Celebrating the Pen

I am starting to get excited for the Pen Evening we will be having at Notables on Wednesday, October 17^th, 6 to 8 pm.

By excited I mean a little nervous; my co-workers keep telling me we’re going to have a crowd. I don’t delight at crowded environments but I love selling pens and talking pens with my very knowledgable pen customers as well as those just beginning and seeking knowledge about pens. They come to the store from many different backgrounds and for many different reasons all searching the perfect pen. Some journal, write letters, do homework, or write articles. Some pen customers use their pens daily and others buy pens that are used strictly for document signatures.

In the year plus I have been with Notables I have learned a lot from our pen suppiers, my boss Suzanne, my co-workers and especially my customers about pens, ink, paper, handwriting, and anything else pen related. One recent customer engaged me in a lengthy discussion about handwriting which is an often discussed topic with teachers, students, and parents alike. I write daily and I am comfortable writing and reading handwriting but for many of us handwriting is difficult to do and even harder to read.

I am encouraged when I encounter others who feel, as I do, that handwriting may not be a dying art in a digital world.

On that note I thought I would share a little about what handwriting really breaks down into; there are three basic styles.

Functional Handwriting

- which strives for legibility, speed, and fluency without aiming at artistic effect. This category  separates: cursive or manuscript (printing).

Cursive - joins 50% or more of its letters. (taught in many schools)

Manuscript (print-writing) - joins fewer than half of its letters.

Artistic Handwriting

-which uses a monoline or calligraphy marker, pen, or brush along with decorative strokes, flourishes, or combinations of shading and hairlines to create an artistic effect.

Whatever you may write by hand; be it a grocery list, love letter, poetry, birthday card or anything else;

your handwriting reflects your personal style and is unique to your hand alone. I encourage all to take pride in handwriting and hope it may be done with style and with a good pen.

Peace

Christine