When was the last time you used cursive handwriting? If it’s been a long time, what have you been missing? On Saturday, October 12, join Pamela Ayres for a workshop on the art of cursive.
The workshop begins at 1:00 p.m. in room 219 of the NMC University Center.
Pamela’s description
Cursive writing, while fluid, is a disciplined activity that brings the writer and the reader into a more intimate experience with words and the lines that form them. Every time we write, we train the hand and use more of the brain. Calligraphy is related to the part of the brain that draws. Interestingly, it isn’t the same as the part that controls writing. The benefits of good handwriting practice aside from increased brain activation is expanded performance in language.
I’ve been teaching traditional drawing techniques and expressive line use to people since the early90′s, and it seems that, the less they write by hand, the more fascinated they are with cursive or script writing. Students watch absorbed in the line creating the word when I demonstrate how to use varied brushes, pens, and pencils. Each tool makes the thick and thin parts by itself, depending on the pressure of the strokes while writing the letters. Writing a simple sentence is a focused and often a silent meditative and mesmerizing space in time when one dips their pen into a bottle of ink, primes the pen with a few strokes, and then holds their breath to write until the ink runs out.
In this workshop we will be making marks on varied papers with your favorite fountain pen, drawing pencils, western and eastern dip pens and perhaps a brush or two. We will then write a few inspirational notes to one another, create a penned broadside of your own words and even put our own John Hancock on a declaration of creative independence.
Please bring your favorite pen or pencils. I look forward to meeting you all.
