February 2, 2019 – UnARThodox: A World Beyond Art, the first and biggest art fair in the North, organized by Miriam College in partnership with ArtisteSpace, Inc., held a calligraphy workshop at the Henry Sy Innovation Center with Ms. Fozzy Castro-Dayrit as the facilitator.

Ms. Dayrit is the founder and creative force of the Fozzy Book. She is called the “CaligraMama” for “being one of the kickstarters of the calligraphy addiction in the country. A mom of two, an addict to pens and ink, a slave to bacon and coffee.”

The workshop provided the participants with the basic instruments needed. In this case, it was a Faber-Castell Calligraphy Brush Pen Set of 12, a practice sheet for strokes, and a practice sheet for open-shaded script.

Ms. Dayrit began the workshop with a brief introduction to the history of calligraphy, the prominent figures of modern calligraphy, and the brands she recommends for calligraphy.

She made it very casual by playing background music and demonstrating the strokes first before letting us try, helping us newbie participants feel at ease.

The highlight for me, however, was the introduction on open-shaded script, which is a type of calligraphy I’ve never tried before. Developed by Anne Elser, open-shaded script (which is pictured above), makes use of thin, curvy lines as the aesthetic point of the letters.

I gave it a try and it’s harder than I thought!

Ms. Dayrit entertained all our questions and personally guided us. If there’s one thing she advises to aspiring calligraphers, she says it’s enjoying practice.

“People usually say that you should just keep writing, but just keep writing is not a goal. If you don’t review and just keep going, you won’t improve so it’s important to take time and reflect on your work. Enjoy the practice and keep the pen alive.”

A morning with Ms. Dayrit

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faith