Scribe New York calligraphy studio, a lifelong dream that was decades in the making

When Rita Polidori O’Brien was a second grader at St. Rita elementary school, she was taught to write cursive letters using a pencil. She recounts back then a student would earn a pen in the second grade when their script handwriting was perfected.

“I wanted a pen so badly,” said the Grasmere resident. “I still remember the American flag at the top of the plastic barrel — that I practiced letters in my copybook all the time. I imagined myself in a medieval scriptorium, writing important works by candlelight. What a little nerd!”

A few years later Rita’s mom, Mary Ann Polidori, bought her daughter a starter calligraphy kit containing a pen with interchangeable broad nibs and cartridges of colored ink and she learned italic writing.

“Thus began a lifelong curiosity of and passion for alphabets and lettering,” she said. “Scribe New York is my creative outlet — a calligraphy studio that celebrates the joy of beautiful writing, with products and services dedicated to the art of hand-lettering.”

So Rita launched the Scribe New York website in 2019 as an online boutique for her calligraphy pieces and artwork, and as a booking service for in-person appearances.

Sending a text or an email has become the go-to means of communication in today’s world, she says.

“It’s so simple and immediate, but there are many times when sending a handwritten note is the better choice,” she continues.

She explains one of the items she loves making is a luxury box of personalized notecards, which are penned either with a monogram or first name. She points out they make so much sense to have on hand, and on a price-per-piece basis, you can’t beat them.

“Think about how often we run to CVS to buy greeting cards for special occasions that cost at least $5 per card. Having a set of elegant, hand-inked cards in the house means you are always ready to send a card for any occasion, and the price is closer to $2 per piece,” she said.

But her very favorite custom order is for love letters.

“I’ve written dozens of love letters on watercolor paper for people who want to send something that will last for generations (unlike email or text) The sentimental value of a physical letter that can be saved, cherished, re-read and perhaps even saved for future generations — can’t be overestimated.”

Rita has caches of letters and postcards saved from her husband, her children, her high school friends, childhood pals and more that she often revisits.

She loves looking at the pictures in the margins, the doodles, the paper on which they were written, big, childish circles that hover over the lower-case letter “i” or Strawberry Shortcake stickers — and she’s brought back to a very specific place in time. And for her it’s a privilege to be entrusted to scribe someone’s inner thoughts and feelings and help them give something beautiful to their loved one.

“Calligraphy means beautiful writing: the word is derived from the Greek roots “kallos,” meaning “beauty,” and “graphein,” meaning “write’,” she reveals.

“I learned to write flourished italic letters, and over the years added to my repertoire of handwriting styles. I’ve taken lessons in Japanese brush painting and calligraphy at the Asia Society in New York City, studied the italic hand at The Cooper Union, learned copperplate script at the Society of Scribes (of which I’m a member) in NYC, and taken many online practice courses.”

An interesting part of Rita’s work is the fascination people have with watching the calligraphic process, which is very slow and makes use of tools like an oblique dip pen and ink pot.

“It’s one of those processes that’s sometimes described as ’oddly satisfying’ to view, and the more and more society relies on electronic communications, the rarer it becomes to see the art of lettering in person,” she said.

So over the last few years, as retailers look for interesting ways to attract and engage shoppers in-store, she was hired quite regularly to use her calligraphy talent to create gift tags, holiday cards, Mother’s Day sentiments and more — as a gift with purchase from the store to their customers.

While this was not possible during the COVID-19 quarantine and even now in its aftermath, Rita’s been selling a lot of custom notecard boxes, as people find it more important than ever to keep in touch in different ways. Custom wall art has also been a growth area for Scribe New York during this time, as people have been spending much time beautifying their interiors.

Source: Silive

Scribe New York calligraphy studio, a lifelong dream that was decades in the making