April 10 Program – Ligatures: Kissing and Cuddling with Risa Gettler

Ligatures: Kissing and Cuddling
Presented by Risa Gettler

Wednesday, April 10, 2024
6:30-8pm MDT on Zoom

Members: free, Non-members: $10

Members need not register. Non-members please register below. A zoom link will be sent to current members and program registrants a few days before the program. This program will be recorded for future viewing. Please contact Jenny Allen with questions at ccgprograms@coloradocalligraphers.com. 

Program Description

Starting with what ligatures are and why and how they’re used is old news. This zoom class includes samples of manuscript pages from the Dark and Middle Ages where large capital chapter titles couldn’t be squeezed in a single line without abbreviations and ligatures. You’ll also see contemporary applications where ligatures create interest for the reader and fun for us lettering artists! We don’t have to use ligatures…except they’re just too much fun NOT to employ. You’ll receive handouts to print for class so we can work together. Ligatures afford lots of options but which ones are best? I will discuss this while demonstrating so you can see – and take notes – what predicates good choices.

About Risa

Risa Gettler combines her lifelong study of letters with medieval manuscript arts. Extended studies: the University of Calligraphy/Italy, Barcelona School of Design/Spain, Princeton University/Department of Spanish Medieval Art, Getty Center, and UCLA/Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. A guest on radio and TV. Art projects: the LA City Marathon, the National Council on Aging, the International Council on Alzheimer’s Disease/Toronto, and a CD design of medieval Spanish music funded by The National Endowment of the Arts. Art included in the Smithsonian, Washington National Cathedral, calligraphy and calligraphy related books, calendars, exhibits, galleries and international art publications. Teaching for international conferences, guilds, universities and museums since the 1990’s. Her work can be found in several anthologies and Risa’s work is represented in the Harrison Collection of Calligraphy and Lettering. Risa’s forthcoming book, Animating the Alphabet, is available in 2024. Risa’s most notable client is His Holiness Pope John Paul II.