Calligraphy by Catherine ~ About Catherine, Her Work, Her Classes and Clients

ABOUT CATHERINE
Catherine at Work

Catherine has always loved art, creativity and color. As a child, her favorite gifts were always art supplies: the paints and crayons, the yarns and Shrinky Dinks, the markers and the glossy finger-painting paper waiting to be smeared with reds and blues! At the age of 8 or 9, she received her first set of calligraphy pens and immediately set to work with the little handbook, trying to mimic those letter shapes. She had been struck at an early age by the gorgeous envelopes penned by her mother’s father, who had died when her mother was 15 and whose memory always carried some magic for her. And genetics do play a role; her mother's sister did graphic design, and her brother, father, and uncle all make their livings with various forms of painting and art. So Catherine entered college thinking she’d become an art teacher, but poetry and creative writing lured her over to a major in the literary world. However, she did take a single-credit calligraphy elective, and that class (while not much in the way of a formal calligraphic education) did change her appreciation for the lettering arts forever. After graduating, she commenced ten years of teaching junior- and high-school English, with an emphasis on creative writing and poetry, but she always had one hand in the visual arts. Her favorite way to relax after a day of teaching and grading was always by creating something, whether it was painting some room a bright color, knitting a scarf, designing a stained glass mosaic project, or practicing calligraphy on the family’s Winter Solstice cards.


	ABOUT CALLIGRAPHY BY CATHERINE After having her daughter Stella in 2002, Catherine knew almost immediately that she wanted to be home with her – longer than the maternity leave allowed. Here's how Stella felt about Catherine returning to teaching full time: Wondering what she could do at home to bring in an income, Catherine turned to calligraphy as a possibility. Starting with homemade fliers with tear-off phone numbers, she began to build this business. In the years since Stella’s birth, she has enjoyed working on a wide variety of projects. While brides and their families make up about half of her clientele, the other half is made up of a lively assortment of folks all looking to preserve important texts in a beautiful way. Catherine has done poetry on walls, family Bibles, dog pedigrees, bakery and restaurant menus….she's even decorated pitchforks and inscribed a 100-pound pumpkin with poetry! There is no project she won’t consider. Catherine is most grateful for the time and flexibility that this business has afforded her to be with her family. She often calls her business the “Stay with Stella” fund – and here is the appreciative child, five years after it all began: ABOUT CLASSES Another large part of Calligraphy by Catherine is teaching. Anyone can learn this time-honored skill, and there is nothing Catherine enjoys more than helping others develop this beautiful practice. She offers beginner and intermediate classes in broad-pen Italic and the pointed-pen Copperplate styles, and she also holds one- and two-day workshops for holidays, envelope addressing and other specialty areas. In addition to adults, she also offers lessons to young people both in her home and at local schools when her schedule permits. Click here for current class information, and come on out! Enrich your life while you beautify your world! ABOUT COMMUNITY: CATHERINE’S CLIENT LIST One of the most beautiful things about Catherine's world is, in addition to doing work that enables her to be with her family, she feels entirely nourished by her close-knit Frenchtown community. In business also, she appreciates the power of the mutually supportive network of her client community. She has served hundreds of individuals in recent years, and she counts it an honor and a pleasure to work with them, including but not limited to the following fine local businesses and larger institutions. Each link below will take you to a website or an email address, and phone numbers are provided for those without online resources at this time. The Baker Beasley’s Bookbindery Beautiful Bows by Heather Jane de la Motte Photography: 908-996-4773 Diversity Council of Hunterdon County Elton John AIDS Foundation Doris Ettlinger, Illustrator The Frame Carriage Frenchtown Elementary School Full Circle Bridal and Events Consulting Helen Grundmann Garden Design: 908-996-3842 Hetzel’s Art Supply: 908-735-8808 Hunterdon Central Regional High School Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance JR Design Coordinates Lightsource Wellness Center The Lovin’ Oven: 908-995-7744 Minette’s Candies: 908-996-5033 National AIDS Fund The New York Times Company Paper & Ink Arts, Ltd. Printech Riverside Studio: 908-439-3965 River Valley Waldorf School Roots Infant Massage Instruction Kate Kunzmann: 908-797-6486 Salutations: 908-782-2285 The Spinnery The Write Touch Yoga Loka

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