmen’s Association, 576 Nichols St. Norwood, MA
REGISTRATION: Opens August 19, 2022
Scholarships are available for current members.

Download the flyer with registration information HERE.

As this is an in-person workshop, we will follow the current CDC guidelines and encourage all participants to use their discretion with personal health status and masking choice. Workshop registration fees will be refundable in case of cancellation due to personal last-minute health issues.
Questions? Contact Dave Flattery: lettering@aol.com.

The cost of this 2-day workshop is $125. If more than 18 enrollments are postmarked or made by PayPal on Friday, August 19, 18 participants will be selected in a lottery from the registration requests.

Enrollment is limited to 18 Masscribes members. To pay your dues or to join Masscribes, refer to the Masscribes membership page.

To register for this workshop, please submit the registration form (if you don't see the form, please click HERE) and proceed to the payment page. The form will go live on August 19, 2022 at 9AM ET.

The word texture comes from the Latin word 'textura' which means “yarn weaving”. It also applies to the links of the
chapters of a literary work, as well as the mineral constitution of rock. In the 15th Century, a gothic small letter was named “textura” which points out its precision and the way of interlacing each letter to write a word.
First, the participants will practice interlacing letters starting from their handwriting. Then, they’ll work on capital letters practicing their calligraphic knowledge. After which, they will progressively get free from readability and experiment with a playful approach leading to a very large range of writing textures.
The first objective of this workshop is to show how endless the possibilities of creating textures are and also the part they play in a composition. The second objective is to enrich graphic vocabulary and scriptural composition.

See the flyer for this workshop HERE.

Extend the range of your pointed pen’s potential as we break away from traditional pointed pen hands and explore the full power of this amazing little pen nib. Following an analysis of historical models as well as the work of contemporary masters, we willput our pens to paper and systematically develop new pointed pen styles out of formal broad-edge hands such as foundational, italic and uncial. The methods and skills acquired in this workshop will give participants the tools they need to further their reach with the pointed pen in infinite ways.

ALL LEVELS

Rick Paulus has been a calligrapher and a teacher for over forty years. Rick apprenticed for several years at the legendary Tolley Studios, in Washington, DC, before becoming the engrosser for the US State Department. In 1998, he was appointed chief calligrapher of the White House, where he remained for two presidents. Today, in addition to enjoying calligraphic explorations, Rick is dedicated to sharing the knowledge gained through many years of studio production and experimentation to students young and old alike.

Download the flyer with registration information HERE.

A brush is a very unique, responsive and gentle tool, which can be used for calligraphy backgrounds or a final artwork. With the patterns and transparent paths of the brush, one can enjoy all the advantages that it offers.We will build designs by exploring textures with the brush by making numerous layers of letters and changing positions. This effect is really breathtaking! In addition to dry brush, we will learn how to incorporate a small text - written with smaller nibs that are familiar to you - into your final design. We will also be learning a few embossing techniques that involve colors, metal leaves and different pressures to enhance the embossing effect. This too could be added to your final piece!

Loredana Zega is a passionate Slovenian Calligrapher with an English National Diploma in Calligraphy, held by CLAS (The Calligraphy and Lettering Art Society), passed with Distinction. She is experienced in a variety of techniques, surfaces and alphabets. Her passion is the flat brush, besides dance and theatre. She is representing her passion for letters through her Musical "A day of a calligrapher".

Download the flyer with registration information HERE.

Download the supply list HERE.

In this workshop we'll make two, possibly three, simple, elegant, Japanese-style folded boxes. The boxes are geometrics, formed from one long sheet of card stock scored and folded to create equal triangular shapes. The form can easily be expanded from a square to a pentagon, hexagon, octagon, etc. The first box will be made from heavyweight translucent Pergamenata stock, to understand the overall structure and assembly. The second box will be finished with Japanese papers. We will create decorative lids using avariety of techniques and finish them with beautiful beads or finials. The third box, time permitting, will be a variation by either expanding the number of sides or changing the folds.

Barry Morentz owns and operates his Manhattan studio where he creates calligraphic works and handmade books, boxes, and portfolios. He holds an MA in Medieval History, but abandoned pursuit of a doctorate in favour of an even less likely career in calligraphy. Initially self-taught, he began his formal calligraphic studies, primarily with Sheila Waters, in 1977, and eventually with almost every internationally recognized master. A seminal experience was participation in the Hermann Zapf Master Class at Rochester Institute of Technology in 1985, and subsequent paleographic studies in Rome and the Vatican Library. He has taught numerous workshops throughout the US, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and at five international Calligraphy Conferences.

Download the flyer with registration information HERE.

In this workshop we begin by looking at Johnston’s forms and their historical antecedents. Then we zoom into the 21st century and consider the forms stripped of anachronisms, and apply modern techniques to make them more viable. Day 1 deals with the minuscules and the rhythm of writing and spacing. On Day 2 we will work with the variables that create an entirely different feel, as well as with the bounty of styles that permit us to create an endless repertory of Capitals.

This class requires some prior knowledge of Italic.

Barry Morentz owns and operates his Manhattan studio where he creates calligraphic works and handmade books, boxes, and portfolios. He holds an MA in Medieval History, but abandoned pursuit of a doctorate in favour of an even less likely career in calligraphy. Initially self-taught, he began his formal calligraphic studies, primarily with Sheila Waters, in 1977, and eventually with almost every internationally recognized master. A seminal experience was participation in the Hermann Zapf Master Class at Rochester Institute of Technology in 1985, and subsequent paleographic studies in Rome and the Vatican Library. He has taught numerous workshops throughout the US, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and at five international Calligraphy Conferences.

Make sure you follow his work on Instagram (@barrymorentz)!

Download the flyer with registration information HERE.