Johnsonville resident shows the ins and outs of calligraphy

A woman practices with the proper technique

While printing and computer typography are seemingly taking the place of hand-written notes and letters, a Johnsonville resident is going in the other direction.

Cassandra Matthews, a retired principal and substitute teacher at Johnsonville High School, has a host of artistic styles within her repertoire, but for her, the art of calligraphy is worth teaching.

Matthews instructed six students at the Johnsonville Public Library on Thursday on the particulars of introductory calligraphy, something she admits is not easy.

“It’s very rewarding,” Matthews said. “It’s sort of like teaching swimming or any new skill that somebody’s never had before and you’ve just got to make sure that they understand they’re not going to learn it overnight.”

Calligraphy has its roots in both European and Asian history and, like many traditions of the early centuries, was passed down with great care and teaching.

Matthews, however, is self-taught and feels that although the skill has its challenges, it can still be learned and taught, even as hand writing becomes less emphasized.

“Learning calligraphy is like learning to write all over again,” she said. “When you were in elementary school, you had to learn to form the letters and because calligraphy is so different, it’s like learning to write again.”

As a ten-year-old, Matthews said she used to sit down, put her pen to paper and begin to write, with only the aid of a book.

Matthews said that though she understands how difficult it is to learn as she herself is a self-taught calligrapher, teaching is also fairy gratifying for her.

“It’s really good just to see how they improve within a short period of time,” she said of her class. “They went from being really shaky to drawing some really straight lines.”

While Matthews has endeavored into a variety of other artistic avenues, such as wood carving, acrylic painting, needle work, and drawing, she said she would like to continue to teach the class at the Johnsonville Public Library and expand the knowledge of calligraphy throughout the area.

Source: SCnow.com