I came to the study of calligraphy after completing an MFA in painting but with a felt need to learn “method”. I had always studied Asian art and since calligraphy was the basis for all of its artforms, I decided to make a study of the Western alphabets. After struggling on my own for a time I was referred to Franz Heigemeier, who taught at a local community college. Franz had learned calligraphy under Anna Simmons as a graphic design student in Germany. When I watched his calm technique, all my impatience surfaced and I thought this would never be for me. The study of calligraphy was a lesson in humility and, of course, what he had that I lacked was a reliance on craft. I persevered and eventually began teaching a calligraphy class at Manhattanville College with the support of Lou Trakis, then head of the art dept. and a sculptor. Lou had taken calligraphy with George Salter while a student at Cooper Union and shared my enthusiasm for the hands-on exploration of letterforms within an art dept. curriculum. A few years later Franz retired and asked me to take over his class at Dutchess Community College, where I now teach. One of the pleasures of teaching has been learning about the calligraphic traditions of other cultures via my students. They have demonstrated Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hebrew and Urdu calligraphy. The evolution of the alphabet from drawn symbols and the way in which cultural history is distilled within those symbols is a fascinating field of study for me so I include a historical context in the classroom. I have continued to pursue calligraphy through commissioned projects and as a centering practice for artwork.