Write on the Edge is pleased to present our distinguished faculty.

Yukimi Annand is a calligrapher, lettering and book artist based in Southern California. She grew up in Japan and studied visual communication design and worked as a graphic designer/director in Tokyo. She is passionate about the beauty of the Roman alphabet and creates unique artwork with her love of calligraphic mark making incorporated with nature. She has been experimenting with the use of tools and mediums to expand her world of calligraphy. It has also been her great pleasure to share her ideas and to give workshops all around the world since 2012. Yukimi’s work has frequently been shown in Letter Arts Review as well as other calligraphic journals and books. And they have been included in calligraphy collections in Berlin, San Francisco, and Moscow.

Suzie Beringer is a lettering artist who makes her home in the Pacific Northwest. With a degree in commercial art with a life-time passion for calligraphy, she is constantly exploring new possibilities and pushing herself creatively. Her work has been published in Letter Arts Review. As a teacher she loves to share her passion for mark making and design with others. As an artist Suzie loves the challenge and discovery that lettering on different surfaces brings. It has been said, that if something around her doesn’t move quickly enough it may end up with letters on it! You can see more of her work on Instagram: penstrokedesignstudio

Gemma is a calligrapher from Tasmania, Australia where she operates her studio-based practice. In 1991 she received a Winston Churchill Fellowship to study in Europe. She is also a Fellow of the Calligraphy & Lettering Arts Society, UK. Gemma teaches for art, calligraphy, bookbinding, and craft organizations across Australia and she has also joined the faculty at international lettering art conferences in Italy, Germany, Spain, the U.S., Canada, and the UK. Currently her teaching via zoom and other online platforms due to the pandemic, is keeping her very busy and active. Her work is housed in private and public collections, including the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK; the European Parliament; Letterform Archive San Francisco; and Parliament House Canberra. Gemma enjoys teaching very much and delivers her programs with a pure love for letter forms.

Pat Blair served 12 and a half years as the Chief Calligrapher at the White House in Washington, D.C., directing the production of invitation and menu design for all official and social presidential events, calligraphy of placecards, envelopes and titles, certificate and resolution design, as well as production of programs and tour books. She served two years as the President of the Washington Calligraphers Guild, was the chairperson of the Graceful Envelope contest sponsored by the US Postal Service, and served as co-director for the International Lettering Conference, Letterforum. Teaching is a favorite pastime, and Pat has been on the faculty of over ten international calligraphy conferences and IAMPETH. She currently enjoys offering online classes via Zoom. Her work has been published in the Calligrapher’s Engagement Calendar, Letter Arts Review, Top 100 New York Calligraphers, Grolier Club Calligraphy Revival, and Martha Stewart Weddings, among others. Her workshops emphasize the grace and elegance that letterforms can achieve by paying close attention to the beauty of the form. Pat has been awarded the title Master Penman by the International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting for her work.

John Burns has made a career as a full-time lettering artist, using calligraphy and drawn letters to create the brands for Goldfish Crackers, Sara Lee, Red Vines, Hampton Inn, and scores of others. John has taught calligraphy, handlettering, corporate identity, and graphic design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. This will be his second time teaching at an international calligraphy conference. John is a patient teacher who takes a “no tears” approach to learning good letterform fundamentals. You can see John’s work at: www.johnburnslettering.com

The world of books and writing has captivated Annie Cicale since she was a child. She has an MFA in graphic design, has taught calligraphy and book arts worldwide, and has taught at most of the international calligraphy conferences. Her travels to Europe and Asia have expanded visions of letterforms. She is the author of The Art and Craft of Hand Lettering, a 2011 publication of Bloomin Books.

Ewan is a calligrapher and professor in design at the University of Sunderland. He grew up associated with a community of craftsmen at Ditchling in Sussex founded by Eric Gill. Ewan has enjoyed a varied professional career working as both a calligraphy teacher and a consultant to Xerox PARC, and he is currently a core faculty member at the Royal Drawing School in London. In 2013 his book on the history of calligraphy and typography, The Golden Thread, was published and has since been translated into several languages. In 2019 he acted as external advisor to the British Library’s exhibition Writing: “Making Your Mark,” and he is editor of the accompanying publication.

Judy Detrick is a calligrapher and designer living on the Mendocino coast of Northern California where she taught calligraphy and graphic design at College of the Redwoods for more than 25 years. Her work can be found in several anthologies of calligraphy and graphic design, and she is represented in the Harrison Collection of Calligraphy and Lettering at the San Francisco Public Library. She is the author of Simply Calligraphy, A Beginner’s Guide to Elegant Lettering.

Any day that she can open a bottle of ink, is a good day for Carol DuBosch. It gets even better if she can create art, make a mark-making tool, or teach what she knows to someone. Words are her muse and she loves being able to use them as a lettering artist. It is absolutely the best job ever. Carol has been a calligrapher in Portland, Oregon since she was first introduced to nibs and ink in 1959 as a high school art student. In the 58 years since, she has gained a degree in graphic design and has studied with every major calligrapher in the US and Europe. She has been teaching college level and private classes in the Northwest along with workshops throughout the United States and most recently in Italy. Carol has directed three international calligraphy conferences in Portland, bringing 500 scribes together for a week of studying and sharing. She is interested in every aspect of the field of calligraphy, from the formal invitation to writing on walls. She enjoys seeking out ways to stretch the boundaries of her art. As a lifelong learner, she is always looking forward to the next new thing.

Benoit Furet discovered calligraphy almost by chance 28 years ago and was immediately hooked. Since then he has been studying historical scripts and decoration techniques. He is really attached to the historicity of the writings used in his works even if he likes to play with other materials and colors than the one originally used. Benoit is obsessed by the Middle Ages and really fond of gothic scripts, not to mention a passion for filigrees. He has been teaching calligraphy, lettering, and ornaments for 15 years in Europe and North America.

Tamer Ghoneim is a professional artist and instructor from Houston, Texas, specializing in blackletter/gothic calligraphy styles, including abstract designs and modern interpretations. He has been featured on television, by online calligraphy and design organizations, and his work has been internationally published and shown at art exhibitions. Tamer’s goal is to encourage people of all ages and any skill level to learn the rewarding art of blackletter calligraphy, and he has extensive experience delivering high-quality online and in-person workshops. He believes in using a positive, fun, and supportive approach to inspire others to find joy and pride in their creative abilities.

Cláudio Gil is a teacher, designer, artist, and calligrapher who lives in Rio de Janeiro. He has a Master in Design by ESDI-RJ and is a university professor teaching art, design, and calligraphy. A self-taught calligrapher, he started his first investigations and pieces in 2003 and has held more than 300 workshops since then. In recent years, he has been researching paleography, writing, calligraphy, and visual languages. Cláudio works as a graphic designer and artist for schools and universities, events of art, design, and calligraphy in Brazil, Latin America, Canada, and Europe. A solid base obtained through practice and research allows Cláudio to explore and extrapolate the limits of the classic letterforms. His work explores many paths, is always full of freshness, which has become a trademark in his contemporary work. His productions have been exhibited and published in several countries, and many of his works are in collections of museums and cultural institutions around the world.

Due to unforeseen circumstances Louise Grunewald has had to withdraw from the faculty

Known for his large paintings combining imagery and calligraphic text, Randall M. Hasson is an artist, calligrapher, instructor, and speaker who has appeared on the faculty of national and international arts, lettering arts, and educational conferences since 1998. He has appeared as a mainstage presenter and/or teacher with lecture topics covering public art, art history, the painting process, collaborative art projects, and the history of writing including the recent invention of the ADLaM alphabet which originated in western Africa. He is the co-editor of the 24th (centennial) edition of the Speedball Textbook, and is currently writing a history titled the Speedball Story: Teaching America How to Letter, due to be published in 2022.

Yves Leterme runs a studio in Sint-Kruis, a town very close to Bruges, Belgium. Having taught Latin and Greek for 25 years, he quit his school job in 2010 to become a full-time calligrapher. He takes on various commissions and makes free artistic work. Teaching, however, remains his main vocation and occupation. Since 2006 he has toured extensively around the globe to give workshops and presentations for societies and conferences. He also offers several online classes on the Acorn Arts platform. In calligraphic circles, Yves is especially known for his refined and versatile gestural lettering, his minutely drawn capitals, and his richly textured, abstract backgrounds. Yves’ work has been selected for inclusion in many juried shows and his artwork can be found in catalogs, magazines, museums, and private collections, as well as on Instagram of course. He’s the author of Thoughtful Gestures and Litterae.

Grendl Löfkvist is the Education Director at Letterform Archive in San Francisco, where she teaches type history and theory in the year-long postgraduate Type West program in type design. She also teaches the history of graphic design, book arts, calligraphy, and letterpress printing at City College of San Francisco, and offers letterpress and calligraphy workshops at the San Francisco Center for the Book.

Sherrie Lovler learned calligraphy in high school and has given workshops in lettering and related topics since she was 22. She has taught at several international calligraphy conferences, Ghost Ranch, Letters California Style, various museums, art centers, and guilds, as well as accredited classes at Northern Arizona University. Sherrie holds a BA in Studio Art, yet considers her two most important teachers to be Hermann Zapf who taught her precision in lettering, and Dick Beasley who taught her the freedom of abstract painting. Her work has been published in The Art & Craft of Hand Lettering and in journals including Letter Arts Review (annual juried issues), Bound & Lettered, and Alphabet. Sherrie is the author, illustrator and designer of On Softer Ground: Paintings, Poems and Calligraphy, which won a gold medal for Most Outstanding Book Design from Independent Publishers Book Awards (2016). She exhibits her art regularly and loves teaching and inspiring her students to take creative leaps. Sherrie’s calligraphic paintings and poems can be seen at artandpoetry.com.

Raoul Martinez has been dabbling in calligraphy since college. In 2009, he rediscovered blackletter at Black Sabbath, a monthly class led by Linnea Lundquist and Ward Dunham. He has spread his love of calligraphy by teaching at the San Francisco Center for the Book, Friends of Calligraphy, Pacific Scribes, and Artseed. He also leads a bimonthly online study group, the Blackletter Brunch. Raoul’s artwork has been shown at the San Francisco Public Library, Filoli, the Presentation Center, the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, and the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, and appeared in Alphabet and the Speedball Textbook. For examples of his work, go to CalligraphybyRaoul.com and Instagram.com/raoulpat.

David is a designer with a passion for calligraphy. He has taught workshops in Europe, the US, and Canada. He encourages students to develop an individual approach and to explore calligraphy in the wider context of art and design. He has a particular interest in Japanese aesthetic traditions, which have influenced and informed his work.

Born to a family of gifted inventor-engineers, raised in post-Sputnik middle America, with aptitudes in math and science, Suzanne was channeled into those fields at an early age, making her way into the world of art-making at 20-something. She earned a BFA in printmaking and drawing in 1973, at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Suzanne is a lettering artist, painter, and printmaker whose eclectic interests meld in the diversity of her artists’ books. She weaves word and painted image with form, content, and structure into spaces which invite the reader to engage, examine, and inquire. Her books blend abstract and representational imagery, rich color and surface treatments with textual content and contemporary lettering to create work that obscures the line between word and image, legibility and abstraction. Suzanne’s work is exhibited widely, and her books have been acquired for private and public collections in the US and Europe. Among them are the Pierpont Morgan Library, The Library of Congress, and the rare book collections of Harvard University, Yale, Princeton, Bowdoin College, and the Boston Athenaeum.

Amity Parks is an artist and calligrapher living in Missoula, Montana. For many years she has been studying calligraphy in weeklong and private tuition classes with internationally renowned instructors. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Tulsa, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Montana. Her work has been featured in national and regional exhibits and publications. She has been a long-term active member and teacher in her local and state calligraphy guilds and travels within the US and internationally to teach workshops, including serving on the faculty for multiple international lettering arts conferences, for the SSIW Conference in Melbourne, Australia, the Midwest Art and Lettering Retreat, Letters California Style and LaRomita School of Art in Umbria, Italy. She spends many hours in her studio on her personal and creative work, finding a balance between her teaching commitments and her busy family life. More information and artwork can be found on Facebook, Instagram and at her website, www.amityparkslettering.com

Based in Turin, Italy, Massimo Polello has worked as a calligrapher for over 20 years. He has explored calligraphy’s classical and contemporary applications in visuals arts and graphic design. His work includes packaging design, signage, corporate branding, logo design, as well as executing his original designs on walls, in films, and in art videos. Massimo has exhibited and led workshops in the US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Canada, Pakistan, Japan, and Europe. Massimo has taught on the faculty of four international calligraphy conferences held in the US. He contributed to The Rijksbook, a prestigious limited edition book for the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam, and toTraité de la peinture-Extraits with Editions Alternatives Publisher of Paris. Massimo has also worked with artist and filmmaker Peter Greenaway and with director Luca Ronconi on the installation of the 150th anniversary exhibition of the unification of Italy. He is President of the Turin calligraphers’ guild Dal Segno alla Scrittura and works in his Turin studio, Gallery ABC Atelier. He sums up his approach to calligraphy best, “…letters become a means to exist outside myself… going beyond the letters, captured by a sole need to see. They become signs, images, evocations, urgent needs, emotions.” For more information, please visit lacalligrafia.com.

Marcy Robinson is an award-winning lettering artist residing in New Jersey. She has studied with Julian and Sheila Waters and has taken workshops with many other lettering and design artists. She was one of several artists featured in Alphabet, the Journal of The Friends of Calligraphy, Spring 2011 and Winter 2019 issues. She designed the Alphabet logo for the 2011 issues. Her work maybe seen in 100 New York Calligraphers, edited by Cynthia Dantzic, Manuale Calligraphicum by Jerry Kelly, and Morphing Monograms by Barry Morentz and Marcia Friedman.

Carl Rohrs has been a lettering artist and signpainter in Santa Cruz, California since 1977. He has taught lettering, typography, and graphic design at Cabrillo College since 1984, as well as at workshops and conferences since 1986 in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, and South Africa. Carl was the editor of Alphabet, the Journal of the Friends of Calligraphy from 1989–1992 and resumed the job in 2015, where he continues to the present day. He is the designer and co-editor of the 25th edition of the Speedball Textbook, 2021.

Paul is a calligrapher/ typographer/ graphic designer/ design historian. He is the author of Blackletter Primer, the co-author of the catalogue Blackletter: Type and National Identity, and editor of The Eternal Letter. He taught calligraphy at New York City-area universities and design schools from 1980 to 2015. A longtime member of the Society of Scribes, Ltd. and the Friends of Calligraphy, he has taught nine workshops on various blackletter hands in the past dozen years. With Grendl Löfkvist he has recently taught combination calligraphy and letterpress printing workshops on Neuland and Rudolf Koch’s textura at the Hamilton Wayzgoose. Paul currently teaches the history of type at Parsons School of Design and the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Hiroko Shimizu is a calligrapher, teacher, and letter cutter living in Hyogo, Japan. She started calligraphy in 1994 while living in Boston and enthusiastically studied it for three years until she returned to Japan. She continued active study afterward by participating in workshops, international conferences, and symposiums oversea. Hiroko has been teaching regularly for 23 years and conducting workshops in major cities in Japan. Her characteristic flexibility is reflected not only in her work but also in her teaching style. Her work has been frequently selected for Letter Arts Review Annual since 2002 and exhibited internationally. She had a solo exhibition in Bruges in the summer of 2021. Hiroko runs Studio Letter Arts in Ashiya, and is a deputy executive director of NPO Japan Letter Arts Forum.

Mixed media, acrylic paints, pastels, calligraphy, bookbinding, and fiber arts: Jacqueline has loved them all since she first discovered each medium. She has a degree in graphic design and worked for many years as a publication, marketing, and advertising designer, but her passion has always been with color and paint, no matter what the surface. Personal artistic development has been a lifeline as she works her way through the challenges life has brought. Her mixed media, book art, calligraphic, and acrylic work has been shown in galleries and top juried art fairs throughout the US and Canada. Jacqueline’s work has been published in Somerset Studio Magazine, Cloth Paper and Scissors Magazine, The Book, The Best of Cloth, Paper and Scissors, and the Best of Acrylic Works, number 6 and 7, published by F & W Media. She believes that asking “what if?” and keeping a spirit of adventure and discovery is important as she follows her creative path. Jacqueline lives and paints in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Elmo van Slingerland was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He studied at the Rotterdamse Grafische School (school for printing and graphic arts) and finished his study of graphic and typographic design at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague. In 1986, Elmo attended a workshop in France with Claude Mediavilla and considers this his start on the path of calligraphy. He has taught workshops in different countries in Europe, as well as workshops in Australia, South Korea, Mexico, Canada, and the US. Elmo has also taught a post-graduate course in type design at The Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague. After graduating from the Academy, he worked as a freelance type designer for DTL, as well as working as a graphic designer. He has exhibited calligraphy in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands and has also had work selected for several different publications.

In her studio Diane is a letter-maker and designer, producing expressive lettering, developing corporate marks, and creating unique resolutions and documents of recognition. She has taught in Minnesota for over 45 years and for the past 40 years she has taught workshops throughout the US and in Canada, Japan, and Australia. In 2019 she gave workshops for the Schreibwerstadt Klingspor in Germany and a lecture and workshops for the European Lettering Institute in Bruges. Her work is published in the 22nd and 23rd editions of the Speedball Textbook among many other calligraphic publications. Diane was part of the artistic team for The Saint John’s Bible and was responsible for the design, lettering and illumination of The Book of Honor, the donor volume for TSJB.

Julie Wildman is a highly regarded professional in the fields of graphic design, commercial lettering, calligraphy, and workshops. She graduated with a BA in Graphic Design from Columbia College in Chicago and worked for many years with two Chicago design firms. She currently works as a freelance lettering artist and designer from her home studio near Chicago. Her calligraphic interest began in the late ‘80s after a friend gave her Timothy Botts’ book Doorposts, and she saw the written word illustrated in such a way as never before. About ten years later, she had the privilege of taking a year-long class with Reggie Ezell and was hooked. She joined the Chicago Calligraphy Collective soon after and embarked on a lifelong journey of studying letters. Since then, she has exhibited in juried shows throughout the midwest and the US, including the Newberry Library in Chicago. In 2007 and 2014, her pieces “Psalm 117” and “An Alphabet Book,” respectively, won the Newberry’s Purchase Prize Award and became a part of the Library’s permanent collection. She enthusiastically shares her love of “beautiful writing” with young and old by teaching calligraphy for staff development classes, on-site promotional events, community programs, and personal growth workshops throughout the Chicago area, US, and Canada. And now, with online Zoom classes she has been teaching students from 20 different countries and counting.

Andrea has been a freelance calligrapher and book artist from northern Bavaria since 2003. She is an award-winning calligrapher, also working on commissions in a wide field like signpainting, lettering, logo-design, and murals; she teaches nation- and worldwide. Her work is shown both nationally and worldwide and is part of private and public collections like the Berlin Calligraphy Collection. She is a member of German societies ars scribendi and Schreibwerkstatt Klingspor Offenbach (board member); CLAS (Calligraphy and Lettering Arts Society), and full member of LX (Letter Exchange) in London. Find out more at andreawunderlich.com.

Rachel Yallop is a British calligrapher and lettering designer. Her love of letters stems from a lifelong passion for drawing, with her original calligraphic works exploring line, form, space, and lettering design. Rachel studied at Ravensbourne and then the Central School of Art & Design in London, gaining an MA in 1985. She has pursued a freelance career specializing in creative and expressive calligraphy for 35 years, working with design consultants handling accounts from major UK companies. For much of this time she has also taught a wide variety of calligraphic and design disciplines in art schools, at conferences, and workshops both in the UK and internationally. She has also written and designed two copperplate manuals. Rachel is a Founder Member and past Chairman of Letter Exchange and an Honoured Fellow of the Calligraphy & Lettering Arts Society.