I had HORRIBLE handwriting my entire childhood. Consistently got failing grades on homework and tests because no one could read my writing.
And then I hit middle school. I saw the "popular girls" getting praised for their stupid cutesy heart over the I writing. I saw people I could run mental circles around without breaking a sweat getting good grades, because the teacher could read their writing easier.
And wouldn't you know, my grades improved!
But of course, if you know me, you already know....there's no WAY I was gonna stop there. Oh no.
As a ADHD/Autistic, I did what any self respecting nerd introvert would do- I hit the library. And I researched. The evolution of the written language, the evolution of alphabets and writing styles from Ancient Greece all the way through the Spencerian movement.
And I fell into calligraphy. I hyperfocused.
And over the course of a year, developed my own cursive hand (going from never writing in cursive) that was a loose blend of Palmer, Spencerian, Chaucurian and 16th century Italian italics, with a lot of acender and defender flourishes.
I handed in homework in 15th century German High Gothic blackletter.
I did reports in 17th century italics.
And my teachers went from hating me for my horrible, illegible handwriting, to loving the sudden shift to legible bubble letters, to hating me again because they couldn't read my writing again, but for a different reason.
Only now, they didn't really have a good reason to be mad, because if they admitted to not being able to read Chaucerian font, they'd be admitting that they couldn't comprehend someone performing at a level of education and familiarity with the written language far above their own skill set (yes I had one teacher actually admit that to me in 8th grade. I genuinely respected her for it and picked a font that was easier to read than blackletter for her class).
And so began my descent into the rabbit hole of medieval illumination and calligraphy.
And so now, 25 years later, I do stuff like this:
(The bottom image has my celtic art business logo for Art of the Ancients; im on Instagram, but haven't updated in a long while because I've been busy with other projects and there wasn't a heck of a lot of interest. I still do commissions though)
Bob Ross once said, "A talent is just a skill you're willing to practice." I heard that, ran with it, and never looked back.
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