Irene Wellington was an exceptionally talented student of Edward Johnston. She first met him at the Royal College of Art where she studied during the years 1925-30. Though deeply influenced by Johnston, after leaving college and moving to Edinburgh she began to evolve her own interests and ways of working, which she continued to develop throughout her life. She grew to become a pivotal figure in 20th century calligraphy. Her great gift was to realise that calligraphy could be a descriptive and powerful vehicle for personal expression. In her work over a lifetime, she came to see how – using the whole of the calligrapher’s vocabulary: letterforms, weights and scales, colour – she could gather together many things that she loved: drawings, writings, poems, into an organised design. She experimented with different mediums: pencil, crayons, collage. She stretched the whole concept of what calligraphy was and could be; and we are the inheritors of that vision.
Most of Irene Wellington’s work is held at the Crafts Study Centre in Farnham, but the Trust holds a small collection of some of her most beautiful pieces, which will be laid out and available for study during the day. There are also some pieces of work done by other calligraphers.
Date and Time: Saturday 18th June 2016. 10.00 am- 4.00pm
Venue: Caroline & Richard Keevil: The Old Vicarage, Rowde, Devizes,Wilts SN10 2PN We are indebted to Caroline and Richard who will host the day in their house and provide tea,coffee and Caroline’s never-to-be-forgotten cake! But please bring your own picnic lunch.
Price: £25 per person. All proceeds go to the Irene Wellington Educational Trust. Please write cheques to the Trust as above, & send to Ann Hechle, 3, Havory, Bath BA1 6RR, with a SAE, and I will send you further details of location and parking.
Programme for the day: AH will give a short introduction of Irene Wellington: her work, her contribution to calligraphy, and her gifts as a teacher. Ann says : I was lucky enough to catch the last 2 years of her teaching at the Central School – 1958-9. I will bring a large student piece that I did at that time, which she designed.
Then we will all look at the work laid out for us. It is such a rare privilege to see ‘the real thing’ of such outstanding quality. Some pieces are very small, some collages; some on vellum, some paper.
After lunch I will give about an hour’s talk and demo on design, & what I think I learnt from Irene. And I will be showing some pages from the book of mine ‘Figures of Speech’
If you have any queries please contact Ann Hechle at annhechle@gmail.com
Download a flyer for this event here Study Day IWET
