Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to series five of the Life of Letters, a podcast exploring the art history and future of calligraphy, handwriting and all things letter related.
I'm your host, Laura Edrilyn, a London based calligrapher with a curious mind. Continuing this journey to connect with artists, historians, experts and letter lovers all around the world as the podcast grows. I'm so grateful that this season is once again kindly supported by Speedball art, champions of craft, craftsmanship and creativity, helping keep the life of letters thriving across generations.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: Today I'm speaking with Angeniece Rawls, a mama artist who specializes in calligraphy engraving at the Graceful Pen Studio. She started her business in 2018, specializing in handmade greeting cards. Now she offers calligraphy services on paper and other surfaces for individual commissions such as poems, wedding vows, birth announcements, as well as brands. Her work has been featured with Community
[00:01:04] Speaker A: of Christian Creatives, Manuscript Brands, the Flourish
[00:01:07] Speaker B: Club, Versachalk, Speedball, Calligraphy Paper and Ink Arts, and Calligraphers of Color. A huge welcome to the Life of Letters and Genese. It's so nice to finally meet you off Instagram.
[00:01:20] Speaker C: Yes, thank you so much, Laura, for your invitation.
I'm honored that you asked me to be on your podcast and it is wonderful to see your face and to meet off of Instagram. So this is wonderful.
Thank you.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: So nice. And we are across the other side of the world from each other. So this is the beauty of doing podcasts is that we can connect and record these conversations and be able to share them because I think it's lovely connected with other calligraphers as well, like the work that you do. So I wanted to kick things off with asking you a little bit about how you fell into calligraphy and where that transition point was to turn it from something that you were practicing, learning, beginning out with, to this business, the Graceful Pen Studio.
[00:02:12] Speaker C: Well, it's amazing. Ask that, because as I look back on how I got started, I believe it chose me. I didn't choose calligraphy.
So how I got started is I was ahead of my class in elementary school, so I was doing sixth grade work, but I was still in the fifth grade. And my English teacher, she knew calligraphy and she said to me, because I was head of the class and you know, to kind of, I guess keep me from being bored and doing monotonous things. She said, I have something I want to teach you. And I thought, oh. And she said, well, you have lovely penmanship and I want to teach you calligraphy. And I thought, oh, I've never heard of it.
So she taught me italic hand, and she bought me a set of elegant writer pens, markers, and she taught me italic hand.
And I was immediately smitten because I always loved letters. If I saw a fancy letter out somewhere, I would go home and I would practice it. Just a whole page of that letter, you know. So that's kind of how I got started with calligraphy. But I didn't stick with it. Around middle school, I stopped calligraphy. I did make cards and things for my parents and for friends if they asked me to make cards. So I think I've always had an affinity for doing that because I would do that even as a child.
But somewhere around middle school and high school, I must have gotten really busy with life. I also started taking piano lessons at 13. Although I knew how to play by ear, my mom wanted me to have some lessons as well. And I think I just got busy with school and music lessons and so forth. And I kind of pushed calligraphy to the side.
So when I became an adult, by late 20s, early 30s, I was going to the library, getting stacks of soap making books and candle making books and
[00:04:09] Speaker D: calligraphy books and scrapbooking books. I mean, I would. You know, it was just like I
[00:04:14] Speaker C: had this urge to craft, and I
[00:04:17] Speaker D: didn't know what direction to go in.
[00:04:20] Speaker C: And then, so about 2003, I became a member of a particular church. And when the church moved into a historic building, my pastor. I have a female pastor. And she said, I have something for you. And I thought, oh, okay. You know, And I didn't think much of it. She said, I found these in my office when we were cleaning the building.
And she handed me a pack of calligraphy pens.
[00:04:46] Speaker D: And it was like everything I had
[00:04:48] Speaker C: done as a child just came flooding back to me. I had forgotten about calligraphy.
[00:04:52] Speaker D: I mean, I always loved writing and
[00:04:53] Speaker C: everything, but literally, I had forgotten about calligraphy until she gave me those pens. And I thought, oh, my gosh.
Well, how did she know? Well, I know God must have told
[00:05:03] Speaker D: her, because I never said anything to anybody.
[00:05:06] Speaker C: And so that really opened the door, and I joined the bereavement committee at my church. And so I started making cards because on the bereavement committee, it was my job to kind of choose a card, a sympathy card for a family that was in bereavement. And one day I struggled to find a card that really had a nice sentiment that didn't sound, you know, off the cuff. I mean, I needed it to feel like it was something from the heart. And I couldn't find anything that. That felt that way. And I thought, I know what I'll do. I'll just go make a card.
And so that really was the catalyst, I guess, to me starting my business, because once I started making cards, my pastor encouraged me to start a business. And I thought, I have no clue how to even go about doing that. I put it off for several years.
Then I finally started doing some research, because it kept, you know, kind of nagging at me in the back of my mind that she encouraged me to do that and I hadn't done anything about it.
And finally, in 2018, I started my business and this history.
[00:06:17] Speaker B: And here it is. And here you are. Incredible. What a journey. And how interesting. I mean, that the more I speak to people about their journeys into calligraphy or lettering, there is always these little connecting dots that just, you know, they might come in and out of our lives, but they're sort of reemerging at just the right time when you think, oh, I wasn't even thinking about that, but here it is.
So, yeah, beautiful. What a lovely introduction to who you are and what you do as well, because you work in lots of different ways. So it's not just.
Not just calligraphy, not just scripts, but you do floral illustrations, you do engraving, which obviously includes lots of lovely scripts as well. But out of all these different elements that you. You do, what's your kind of favorite, if you can choose one?
[00:07:15] Speaker D: That is a wonderful question.
[00:07:17] Speaker C: And I think I would really have to say the card making for me because it's so tangible, and I love.
I feel like my love language is giving, and I love giving something that I've made to someone else and either seeing their reaction if we're in person, or hearing back from them how something that I've made has touched their heart, or maybe perhaps they've requested me to give some or make something for them that they gifted to someone else and they'll get feedback and, you know, let me know, you know, what you made was just, you know, phenomenal or really touched that person's heart. And that touches my heart because I feel like if I can make something that makes a difference in someone else's life and give some hope, perhaps at a time when, you know, things are looking very bleak, then I feel like, you know, I've done something more than just make something, but I've made something that has a purpose, and I feel like everything that I do has to have a purpose.
Even with calligraphy, it took me a while to learn copper plate I fell in love with copper plate even before I started my business. Didn't know how to do copper plate, but I knew that that was what I wanted to do.
And when I finally learned it, you know, I was thinking to myself, oh, I can use this to, you know, make my cards.
And then after a while, I started slowly getting back into the broadage and introducing Italican and those sorts of things, because Italican and other scripts, like fraktur and Gothic scripts, black letter, kind of lend to more masculine cards and things like that. But to say that copper plate doesn't appeal to them as well, because I have made cards, you know, that have included copper plate or even just a basic monoline italic hand script, and, you know, they been received, well received. So I think just making things with my hands and, you know, being able to make a card and give something tangible to someone really is my favorite thing to do.
[00:09:23] Speaker B: I think that's lovely. And when you've got such a vast kind of scope to work with, like having the choice of scripts like, oh, what shall I. Which style shall I do this in? You can really feel into what the message is, what the sentiment is, who it's going to, and kind of build a design from there. Right. So it's. It's incredible to have copper plates, black letters, all of these different options, which are quite different visually, but you're crafting them really, sort of placing these letters down in a certain way and letting people kind of feel. Feel what you've created for them, which is lovely. And a question about sort of. Obviously you've done lots of different projects and stuff, but is there something that you would love to do that you haven't yet?
[00:10:17] Speaker C: Well, there's lots of things that I
[00:10:18] Speaker D: would love to do that I haven't yet.
[00:10:21] Speaker C: I'm always seeing new things, but it's not necessarily new. For example, I have a calligraphrine. She knows how to embroider her calligraphy, and I think that's wonderful. That is not something I wish to do.
[00:10:35] Speaker D: I feel like a lot of the
[00:10:37] Speaker C: things that I want to do kind of tie in with what I'm already doing, and they kind of will enhance what I'm currently doing.
So, for example, when I wanted to learn how to engrave, when I found out that that was a thing, and when I finally learned it and felt like, oh, wow, this is something great. I can make gifts for people.
And then when I learned that working with brands was a thing, I thought,
[00:11:03] Speaker D: oh, I'd like to do that.
[00:11:04] Speaker C: And I kind of practiced with friends and co workers and that kind of thing to see do I really like people watching me while I'm working? Is that an issue? You know, so, you know, I've said all that to say that I think that I just always constantly want to refine my skills.
So, for example, with floral illustration, I'm constantly studying and learning because there is a style that I want that I know I haven't developed yet. Yet. There's a style I'm looking for to emerge in it. I don't feel like it's emerged yet, but I know that I can draw flowers.
Do I feel comfortable 100% of the time? No. Sometimes I second my guess myself, but I think that's with all artists. We all kind of second guess ourselves and things, you know. But definitely bottle painting.
I have learned watercolor painting and acrylic painting, and I like both mediums.
So bottle painting uses more of the acrylic, and that's something that will lend its hand to embellishing my floral illustration.
Because I'm not a botanical person. Like, I don't have gardens outside in my yard or anything like that. I don't. There's not a lot of botanical places to visit. But I do love flowers.
So I haven't studied them enough to, you know, just be able to draw a flower off the whim.
I have to look up a photo reference. And I think the more I practice, the better I'll get at it. Because now when I go somewhere, I can say, oh, that's a hibiscus flower. Oh, yes.
[00:12:47] Speaker D: I've been studying, and I'm actually learning. Like, I don't have to guess what is that flower? You know, that makes me happy.
[00:12:54] Speaker C: And I feel like with painting, the same thing. I think the more they go hand in hand because I find the more that I paint, it helps me to visualize when I draw and vice versa.
So I just want to refine my craft and just continuously get better, you know, just to, you know, make better things.
[00:13:15] Speaker A: Love that.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: Yeah. There's so much to learn. There's so much that you can do and so many areas that you can take your creative kind of interests into. Right. So that's. Yeah, it's. It's a. It's a difficult question to ask. Yeah. But great that there's lots that you're kind of keen to do. And I wanted to come back to the. The kind of faith side of your business because you're obviously a devoted Christian, and I know you've worked in Various ways to support the church and the community. And you've mentioned being on the bereavement committee, but can you tell us a little bit more about what you do with your calligraphy and the church?
[00:13:57] Speaker C: Okay. So I really feel like my card making, as I've grown doing it for my business, has evolved for the bereavement committee at church. And I also feel like what I've done at church has kind of been a catalyst to the way that I create cards now.
And although all of them are not necessarily faith based, when I say that, I recognize that everyone is not a Christian.
So sometimes I've made cards, they don't feature scripture or anything like that. They may not say God or Jesus or anything like that. But I approach it from a perspective of I want this to touch that person's heart.
And so I'm aware of that. And I.
I feel like I pray and ask for wisdom to be able to put the right words that will speak to that person's heart. Case in point, there was a lady on my job, and a few years ago, when she found out that I could engrave, she said, I have a commission for you. And I said, oh, you know, I wasn't expecting that. And she said, I'll share with you. Why after I can't share with you now?
I said, that's fine. So she told me what she wanted me to make, and she, you know, we went through what she wanted me to engrave. And then afterward, it was so precious. She came to me and she just hugged me and she cried and she said, you don't know how much this means to me. She had lost a child and she wanted me to engrave something on glass for a friend because that friend was there for her during that time when she had lost her child.
And there's a tree she has in her yard, and she wanted to put leaves inside of the glass, so I had to make sure it was a particular type of glass frame.
And I had explained all that to her. Once she told me what she was looking for, I said, oh, I can get a floating glass frame. You can put those leaves from the trees inside of it, and you can send it to her. And she just cried on my shoulder. And I thought, wow, you know, this is what I'm made to do, you know, to not just create pretty things. You know, a lot of times I think we see something that's pretty, but we don't know the story behind it. And that really had a lot of sentimental value for her.
And I Said all that to say that recently, I could tell that she was really going through some things. She had just had some rough moments in her life, and I thought, I need to make her a card. So I found out what her favorite color was, and I said, okay, I've got something in mind for you. And I didn't tell her what I was going to do, you know, and it just seemed like my time was running short, and I thought, I've got to make this card for her.
[00:16:41] Speaker D: I didn't promise her when it was going to be, but I knew it was an urgency, you know, that I
[00:16:46] Speaker C: had to do it. So I finally said, okay, I've got to sit down. It doesn't have to be perfect. Even if I just take five minutes, I'm going to make this cardboard. Brought it into work the next day, and she said, oh, my gosh, I needed this at this moment. And she cried on my shoulder again. And I thought, you know, I'm so grateful that I listened to that little, you know, nudge in my heart to do something. I mean, I saw that there was a need and I knew that there was something I could do. And I told her, I hugged her back and I told her, you know, I'm praying for you.
And she said, you know, I really appreciate that. And I didn't put any scripture in the card or anything like that because I know she's not necessarily, you know, like a devout Christian or anything like that.
I didn't want to push her away, you know, I just wanted to be a source of comfort, you know, and let her know that somebody had thought about her. And I want to let her know as a mom and as a wife and as somebody that works and she has a special needs child as well, you know, I said, you are enough. And she needed to know that. She said, I'm going to put this card up to remind me that I am enough.
[00:17:54] Speaker A: If you're enjoying this episode and fancy
[00:17:56] Speaker B: supporting the podcast, you can literally buy us a coffee. Head to the link in the show notes.
[00:18:01] Speaker A: It's a lovely way to help keep the life of letters going.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: Now, let's get back to the episode.
[00:18:09] Speaker C: You know, as moms, you know, I don't know if you're a mother or not, but I'm a mother of eight, and so I have my last two still here at home. And as a mom, that takes a lot. You know, you're giving a lot, and then I'm a wife, so you're giving a lot when you have a Spouse, and then I work.
[00:18:27] Speaker D: So, you know, you're constantly giving.
[00:18:29] Speaker C: Well, you need somebody at some point in time to pour into you and let you know.
Your kids aren't going to say, mom,
[00:18:36] Speaker D: you're doing a great job. Your husband's probably not going to say, you know, you've been a wonderful wife. I mean, they may in so many words, but sometimes you just need to hear those words, you know? So I just.
[00:18:48] Speaker C: I. I look for those moments to encourage other people because I feel like as a result of being on the bereavement committee at church, it has allowed me to be sensitive to other people's hearts.
Sometimes people open up to me, and I know that they didn't have to.
And I. I hope I'm not being too long winded in my answer, but I feel like all of this really ties in.
Right after Covid, one of my daughter's classmates, I noticed she had been. She hadn't been getting on the bus.
And so a week later, I saw the mom and I went up to. And I said, I hope everything is okay. Did you guys get sick or something? And then I saw tears well up in her eyes, and she said, no. I lost my husband.
Oh, my gosh. You know, it just.
It devastated me. And I could only imagine how devastating it was to her to even be able to say that and to have to get up and take her kids to school and be reminded every day that her, you know, the love of her life was no longer there. And I said to myself, you know, I've got to do something for her, to just really encourage her.
And I hugged her, of course, at that moment, and I told her I was praying for her, and she told me that meant a lot. But I made a card for her to let her know, you know, that there's somebody that is thinking of you. And I think for Valentine's Day one year, I got her some flowers and a donut or something like that, you know, just to let her know somebody's thinking about her.
And I try to text her every now and again if I don't see her or whatever to, you know, just let her know she's thought of.
And even there's a few people on my job, they've lost their husbands. And usually around Mother's Day, I make sure that I. Even if it's just something small, a bookmark or something, I try to give them something, and they say, you know, you don't know how much this means. So sometimes I realize it's those little things that we do.
That can make a huge impact in somebody's life.
[00:20:57] Speaker B: That's beautiful. That is so lovely. And what a way to share your gift in, you know, in. In a visible form. Like you can. You can be creative for yourself, but when you are sharing it with others, there's this lovely ripple effect for. For each of those people to feel that there's been a creative mind behind this and a creative hand behind it, and you'd really thought it through. And. And I think it's also.
We can share and we can talk and those conversations are sort of in passing. Right. You might remember some things people have said and of quite a lot of the time, our brains forget all the lovely things and remember all the mean things, but with a card, it's reinforcing those words. It's very, very clear the message that you're sending. And I think that's.
That's a really lovely thing to be able to do and to be able to identify people who could really benefit with that outside of everything else that you're doing, everything else that's in your world.
And I think that does really take somebody who lives it and experiences it, you know, whether it's through the church or at home or recognizing another mother, recognizing loss and hurt and pain and that need for maybe lifting a little bit higher. So that's. Yeah, it's just wonderful to hear that your work is having such a strong impact on the kind of wider community as well. So. Yeah, wonderful. And I noticed on your website you've got this wonderful quote that says, art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does, the better. Which I think is about. Is written by Andre Gide. And this kind of just made me think about how things influence each other, which sort of perfectly segues into my question and where we were just talking about, you know, you can. You can use your calligraphy to find a little bit of peace and calm to create it. You can use your calligraphy to write messages to people for yourself.
And you're doing that. You're doing that is giving hope and warmth to a lot of people through the words in your scripts. But do you also feel that your calligraphy practice has influenced your sense of faith, too?
[00:23:33] Speaker C: Yes, I do, because I don't know when I started scripture journaling. I have to go and find by.
[00:23:40] Speaker D: I have a little stash of journals now, but I don't remember the exact year.
[00:23:45] Speaker C: I want to say it was 2021, maybe 2022, something like that.
And so I've Collected quite a few journals now, because, of course, they only
[00:23:55] Speaker D: have so many pages.
So once I fill up one, I move on to another one.
[00:24:00] Speaker C: But that has really allowed me to grow spiritually.
Writing down scripture that spoke to my heart at that moment.
And then when I go back and look at it like, oh, wow, I remember, you know, I've read that scripture so many times. But now I know that. That I can truly say I have
[00:24:21] Speaker D: a lot of favorite scriptures. But, you know, there are some that
[00:24:24] Speaker C: I notice I write more than others because they may be in several different books. So I know that that particular passage has really spoken to my heart.
And then on the calligraphy side, I've used my scripture journal as a practice playground.
I find things or I've come across something, and I say, oh, I want to learn how to do that. Well, I'll do that in my scripture journal because nobody else is really going to see that. And, you know, I'm not worried about it. But then I notice noticing that as I continue to do that, I'm growing in my skill set. And now there have been times where I felt comfortable enough to share. And even though it's not perfect, and I always express that, you know, it's like a perfectly imperfect thing.
You know, my journal is, you know, a sacred space for me.
I don't do it every day, but I do it as I have time. And there are times when I have more.
There are days when I have more time than others, and so I'll spend a longer amount of time. And I've started now dating the particular page because at some point in time, I've gone back and I'll say, oh, I know I did this in 2021, but I don't know when, you know. So now I'm realizing I think it's important for me to also date.
And I feel like I've grown in my faith as well, because as I.
The more I journal, the more I feel like my relationship grows with the Lord. Because what I've written is now not just a passage of scripture, but now I'm realizing the connection between a lot of other scriptures. And I begin to write those thoughts down as well.
And it just is amazing to me because I've seen the growth in myself spiritually. I've seen the growth in myself as an artist because I've decided to take a leap of faith and practice certain things.
And I'm very attracted to, like, vintage artworks and so forth. So when I come across an artist from, like, the 1800s or something, like that. I'm like, oh, I've got to find out who this person is. So I found out there's a person named Owen Jones.
I was studying Michael Sowell's cursive book and came across the name Owen Jones. And I thought, I've never heard of Owen Jones. Let me go look him up.
Well, come to find out, sometime around the late 1800s, he decided to pen the whole book of psalms, so all 150 books of Psalms. And he presented it to a queen. And I don't remember her name offhand, but I thought, wow.
[00:27:10] Speaker D: And so I found the book, I
[00:27:12] Speaker C: believe, on thriftbooks, and it was so ornate, I just. My mouth just gasped open. I couldn't even try to read it. I was just looking at all the beautiful artwork. I mean, he put a canvas leaves around on every page and all the borders of all the pages, and it's just absolutely stunning. So I looked at it from a perspective of art, you know, and calligraphy. But I also looked at the spiritual side. Like, wow, this is amazing that he did that. And he gave it as a gift. Gift to the queen. And I thought, oh, my gosh.
[00:27:48] Speaker D: That it was just.
[00:27:49] Speaker C: I don't know, it just kind of
[00:27:50] Speaker D: made everything explode within me.
[00:27:52] Speaker C: Like, I just.
[00:27:53] Speaker D: I had no words.
[00:27:55] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:55] Speaker D: So when you get a chance, if you've never heard of Owen Jones, I
[00:27:58] Speaker C: encourage you to go.
[00:28:00] Speaker B: I'm going to look that up. Yeah. I think anything that can, you know, take. Take this concept of something I love, you know, quotes in particular are just. They're so beautiful to write there. There's a real meaning behind them. And then you can decorate. I mean, other people are very good at decorating and, you know, in ornate ways. And I just think, again, it's just showing that hand crafted. The time, the energy, the thought that goes into these pieces. And it's. Yeah, it's. It's incredible to know that there are these lovely things going all the way back through history and the tradition of. Of writing letters and words.
Beautiful. Oh, it's lovely. Okay, Owen Jones, one to remember. I'll see if I can put a link in the. In the notes.
So, last series, we asked our guests a slightly challenging question, which you've probably heard because I think you've listened to most of the series, but it was so good. We're going to ask it again.
What is your favorite letter of the Alphabet and why?
[00:29:13] Speaker D: So I remember as a kid, remember
[00:29:16] Speaker C: I told you that I would see a pretty letter and I would practice it and practice it and practice it.
[00:29:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:21] Speaker C: And the letter A was that. I mean, I don't. I've never identified it as my favorite letter, but I remember practicing the letter A so much. And every time I see a beautiful A, I've got to find something, a
[00:29:36] Speaker D: piece of paper, somewhere to go and practice that beautiful, gorgeous letter A. And it doesn't ever occur to me,
[00:29:43] Speaker C: oh, my name starts with the letter A. It's just beautiful. Like, wow, I can't believe they wrote
[00:29:50] Speaker D: that A that way. Oh, my gosh, look at that design. So I, I think I'm in awe of the letter A and it has nothing to do with my name.
[00:30:00] Speaker C: I'm just fascinated with that letter. So the capital letter A, if you say.
[00:30:06] Speaker B: And just fortunate that you happen to have a capital letter A as well.
I mean, it would be. Yeah, lovely that you get to pract that initial.
[00:30:16] Speaker C: That's great.
[00:30:17] Speaker B: Oh, and Denise, it's been so lovely talking to you. I want to say to everybody to. To find out more about Angin and all the work she does, visit the Graceful Pen studio or you can find her on instagram @the GracefulPenStudio. And as always, I will put all the links in today's show notes so people can find you a bit easier. But just a really big thank you for joining me and being part of the life of letters.
[00:30:45] Speaker C: Thank you so much.
[00:30:46] Speaker D: I could give you a big hug. Big virtual, virtual hugs.
[00:30:50] Speaker C: It's been wonderful. I really appreciate you and it's been an honor. Thank you.
[00:30:57] Speaker A: Thanks for listening. Series 5 is made possible by my wonderful producer, Heidi Cullip, and the support of Speedball Art, whose commitment to high quality tools and creative tradition continues to serve, partner and deliver to artists all over the world.
If you enjoyed the episode, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review or share it with a fellow letter lover. And until next time, keep listening, keep creating, and keep celebrating the life of letters.
