The Calligraphers' Guild of WA

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The Calligraphers' Guild of WA

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The Calligraphers’ Guild of WA (Inc.) The meeting are every fourth Saturday starting at 12 noon and finishing at 4pm. PO Box 876
Joondalup
WA 6919

is a non-profit organisation aiming to encourage, assist and extend the craft and art of calligraphy and to maintain the highest standards of writing whilst having fun! Membership
The Guild was formed in 1982 and our members’ skills range from students to professional calligraphers and teachers. Members come from all walks of life – we have graphic artists, printmakers, woodworkers, scientists, historians, artists and architects as well as hobbyists. Meetings
We meet once a month from February to November at the Mount Claremont Community Centre in Montgomery Crescent, Mount Claremont. During the meeting we have a library access time where members can borrow from our extensive range of calligraphy and craft books. We have a short general meeting followed by a talk or demonstration, a show and tell and a practical hands-on calligraphy session. Exhibitions
The Guild endeavours to exhibit members’ works as often as is possible. All members, regardless of experience or skill may enter work in our exhibitions. As well as our group exhibitions, the Guild encourages the calligraphy display at the Perth Royal Show every year, by sponsoring the calligraphy section prize money and demonstrating calligraphy. Workshops
The Guild regularly holds workshops for members and guests alike with subjects ranging from calligraphic hands, techniques for decorating backgrounds, digital calligraphy, colour and media. We are fortunate to have national and international experts visiting us to deliver workshops and lectures – a wonderful opportunity to meet and learn from the best calligraphers in the world. Discount
Guild members are entitled to a 15% discount at Jacksons Drawing Supplies. Website
The Guild website is a repository of information for anyone interested in calligraphy .Up to date information on calligraphy classes is also available on the website. www.calligraphywa.asn.au

Message bank (08) 9487 0078

Calligraphers' Guild of W.A.( Inc.)

18/10/2026

🦎 Blue Tongue Bestiary 🖋️✨

A celebration of the humble Blue Tongue Lizard - known in Noongar as Yoorn - and a winning entry in the 2026 Perth Royal Show Creative Arts – Calligraphy Competition!

Created by CGWA member Susie Waller Susie Waller, this bestiary piece was awarded First Place in the Intermediate Calligraphy category. 🎉

Inspired by the blue-tongue lizard, this work brings together calligraphy and the bestiary tradition, celebrating one of our familiar Western Australian creatures through the creative possibilities of lettering and visual storytelling.

🖋️ The lettering: The main text - drafted by Susie - is Gothic Textura using a Speedball C4 nib in Daniel Smith Walnut Ink. The capitals were done in Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolour - Indigo, embellished with Posca metallic gold dots.

The title features Lombardic Versals in Posca metallic gold, accented with bronze dots, against a background painted in the same Daniel Smith indigo watercolour.

The borders were created using Jo Sonja Premium Metallic Acrylic Aztec Gold and Lustrous Gold.

🦎 The illustrations: Screen-printed using hand-mixed Permaset Aqua Ink, then hand-painted with Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolours.

📜 The paper: Two sheets of A3, 300 gsm, medium-surface watercolour cartridge paper.

Congratulations to Susie on this wonderful bestiary piece and award-winning achievement! 💙

14/10/2026

Introducing ✨Liver Bird ✨ the latest bestiary piece by CGWA member Jeanette Fuller Jeanette Fuller 🐦❤️

Born in Liverpool herself, Jeanette has a personal connection to this iconic mythical creature, which has symbolised her birthplace for over 800 years.

Combining Versals for the title and Gothic for the main text, Jeanette brings the Liver Bird to life through intricate illustration and rich reds and golden details.

🖋️ Materials: Walnut ink (background), black Ecoline ink, red gouache, a 1.5 mm Pilot Parallel pen, Daler-Rowney imitation gold ink, Uni-ball Signo Broad gold and Faber-Castell Polychromos coloured pencils on card.

We love seeing how calligraphy, illustration and personal stories come together in the work of our talented members!

29/09/2026

The biggest of congratulations to the 2026 winners of the Perth Royal Show Creative Arts - Calligraphy - Competition! 🎉

🏆 Best Exhibit in Calligraphy
Doug Hughes Doug Hughes

✒️ Calligraphy – Intermediate (Class 21)
🥇 First – Susie Waller Susie Waller
🥈 Second – Sandra Wedding Sandee Sindol Wedding Sandee Wedding

🍎 Calligraphy – Open Theme: The Orchard (Fruits and Nuts) (Class 22)
🥇 First – Doug Hughes
🥈 Second – Sandra Wedding
🥉 Third – Sandra Wedding

This year, it appears that awards have not been given in the Beginners (Class 20) and Open (Class 24) categories. There is also an Experimental category (Class 23), which is not judged.

Entrants can submit work in any calligraphy hand, and in two or three dimensions. Works are judged independently and anonymously, according to four key criteria:
- quality and consistency of chosen hand
- layout and design on the overall piece
- suitability of the chosen hand to the words used
- suitability of the colour, illustrations, presentation, and/or framing to the chosen words.

The Perth Royal Show runs until this Saturday 3 October with the Calligraphy exhibits displayed in the Creative Arts & Cookery Pavilion daily 10am - 6pm.

And if you come along on Friday 2 October, you can meet some of the CGWA’s calligraphers and receive a personalised bookmark! ✒️📖

We’ll be sharing images and details of all 21 Calligraphy entries from this year’s competition in the coming weeks here on the CGWA socials, so stay tuned!

🐷 And looking ahead… the 2027 theme has already been announced: PIGS! 🐷 We can’t wait to see what our calligraphers dream up for this one!

27/09/2026

A big thank you to Martin Dickie martindcalligraphy and Debbie Longfield Debbie Longfield for facilitating a ‘Colour Spiral Workshop using Compressed Johnston’ (also known as Gothicised Italic) on Saturday 🌈

It was a great opportunity for members to build on skills learnt in previous CGWA workshops facilitated by Martin and Debbie on Spirals and Compressed Johnston respectively.

Martin started by showing members how to draft a spiral using two starting points, a middle line and a compass. He made this easy by providing a template that we could use as the basis for our spirals. Martin also discussed how to write your text in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions, as well as starting from the middle or the outer edges of the spiral.

Once our spirals were ready, Debbie showed us how to create a rainbow of words using three colours of Winsor & Newton gouache: Lemon Yellow, Quinacridone Magenta and Ultramarine Blue. She demonstrated how to load our nibs with gouache using a brush, how to introduce a second colour, and stressed the importance of rinsing the nib and brush before introducing a third colour — otherwise things can quickly turn a rather muddy brown! 😬

Martin provided members with the 1987 phonetic poem ‘Kikakoku! Ekoralaps!’ by Paul Scheerbart and Christian Morgenstern as the text for our spirals.

The results were very pleasing! It was fascinating to see how different everyone’s examples looked, particularly the way the colours transitioned and blended through the lettering.

We’re looking forward to seeing the development of members’ rainbow spirals at our next meeting 🌈

21/09/2026

✨ Goblins take centre stage in this beautifully rendered bestiary piece by CGWA member Doug Hughes Doug Hughes

The illustration depicts a mischievous woodland goblin wearing a leaf headdress, bow in hand, perched upon a wooden branch adorned with foliage and berries, all framed within an intricate Celtic-inspired border. The accompanying text explores the mythical roots of goblins in European folklore, describing them as supernatural beings capable of either helping or harrying humans.

The text is written in Uncial, with rich green lettering complementing the natural palette of the illustration. Doug has used watercolour, gouache and pen ink on Fabriano 600gsm paper, working with both pointed pen nibs and a brush to create the lettering and artwork.

We particularly love the way the decorative border, illuminated initial, botanical details and central character come together to evoke a medieval bestiary brought to life. 🍃🏹

13/09/2026

This piece was created by long-time CGWA member Jeanette Fuller Jeanette Fuller and features the evocative words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.”

The text is written in Fraktur with a 6.0mm Parallel Pen and Pilot Pen ink cartridge, while Koh-I-Noor watercolour brings the Oak leaves and acorns to life in soft Autumnal greens and browns 🍂

There’s something particularly satisfying about the pairing of the Fraktur—with its strong, architectural structure—with the twisting, organic form of the leaves and acorn, beautifully echoing Emerson’s words about the potential held within a single acorn.

08/09/2026

This striking hand-lettered exercise by CGWA member Doug Hughes Doug Hughes explores the contrast between bold gothic-blackletter forms and expressive, flowing gold lettering.

The central lettering is painted in dark green gouache, with strong angular forms creating a dramatic focal point. Surrounding it, delicate gold letterforms with flourishes add movement and spontaneity to the composition.

Doug has worked in gouache, pointed pen, and coloured pencil on Fabriano 500gsm paper.

A wonderful example of how a hand-lettered exercise can become a lively exploration of letterform, colour, movement and composition.

02/09/2026

This gorgeous little medieval-manuscript- inspired work is by Guild member Christine Gillan.
Featuring an exuberant border of rabbits, birds flowers and fantastical creatures, ornate Lombardic versal capitals, and an excerpt from Lindsay Turner’s poem ‘Rabbits,’ written in Gothic script.
Christine created the piece for a class project, experimenting with using a page from an old book coated with white gesso. Her class had been researching the imagery of the ‘Ormesby Psalter’ - a spectacular example of an English illuminated medieval manuscript from the early 14th century - which provided the inspiration for her delightful work.
Medium: Brause nib with Kuretake black ink, Schminke watercolours, posca pens, gel pens and Artline pen.
Dimensions: 135 x 210mm.

28/08/2026

‘The Horse’ — a bestiary by Guild member Martin Dickie martindcalligraphy 🐎

Martin originally drew the horse illustration when horses were the annual theme for the Perth Royal Show in 2020. Inspired by a drawing by Toulouse-Lautrec, he created several versions using Sumi black ink over a watercolour wash — but they remained unused until now.

The border features horses illustrating the four natural gaits of the horse: walk, trot, canter and gallop, creating a lively frame around the central piece.

The lettering combines several different tools and techniques:
✦ Tape 4mm nib with black Sumi ink for the Roman Capitals title
✦ Mitchell 3.5 nib with walnut ink in Textura for the C.J. Dennis quote
✦ Rex 5 nib with red Sumi ink for the Italic text

The border was drawn with a 0.4 Artline marker.

It’s wonderful to see an artwork that has been waiting in the wings for several years finally get its moment!

25/08/2026

‘The Loch Ness Monster’ - a bestiary by Guild member Christine Gillan.
“Growing up in Scotland we often went on holiday to Loch Ness. Dad used to say ‘Look out for Nessie!’”
Christine brings together her childhood memories of Loch Ness with the visual language of the medieval manuscript, taking inspiration from ‘The Book of Kells’. Her fantastical Nessie if surrounded by intricate Celtic-inspired creatures and ornament, with beautifully expressive lettering completing the bestiary-style page.
Medium: Derwent Intense Coloured Pencils, Kuretake Watercolour and Ink, and Posca Pens on Fabriano Watercolour Paper.

Address

Perth, WA
6027

Website

http://www.calligraphywa.asn.au/

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