User:Daniel.pearce/Charles Pearce

Charles Pearce (27 August 1943, Birmingham, England) is one of the world's leading calligraphers and has written a number of books on the subject. His calligraphic art is sold across the globe and is in the collections of the Royal Family.

Education
Pearce studied lettering arts at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and the The Camberwell School of Art and Crafts, both of which are in London. It was at the latter that he first began to work with Donald Jackson, Scribe to Her Majesty's Crown Office at the House of Lords. He graduated from Camberwell with a National Diploma in Design, the equivalent of a Master of Fine Arts.

Family
Pearce was born in Birmingham in 1943 to a musician mother and a teacher father. He has two brothers, Robert and Julian, and a sister, Barbara. As a child he had always had an interest in lettering and could often be found copying the letters on Christmas cards or attempting to emulate Gothic lettering on brass in his church.

In 197 he married Linda and together they had three sons, Mark, Aaron and Daniel. They lived in Ware, Hertfordshire, and Pearce worked as an artist and lecturer in England and the USA. After having spent so much time working in New York he decided to relocate there in 1980.

Career
Throughout his career he has spent time working for many companies on a freelance basis, including: The National Portrait Gallery, The British Museum, The Royal Mint, Pentalic Corporation, New York Chamber of Commerce and Her Majesty’s Crown Office at the House of Lords.

During the 1960s Pearce worked for Decca Music Group, designing record sleeves and publicity material, and in 1970 was made a fellow of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators in London. After moving to New York in 1980 he became the first (and so far the only) calligrapher ever to be granted ‘Artist in Residence’ status by the city.

After having written a number of short guides to calligraphy (see ‘Publications’, below), Pearce wrote his first book, ‘The Little Manual of Calligraphy’, in 1981. He subsequently wrote two more books on the subject before deciding to settle back into creating abstract calligraphic art.

Since the early 1970s he has been a prolific teacher of calligraphic art and has run workshops and lectures throughout Europe, Australia and North America. In order to further facilitate this he now lives in the purpose-built Whiskey Spring Studio in the beautiful Ozark Mountains, Arkansas. It is here that he has been able to create some of his most widely-appreciated work, such as his ‘Expressions of Shakespeare’ series.

Publications

 * Calligraphy, The Art Of Fine Writing (1975). Published by Cumberland Graphics division of British Pens, as part of the ‘Penstyle Calligraphy Set’.


 * Lettering, The Art Of Calligraphy (1978). Published by Platignum as part of their ‘Lettering Set’.


 * Italic Writing (1979). Published by Platignum as part of their ‘Italic Handwriting Set’.


 * A Young Person’s Guide To Calligraphy (1980). Published by Pentalic as part of ‘A Young Person’s Calligraphy Starter Set’.


 * A Little Manual Of Calligraphy (1993). Published by WM Collins (London) and Taplinger (USA).


 * A Calligraphy Manual For The Beginner (1981) Published by Pentalic as part of the ‘Pentalic Introductory Calligraphy Course’.


 * The Calligraphy Sampler (1985) Published by WM Collins.


 * The Anatomy Of Letters (1987). Published by Taplinger.

His work is also represented in other books, such as:


 * Child, H. (1988).Calligraphy Today: Twentieth Century Tradition and Practice, New York: Taplinger Publishing Company.


 * Society of Scribes and Illuminators (1980). Modern Scribes and Lettering Artists, New York: Taplinger Publishing Company.


 * Society of Scribes and Illuminators (1988). Modern Scribes and Lettering Artists II, London: Trefoil Publications Ltd.