I was working at Scriptum, a beautiful stationery shop in Oxford, when I started practising calligraphy more than ten years ago. Since then, I have been privileged to be entrusted with work in many historic volumes and important documents, including honorary doctoral certificates, registers of fellows and scholars, the constitutions of societies, memorial books, donors’ registers, and sporting Blues certificates. Other work for private clients has included custom-designed poetry, captioning and crests for photo mounts, family trees, and inscriptions in bound books. For weddings, I have provided place cards, invitations, and seating plans. I always enjoy unique commissions, the stranger the better - as well as transcribing many love-letters, I have written a record contract for an album of songs using Shakespearean lyrics, with the signing featured on Sky News; a set of ten greetings cards featuring different operatic arias, still on sale here; a matching pair of illuminated family crests; and a music box song listing on a irreplaceable century-old piece of paper.However many pieces I create and scripts I master, calligraphy is a never-ending journey where there is always a new skill or technique begging to be learnt. Traditional calligraphy is my preferred style, in scripts ranging from copperplate to gothic to uncial, but I am always happy to create a new hand if a different style is required! For custom pieces, I like to have a conversation with my client to fully understand their vision for the work. Some already have strong ideas on style, layout, colour and sizing, others are happy to let me get creative. It’s very important to me that each piece reflects both my style as a calligrapher and the client’s vision, so after we have decided on script, colour, and size, I can also provide preliminary sketches before starting if required. I am a perfectionist, and I will never submit a piece I am not happy with.My regular clients are various bodies within the University of Oxford: colleges include Trinity, Balliol, St Hugh's, St Cross, Oriel, and LMH; others include Oxford University Sports Federation, Saïd Business School, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, and Oxford University Rowing Club. I have also done work for corporate clients, clubs, and societies, such as the Knowledge Transfer Network for an event at the House of Lords, the London Rowing Club, and the Imperial Dining Society. I regularly take one-off commissions from individuals for events such as weddings and celebrations, or simply poetry or quotations to display at home.
