Into The Heartland 2026- Writing and Writing - Cheryl Dyer

Cheryl Dyer | Writing and Writing: Penning Your Poetry in a Unique Script

As calligraphers, we are accustomed to working with words. But often the words we use in our art pieces are not ones we’ve composed ourselves—rather, they are borrowed from other writers. Usually there is nothing wrong with this approach. But, as creatives, we do indeed have the option of drafting our own phrases, poems or prose. In this dual-topic workshop half of our class time will be focused on writing poetry and half on writing calligraphy. This class will be highly generative through the use of many helpful writing prompts. We will also discuss important ideas to consider when writing
poems and as well as literary devices like enjambment, sound, rhythm and metaphor that can assist with meaning-making in our poetry.

In the spirit of creating original wording, we will also develop our own historically rooted, yet highly-personalized Italic script variations with the intention of using them to pen our poetry.

Poetry beginners welcome! Students need not have any writing experience to attend. However, it will be helpful for students to have at least a beginning-level working knowledge of a basic Italic hand.

CLASS SUPPLIES

Nibs/Pens
• A complete set (all sizes) of your favorite brand of broad-edge nibs (Brause, Tape, Mitchell, Speedball, etc.) If unsure, pick Brause or Mitchell or both.
• A few medium to larger sizes of broad-edge nibs that you don’t often use. If unsure, pick Speedball.
• Any other interesting broad edge nibs— Mitchell Witch pens, Automatic Pens, poster nibs, etc. (optional, but if you want to try something new, pick Witch pens)
• Pen holders that fit your nibs

Writing Mediums
Your favorite water-based inks/paints. You may want to consider gouache, walnut, acrylic and/or sumi. If you don’t know, pick a few colors of Windsor Newton Gouache (it comes in tubes) and walnut ink. Also remember little containers to
hold the ink/paint.

Paper
• 1-2 pads of 300 series Strathmore drawing paper (medium surface) 11x14 or bigger
• Any of your favorite papers you know you like working on (optional)
• Tracing paper
• Scratch paper for sketching

Misc.
• Water containers (nothing fancy)
• Paper towels
• Eraser (white and soft)
• Pencils (your favorites for note taking AND 2H, 3H or 4H for ruling lines)
• Small pencil sharpener
• Straight edge (preferably at least 18 inches long)
• Art/masking tape
• Palette or little containers for mixing/storing inks/paints
• Cheap brushes for mixing gouache/loading pens (if applicable)
• X-acto knife

Poetry Specific
• Notebook and/or laptop
• Pens, pencils, erasers

Optional
• Pen rest
• Slant board for writing
• Magnifiers (if your eyes need it!)
• Apron
• Chair pad
• T-square or rolling ruler
• Glue stick
• Scissors

If you’d like to do some pre-class work (completely optional!)
• Practice Sheila Water’s italic hand in her book “Foundations of Calligraphy”
• Read: “A Poetry Handbook” by Mary Oliver and/or “The Poetry Home Repair Manual” by Ted Kooser

Class Supply Fee
• $15 for curriculum packet