The Poetic Pen

The Poetic Pen
Celebrating Calligraphy and Poetry
June 22 - July 28, 2012 • 23 Sandy Gallery

Congratulations to the The Poetic Pen Best of Show Award winners: Thomas Ingmire, Carl Kurtz, Marina Soria & Rod Sawatsky.

Congratulations also to our Librarian's Choice Purchase Prize Award winner for The Poetic Pen: Marika Koskimäki-Ketelä for her book Finding Myself. This very long (it extends out to over 10 feet!), expressive, accordion book will be purchased by the gallery and donated to our winning library.

Thank you to all of the artists who made this stunning show possible and to all of the crowds of visitors who kept us hopping busy in the gallery. Thank you as well to Carol DuBosch (who designed our show logo) and her dynamic cohort Meri Taylor for their help conceiving the show and connecting us with so many talented artists.

The word calligraphy comes from the Greek kalli meaning beautiful and graphia referring to writing. From the traditional to the experimental, calligraphy today has moved beyond communication into an expressive fine art form requiring dedication and commitment to achieve the level of skill, creative excellence and quality needed for harmonious and skillful execution.

Calligraphers throughout history have employed poetry to illustrate the art and fine craft of lettering, letterforms and calligraphic design. Whether original or borrowed, excerpted or unabridged, poetry, when combined with either traditional or expressive contemporary lettering, is the beautiful voice of the written word. This international juried exhibition includes unique and editioned artist books, wall-hung works and sculpture by 36 artists from as far away as Finland, Argentina and Australia. The exhibition is being held in conjunction with the Calligraphy Northwest Calligraphy Conference, which brought over 500 practitioners to Reed College June 24 – July 1, 2012. Portland has a rich history of the art of calligraphy, beginning with the world renowned Lloyd Reynolds at Reed College who was an oft-acknowledged inspiration of Steve Jobs.

The Poetic Pen is accompanied by a full-color print catalog.

The Poetic Pen

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