Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to series three of the Life of Letters. I'm Laura Edrilyn, your host and London based calligrapher. Curious about the history and future of letters. This season we're diving back into the rich world of scripts, letter forms and the stories behind the marks we make on paper and elsewhere.
A massive thank you to Speedball for sponsoring this season of the podcast. It really means so much to us. I've been using Speedball tools since my very early days of calligraphy, so their support truly means the world. Enjoy the episode and if you want to find out more about the guest, the podcast, or me, please check out the show notes.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: I'm delighted to be speaking with Melissa Sorensen from Speedball Art Today. If you know the brand, you'll know that Speedball has a rich and lengthy history of manufacturing fine art materials going all the way back to 1899, which we'll get into continuing today to provide an even bigger range of superior artist tools, materials and resources to creative individuals and communities all around the world. In her role as Director of Product Marketing, Melissa works closely with artistic communities to ensure Speedball products are keeping up with the needs within the industry and continuing to enhance experience and delight customers. Melissa herself has a love of printmaking and the beauty of the written word. Melissa, a huge welcome to the Life of Letters podcast.
[00:01:25] Speaker C: Thank you so much, so much. I am so honored to be invited and super excited to talk with you today.
[00:01:31] Speaker B: It's great. And I wanted to dive straight in with quite a big question, really.
Let's just open this right up. For those who might not know the Speedball brand, can you tell us briefly about the company? I don't know if you can do it briefly, but a little bit about the company, the history, how it began.
[00:01:51] Speaker C: Absolutely. And to your point, it is a long history. So I will do my very best to to hit on, you know, some key dates, some key milestones.
You know, you mentioned in the introductory that we do have a very rich history of manufacturing fine art materials back to 1899 when it started in Camden, New Jersey. That was the C. Howard Pen Company.
And when C. Howard Hunt formed this organization, he brought over six expert pen makers from Birmingham, England is pretty exciting.
And at the time it was one of the most modern and best equipped pen factories in the world.
It could produce kind of fun fact, it could produce 45,000 pens a day, which is just insane.
A key year is 1915. Ross F. George and William H. Gordon took their patent for a new pen to the Howard Hunt Company. Kind of just shortened by Hunt at that time. And in 1915 is when they actually debuted the Ace series or their A style pen. And at the time, Ross F. George was a show card artist. And so he was really just trying to find ways that he could cut his project time in half. He wanted to make it faster.
Hence where part of the name came from was the Speedball.
So, yeah, again, lots of little fun facts in the timeline. And so with that, it really did. It cut that working time in half. It had the double reservoir, so it was, you know, you could hold more ink, you could flip the pen over to get different types of lettering forms, and it was just really brilliant.
In 1958, so jumping quite a bit farther into the future there, they moved all of the manufacturing from Camden, New Jersey, down to Statesville, North Carolina, which is where we still are today.
Much of it was still just a little bit up the road, and so all the manufacturing came down here. And then in 1997 is when we did go over private. Went under private ownership with. For the Speedball brand with Walt Glaser. And that is where we have been. So we remain in Statesville, North Carolina, as Walt Glaser as our owner.
[00:03:59] Speaker B: Wow.
Wow. So actually, like, you know, for such a long journey, other than the kind of trip over the ocean from Birmingham over to you guys, like, there's not been a huge amount of movement in terms of location.
That's incredible. I love that, that, you know, he's trying to speed up the manufacturing process and. And obviously Speedball comes from that.
Yeah, that's fascinating. And Hunt, if I'm right in thinking, is like the. One of the nibs that lots of calligraphers use. So the steel nibs, is that right?
[00:04:32] Speaker C: Yes, the Hunt 101. Yes, you're exactly right. So a lot of that, you know, as we kind of go through this, a big part that will probably come out is Spiegel's just done a tremendously brilliant job of trying to keep those traditional core pieces, those, you know, whether it's the machinery or the nibs, the names, etc, and just kind of bringing that, you know, evolving and bringing it to kind of modern times. But a lot of what we have is still very present from, you know, not necessarily 1899, but from the. The Hunt days in Camden.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: Yeah. And people want that traditional tool as well. Right. Because it's. There's. There's nothing. There's everything good about it. It works so well.
There is a brilliant timeline and video on the history of Speedball story on your website, which we will link to in the show notes, because I think it's just, it's fascinating, it's brilliant. But can you share any kind of key moments or stories about how the company maybe started to evolve to how it is today?
[00:05:38] Speaker C: Absolutely, yeah. And I would love. I love watching that video too. So it gives me like goosebumps. But, you know, I've had the luxury of being with Speedball for over a decade and we have so many veteran members here. But a big piece of that video we really wanted to do was kind of pay tribute to Walt Glaser and Ben Lapin.
Because the stories that they will kind of tell us and some of the veteran members here is in the beginning, it was not easy. Know, it was pretty hard.
And really it was about survival.
They wanted to make sure they kept true to that domestic manufacturing, you know, even today. And so it was really a foundation built upon, you know, grit, passion, perseverance. So we really wanted to. To kind of highlight that part for them because they. They really had some struggle years and have just blossomed it into the company that it is today.
And excitingly, I must note that we did have a leadership change as of January this past year, this January of 2025, where David Valliere, who was previously our vice president of sales and marketing, he has taken over as our new president.
He's also been with Speedball many, many years, and his leadership has always been about consumer led and artist driven. So you kind of make that include combination with this grit and perseverance that we have at Speedball. And we're just super excited for what the future holds. But the second part of the video, or another huge element of that brand video was clearly we want to highlight some of the amazing artists that we get the opportunity to work with on the daily, which is such a luxury. I mean, they're, they're just brilliant.
But our dedication to them, you know, our dedication again, back to that domestic manufacturing.
You know, part of the video in it, it says, good enough is never good enough. And that is kind of a saying that we have around here. You know, we really are driven to help them create and to meet their desires and demands. You know, they're artists. You guys come up with the most amazing things that we'll never, ever think of. Like, you know, could it do this? Could it do that? And we're like, I'm not sure.
Give it a go.
So those were two really big elements of that brand video that we wanted to showcase.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: Yeah, that's Incredible. And I love the idea that it is such a creative mindset behind the business, you know, because you kind of pull the two things apart and you kind of think, right, there's the logistics side, is the operational side, and then there's the creative side. But really it was born from the creative minds of people anyway.
And you're keeping that going and that's, that's beautiful. And keeping that connection with those communities that are out there and loving and wanting more from you. So, yeah, demanding more from you.
How have the products themselves changed over the years? Have you seen quite a difference? Obviously your world is the product ranges. Right. So is it in particular, I was thinking as well, I'd love to know more about the Speedball textbook, which is something somewhat of a Bible, I think, for calligraphers, lettering artists all over the world. But it is something that comes up quite a lot.
[00:08:53] Speaker C: Yes, it is. It's funny, it's almost like a living piece of history now, which is so fascinating. So it debuted at the same time the A Series or A Style pen came out by Ross F. George in 1915.
And at that time, you know, we do have documented script of that. It was a 40 page little booklet. It sold for 50 cents, which is adorable, I know, thinking about that now.
But it's, it just continues to make such an impact and, you know, touch the hearts and hands of so many beginners, experienced calligraphers alike. And, you know, we get the opportunity to hear some stories of those artists of, you know, their first introduction to the textbook, whatever addition that might be, and just how it has impacted their journey, their art journey, and why it's so near and dear to us too. So I can, I'll talk a little bit about some of the changes of that textbook book. So for nearly, I'd say quite a few decades, the structure or the content kind of remained the same. You know, it was focused on the broad edge.
It did obviously show a myriad of different letter forms and things like that. But when we published the 24th edition, it was a bit of a departure. So we had the opportunity to work with co editors Angie Bengalis and Randall Hasson, with special help from Larry and Marsha Brady, just did a brilliant job of folding in trends of the day, chalkboard lettering, you know, just unique things that a ton of people don't think about.
And for the very first time is when we introduced the pointed pen.
And so the pointed pen wasn't previously in the textbooks. And so given it was our hundredth anniversary, really wanted to do something special with that. And so made a special effort to incorporate, you know, just an abundance of contributors and very distinct focus on the up and coming.
And then the 25th edition, our latest edition that we've released, that was just this trio of expertise between Suzanne Cunningham, Sachin Shaw and Carl Rohrs, who. He's like the broad edge master.
That edition boasted like the largest segment that we've had, obviously dedicated to the point of pen, which is so fun. It was so unique. And the most diverse list of contributing artists across the globe. Right. It's just everywhere.
And they're just all masters or their particular craft, which is just wild to be able to, you know, be in conjunction with.
And then I'm excited that I can tease out that we will have the 2026 in 2026. Well, the 26th edition, which is very exciting. You know, that goal of that is to seamlessly kind of bridge those classic traditions of the textbook, but again, kind of bring it into a bit more modernized digital where it's supported with video instruction. So again, kind of the collision of the tradition and modern together. So that will debut next year.
[00:11:49] Speaker B: Wow, you heard it here first.
Exactly. Possibly not, but I think so.
[00:11:55] Speaker C: I think so.
[00:11:57] Speaker B: Depends when you've listened to the podcast. But we'll say that.
Wow, that's incredible. And I love the fact that you are, you know, evolving, diversifying the. The kind of resource led, kind of part of the product. Right. Because it's, it's. It could be lonely learning new art forms. It can be really tough when you're just following books and trying to read and then trying to copy and then trying to practice. And if you're getting bits wrong and having that audible, having that visual kind of moving video process to help learn, that just gives it another extra level, doesn't it, of support people who are, who are looking to learn.
[00:12:37] Speaker C: No, and I think you're exactly right because so many people just learn in different ways. So just us trying to be able to give that access of that instructional content, whether that be through video that kind of follows along with the book or, you know, the book itself.
As I mentioned, a lot of times these are just collectible items. You know, some people just collect all the textbooks. I'm not sure if they read them front to back or not, but they're.
[00:13:01] Speaker B: Just lovely to look at.
[00:13:02] Speaker C: Love to have it in their library. So we'll take that too.
[00:13:06] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. No, and it's great. And it's great that the, the textbook is such a core part of a Calligrapher's journey with you guys, but also of the, of the Speedball brand as well. Like it's such a well known resource. So that's great. And as a calligrapher myself, I'm always fascinated by the kind of pen evolution, how the pen itself has evolved as a tool.
And you've always made these pens and nibs which represent, as I read it off the website, a century long tradition of fine pen making at Speedball.
But can you tell us more about your most popular and kind of latest calligraphy tools and kits? What can people kind of find with Speedball these days?
[00:13:54] Speaker C: Absolutely.
I'll still, I'll start real quickly though, just to note that this is a question we do get asked a lot with that comment, you know, a century long.
Much of that vintage machinery, I'll call it vintage machinery when we moved in 1958 that came down from Camden is still here. So it is still on our production floor. I think we've got one machine as old as 1938.
Most of our slitting dies, slitting machines are from the 50s and 60s and so which is, you know, something you just don't hear about as much anymore. They've been brilliantly maintained by a single person who has been with us for over 40 years. His name is David Langston and he's really just dedicated the last 40 years to keeping us up and running and to keeping those that again, that heritage.
So there's sometimes too where people like, oh, you might have changed that. We have not. We have not. So those same pieces are, are being developed in that same machinery as it was done in Camden.
And another piece to that is that with our veterans, we have another veteran that I would be remiss if I don't mention her. Her name is Peg Plyler. She's been with us about over 15 years, I believe. And she manually inspects each nib under magnification one by one.
She does that her entire shift every day at People. And so it's just a true testament to again, us keeping that traditional core piece of it and our passion to high quality.
I don't know what we'd do without Peg. I'm not sure what will happen, but she's tremendous. So when we have the luxury of taking people on tours, like if calligraphers are able to come to our facility, which it's always open to tours, so you're welcome to come and drop by anytime, you know, they just gain a different appreciation and perspective, you know, whether they get to meet David or they get to meet Peg or they realize that there are 15 manual steps as an example to making one of our pen nibs. And you know, they walk away with that perspective of like, okay, yeah, I'll pay XYZ now that I know how that was actually made.
So it's very cool in that, in that sense though, to your question about newness, the category itself hasn't demanded a ton of true new innovation, so but it's still evolving. So we kind of just call it like our, our splashes of newness, if you will. So we've got some new fun tools within the sport speedball portfolio. The Maz Grimes lining triangle is very awesome. Our new two in one pen holder is fantastic.
We clearly make other inks within the our walls. So not just calligraphy inks but you know, block printing, screen printing. So we do kind of fancy ourselves a bit of ink expensive experts and so I'm really excited about new inks that we just launched. They're an iridescent kind of color shifting ink and when used on like our black Artem paper as an example, they're just stunning. They're just absolutely stunning. The, the shift in color and the mesmerizing look you can get from them. So things like that that we kind of keep bringing out I think is important and again, just a supporting element to those traditional tools that our artists are still using today.
[00:17:18] Speaker B: Hi there.
[00:17:19] Speaker A: Quick moment to say if you love all things lettering, I send out a free monthly download to my mailing list. It's totally free. Just a little monthly treat from me to you. All the links are in today's show notes. Now let's get back to the episode.
[00:17:35] Speaker B: I don't know where to start. I'm so excited.
Firstly, a huge shout out to David and Peg. I think it's wonderful. It's, and no offense to them, but it sounds almost like you there's a museum kind of there and it's not, it's just because they, they capture such a big part of the history, right. That lots of new generations coming through the company may, may need to learn or may need to understand but nobody could do it from sort of as, as first hand as they can.
So yeah, what an incredible sort of, of legacy and, and loyalty as well. It just goes to show how, how wonderful they, you know, they have been and how much they love, they love the brand.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: What a job though.
[00:18:21] Speaker B: I, I, there's something that I'm kind of half torn between thinking that could be like torture but also really enjoyable and really addictive. Like the idea of checking every steel nib and being like, yep, that's up to my standard. And like the things that you must spot when it's not like that must be a really, really special eye.
[00:18:46] Speaker C: And I know there's does have the, the highest scrap rate too.
So if it goes past peg, it is.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: You know, you're all right too. Right. You know, she needs to uphold the standards of such a. Yeah. Such a fantastic historical brand.
But that's exciting. And I saw the launch of, of the Maz Grime triangle line. Triangle. I can get all the words right.
Because I mean, again, it's, it's all these sort of advancements in helping artists create in an efficient way. Right. So it's not removing anything that they need to do, it's just actually helping them do their art in better.
Yeah. And, and removing the headaches of drawing lines and, you know, manually doing all of that. So. Yeah. That's incredible. And inks. God, we could do a whole, we could do a whole episode on inks, couldn't we? Yeah, I, I mean, the joy of inks and the history of inks and the fact that they are something. I mean, I always feel like you run out of colors at some point, but you don't, do you? You just keep going. There's new layers to it. There's the neon side, the metallic side, the pearlescence. It's just there's so many things that you can do and it just allows the artists to do their art in so many new, new ways. So that's, that's really exciting that you can provide all those things. And you know, it's, as you said, not just calligraphers. It could be screen printers and you know, it could be all sorts of artists working with letters. I mean, we're talking about letters. So I have to pretend that all artists only use letters, but they may well be creating other things. I'll accept.
You also support artists by, by listing some of them. Right. On some of the most well renowned people, particularly from printmaking, ceramics, illustration and calligraphy, but with your. Is it the pro artist network? And can you tell us a little bit more about what, what that is and what it does?
[00:20:57] Speaker C: Yes, absolutely. That we call it the pan internally. So the professional artist network. I'll have to make sure I don't use the acronym too much, but this I have to give kudos to. The mastermind behind this was Kelly Braun and she is our director of marketing.
When we first started again, Kelly has been with the organization quite so many years too. You know, it was just Kelly and I, and have to say a little note that we are not artists.
I remember that was one of the interview questions. I was like, I'm not an artist. So that's the prerequisite amount.
So with neither she or I being artists, we just really wanted to make sure we were authentically connecting to the artistic community as much as we possibly could. Right. The only way we felt like we could develop real products was if they came from them, the people using them in their. Their hands and their. Their livelihood every day.
So that's really where the professional artist network came from.
And then for years of conversations and collaborations with them, it's kind of. It's over several hundred artists now that are in our PAN network, you know, from around the world and across, like you said, all of our different categories, whether it's ceramics or lettering. And they're really our voice, you know, kind of again with that leadership from David Failure.
They're our voice. They are what they demand us to create, if you will. And we just have beautiful partnerships with them, and we cultivate these relationships as best we can. You know, whether that's catering our marketing program, sponsorships, product activations, product testing, social media, all of that is really developed around them and with them.
And the nice thing that's kind of come away from that is they see this network too, and they're able to, you know, similar to the text book, look at other people's work and other artists and kind of learn from each other and learn about their curiosities. And, you know, it's interesting how they do that tool or use that way of working. And so that was kind of a secondary element that came from, which is just. You just spawn something beautiful. But, yeah, that's something that now is just kind of a thread of the speedball quilt. It's just necessary. That's how we. That's how we work in marketing is, you know, through our artists.
[00:23:22] Speaker B: It's incredible. And actually, you explaining it like that makes me think that it's almost a help that you don't see yourself as an artist, because it means that you're more excited and more engaged with artists to get those answers, to get those connections, because perhaps you would come with your own thoughts or appreciations for certain things or just. Just, you know, just preferences, I guess, if you were particularly strong in. In a kind of artistic form of whatever the choice might be.
I'm sure there's a lot of creativity in there still. Do you do any, do you do dabble with any of, any of it?
[00:24:12] Speaker C: I mean, we're completely unbiased. We do try.
You know, I, like you mentioned earlier, I have found printmaking personally, for me to be a bit easier for me to be able to understand and actually create.
It's so interesting though, that appreciation. When I came to speedball and, you know, you'd see a print or you'd see something, you know, a calligraphy or things like that. And as a kind of a general, I guess, average consumer, I'd just be like, oh, that's cute, that's nice. It's pretty, you know, whatever it might be. And when you learn what goes into, not only the tools, but the true expertise, I mean, you all are just masters of your art craft.
It is fascinating. I mean, it is just. I can't like walk through anywhere. Like, I can't walk through the world now without being like, oh my gosh, I bet you that is a six color screen print. Can you believe he probably used 230 mesh? You know, so it's just that element. And there's times where we'll work with the artist and we'll just have this, you know, sheer appreciation. And they're like, oh, you guys are just so nice. You're just being nice. And I was like, it is genuine. Like, there's no way, you know, I mean, even looking at what you're doing, I'm like, I was gonna take the course. I think I'll sign up for the class.
It's just, it's all really fascinating to us. So to your point, I think it is a huge advantage because we come with, you know, no bias and just pure fascination and it, but it is genuine. We're not trying to just be kind here.
[00:25:43] Speaker B: And that's where the best kind of communities come from, right? Because you're, you're not walking in with a predetermined idea about what needs to happen or who needs to decide things. You're actually reaching out to the widest audience that you can get and, and leaning on all these lovely, diverse art forms and artists from all over the place who will give you probably an overwhelming amount of information, which then you have to work out, which then we're all in awe of. Of how on earth does Melissa do it all? Because I don't think I could be on the other side of it.
But yeah, incredible to be able to sort of digest it all and be able to turn whatever it is that people are saying, you know, that that's, that dialogue between somebody who is an artist and who isn't is. Is brilliant. It's. That's, that's a skill in itself and an art, some might say.
So we talked a little bit about some of the new product range and can you. But can you tell us a little bit more when you work with artists who are maybe helping you create or innovate some of the product ranges that you're looking for, how does that work? Do you. Sitting down in a room and going, right, what. What kind of tool do you need? Or has someone come to you and gone, do you know what you're missing is this or how does it all work?
[00:27:08] Speaker C: Yes, we get the gamut. You know, we do have, and we welcome that. So anyone, if you have ideas or if you have suggestions, you know, the beauty of artists too sometimes is when they are. They can be blunt and be like, this is working, or this is not working.
But also there's obviously endless creativity, you know, so can this do that or this? So we do get a little bit of that. And then we do cater to so many different markets, you know, whether that's schools, craft professional. And so some of those are meant to make sure that we are again, back to our foundation being accessible to a wide distribution at an affordable price point. You know, things like that. Back to our core. So a model of that I would say I could use as an example of more recent is our partnership with Melissa Esplin, who is a talented calligrapher and instructor.
You know, she's got a real.
That's kind of where her foundation came from. And so she helped us bring to life a new hand lettering and illustration like journal kit for us. And it features 32 pages of instructional content developed by Melissa, again with video tutorials kind of supporting that.
And what that was able to do is get us into a, you know, different market for the craft that used new instruments that we didn't have in our lineup of watercolor brush pens and pieces like that. So though that might not be for everyone, right? We do try to tailor the different pieces and then find the artists that we can leverage their expertise with.
So on the flip side, the 26th edition of the textbook we're partnering with the editor will be Carl Rohr's.
So again, not that they're kind of pointing them as different in their art forms, but what we need for that new product, I guess, if you will, as the textbook is very different than what we're trying to do with Melissa Esplin. So part of it too is just trying to find that happy marriage between their talent and, you know, the product that we're looking to achieve, to meet the different desire or need of a. A customer base.
[00:29:23] Speaker B: Yeah, I love that. So lots of, lots of exploring, lots of, you know, it's. It's almost like, yeah, pairing. Pairing things together. Right. And seeing what people are doing and how. How that aligns with who they are as an artist, I guess, as well as what. What you need to. To bring to life.
Yeah, that's incredible. And sort of slowly drawing things to a close. But in terms of the future of Speedball, not just calligraphy, but maybe the wider arts, what are you most excited about in terms of the future?
[00:30:03] Speaker C: I think what we've seen more prevalent than I have in the past is the blending across categories. So we've kind of always said, and maybe this is poor, but there's a bit of a blessing and a curse with Speedball's portfolio in the fact that we have such a wide portfolio of products and a depth again, as the director of product marketing, there's a lot of products and so being able to understand like a screen printing to calligraphy to metal leaf ceramics across the gamut. And so what we've seen, and maybe it's through a professional artist network and that connections that we're making are really kind of the seeds we planted are growing into something awesome now is the crossing forms. You know, artists are finding ways to find a love for one piece that they have and then incorporate it into something else. So we have a traditional ceramicist that kind of came to us and is now introducing calligraphy into her pieces of work, or calligraphy into different types of block printing. And so I think that for us, the most exciting, you know, there's been times where we kind of keep them all in their bit of a silo. And so knowing that we can maybe branch that creativity, creativity together, that part, I think is really exciting of what those future tools or opportunities could be.
And then, I mean, like I said, I just hope there's another decade of. For me personally to be able to work with lovely people like yourself and just, you know, knowing that there's a constant challenge out there of the good is not good enough. And what else can you guys come up with for us?
[00:31:42] Speaker B: I love that. I absolutely love that. And I definitely even just doing the podcast, I really see a lot of that happening, this blending of art forms. Especially when you've got digital artists and graphic designers and they're looking at the type side of lettering and then you've got sign writers who have traditional hand painting, painting skills and they're bringing those through in different ways. And you've got, you know, people carving into stone and people, there's so many cross forms and mediums that people can, can play with and explore with. And I guess that's the beauty of art, isn't it? Is that it, it can weave in and out of different disciplines and the more curious we get and the more we play around with these resources, tools, materials and things like that, it, it can really take art into new places, I'm sure, like cooking and story writing and music and dance and all of these incredible, you know, incredible sort of creative passions for people. But I love that and I love that Speedball are so heavily involved in, in all of that as well. Especially for the future for all of us artists out here going, oh, we need more tools and how do I create this when I want this? And yeah, that's great.
How many staff, how many people are there in the company and then how many do you have in your team?
[00:33:15] Speaker C: Yeah, so the marketing team, we've always considered ourselves very lean and mean.
So Kelly is our director and then there are three product managers with a product assistant and then three in our brand marketing total for Speedball, we're just right at about 100 with the production floor comprising, you know, most of that outside of front office. So I think we've got 70ish production members.
We are all in Statesville, North Carolina.
We do distribute globally. We do have one sales manager that resides in France.
But that's another fun fact. People are always like, so where's, where's this distribution center? Where's this distribution? It all comes out right here in Statesville, North Carolina.
And so yeah, so we are, we always like to present ourselves maybe bigger than we are, but we are a pretty lean, mean team.
[00:34:14] Speaker B: But incredible that you know, so much comes out of 100 people, you know, and, and that legacy, you just expect that something for, that's gone on for so long has just grown and grown and grown and actually you haven't needed to necessarily and that you're all so local and so, you know, you don't have to spread everywhere to be able to reach all the corners of the world with all the, the amazing products that you've got. So got. I could go on for hours talking to you about all the lovely things that you guys are doing and, and everywhere that you're, you're taking Speedball. But to find out more people can visit speedballart.com or they can connect with the team on Instagram Speedball Calligraphy or speedballart.
And we'll put all of these links in in today's show notes as well, along with the the sort of video that we're both probably going to go off and watch again after this anyway.
But honestly, Melissa, thank you so much for talking to me today and it's been great to have you on the podcast and just get a real insight into Speed Bull's history and future.
[00:35:25] Speaker C: Thank you so much. It's been so much fun.
[00:35:29] Speaker A: Thanks for listening to the Life of Letters. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you don't miss the rest of the series.
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Finally, once again, a big thank you to Speedball Arts for supporting this season and for being part the of my calligraphy journey from the very start. Until next time, keep writing, keep creating and keep celebrating the Life of Letters.
