The European Pointed Pen Year in Review 2019
Let the EPPC fun start!
What a year this 2019 has been! What an amazing start to our European Pointed Pen Collective (EPPC) experience!
Where our journey begins: Why teach pointed pen in Europe?
In late 2018, as we prepared to host our very first workshop in London in May, we did not really know where the journey would take us.
What we always knew is that we wanted to provide European pointed pen lovers with the best teachers in pointed pen scripts and techniques alongside the best learning experience. We wanted to bring this around Europe and for people from different countries to meet and connect!
Being pointed pen students ourselves, we know how hard it can be to access and learn from teachers who are so far away, so we wanted to bring them to us instead of one day hoping to travel around the world to them.
We both understand the importance of technology and the value of having access to online resources. It’s a paradise out there if you’re looking for inspiration! But we wondered if it really helps when it comes to learning the tips and tricks of a script?
While we clearly saw the possibilities with technology for learning pointed pen, we had a feeling that we needed to preserve the human side and the richness of knowledge that only learning in person can give. We thought others may share the same feeling. And our feeling was right!
Maria Helena Hoksch brings her Seastones script to London
The above gallery features work of students Anika de Souza, Joy Daniels, Lizzie Matthews and Katerina Arden.
At our very first workshop in London with Maria Helena Hoksch, we welcomed students from seven different European countries!
Our first teacher was amazingly generous. Maria Helena shared not only the technical aspects of her Seastones script, but also many tips about materials. So comprehensive was she that she hosted a post-workshop session in the evening to answer questions and give further advice on the students’ pieces. We cannot explain how precious this time was for us and the students.
Seastones students and teacher, Maria Helena, at her invaluable post-workshop ‘surgery’ sessions.
And the feedback from Maria Helena was also so wonderful:
It is hardly ever I get to teach such a group of seriously devoted people! Every one of them alone was a gift to a teacher! Not to cut any of my previous students short… But some of my students this weekend made serious time-wise and financial sacrifices to be there, traveling to London from seven other countries, yet they were constantly so optimistic, hardworking, appreciative, and quite talented to boot. From what it seems, Europe has much to say in the pointed pen field, and has set itself up as a serious, fast catching-up-competitor to what has been mostly American domain until recently. Go Europe, as you guys started Copperplate!!!
Seastones students at Fulham Palace London with Maria Helena Hoksch
Heather Victoria Held teaches in Europe for the first time
With a similar generosity, our second teacher, Heather Victoria Held, gave as much as she possibly could to her students, graciously accepting to double her teaching days of her Festive Flourish class in Europe, allowing her to reach students who travelled to Rome and London (our home towns).
Her workshop was the perfect preparation for the holiday season and we had two wonderful groups of students who adored learning from her!
During Heather’s Rome workshop, we successfully tested a live broadcast of the workshop with one student across two days. With a goal of making our pointed pen classes accessible to people who cannot so easily travel, we were the first in the world to launch live broadcasting of calligraphy workshop, and we were amazed at the progress achieved by our student far away. We are excited to open the live stream as an option from 2020.
Testing the live broadcast with Dutch student, Bernice van Overbeek
Since Heather’s workshops, many students have been busy undertaking a six-week Festive Flourish Bootcamp, continuing the study they started in class under Heather’s guide, and the feedback has been resounding with how useful the bootcamp has been at forging progress and honing techniques.
If you’re curious about their efforts over the six weeks, you can check our Instagram highlights about these two workshops on our profile page. The gallery is a selection of work from Annie Jamieson, Bernice van Overbeek, Alessandra Scannerini, and Uliana Popa.
The Festive Flourish students in Rome with Heather Held
With humble thanks, we look to the year ahead
We couldn’t have asked for a better start of our Collective and would like to take a moment to thank all who made this possible: our 2019 teachers, Maria Helena Hoksch and Heather Victoria Held — we know how hard it is to travel and teach), and our students — we thank each and everyone of you!!!
We’ve been blessed with a wonderful first year of the European Pointed Pen Collective and this, together with your amazing feedback, motivates us to do even better in 2020. We think we have created a great year of learning, have you seen our 2020 calendar yet?
We wish you and your families the happiest holidays season!
Stay warm, enjoy every moment with your loved ones and squeeze in some pointed pen practice if you can ;-)
We’ll see you all in 2020, hopefully in one of our four new amazing workshops!
Thank you!
Cecilia & Kate
