2nd September 2010WEYMOUTH: A step back to swan's quill pens
by Paul Crompton
The Lorton Scribes have successfully mounted their sixth exhibition of calligraphy at Weymouth Library with the borough’s children learning to write with swan feather quills.
Children, young people and the not-so-young were encouraged to take part in workshops, shown in the photo displays of their work.
Mrs Newman said: “With the children I like them to find out things that are not necessarily computer skills; for them to use old fashioned skills and materials that would have been in a child’s life years ago.
“I’m enthusiastic about it and when children are offered it they are enthusiastic about it. When I’ve been into schools teaching even the staff have been surprised by the children’s enthusiasm.”
The Lorton Scribes are a group of like-minded friends who meet once a week to work on individual projects with the help of Sara Newman, retired art teacher and calligraphy lecturer.
The exhibition showed a talented and diverse range of work: from screen-printed fabric hangings to ceramics and a family tree complete with coats of arms. It also included information on some of the more advanced techniques including illumination and the application of gold-leaf.
Specialist aspects of calligraphy as a craft include writing with a hand-made quills. The quill-writing workshop, held with Weymouth pupils, utilised skills that go back 1,000 years. The quills, made from swan flight feathers are sourced locally from the swannery at Abbotsbury. The Benedictine monks would have used them and a ‘pen-knife’ as in a knife to sharpen a quill pen is the derivation of the word and the knife that we still use today.
For further information about the group and future activities please contact Sara Newman on 01305 813417.
PICTURE: Daniel Newman, Michael Yung and Lauren Newman practice their calligraphy skills
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