I entered my handmade calligraphy flag book in the OC Fair this year. I wanted to enter the illuminated manuscript (of the post below), but it wasn’t ready by the time the entry date. So I entered the flag book at the fair and entered the illuminated manuscript in the Muzeo exhibit in Anaheim. The flag book came away with Honorable Mention among the entries. I hope to enter the illuminated manuscript into the OC Fair next year.

I visited the OC Fair to look at the offerings. The only items of calligraphy were my small flag book (unfortunately positioned to make the calligraphy very hard to read, and it was cramped among the offerings), and a larger framed work by Lee Garigmeyer in Celtic lettering, complete with painted ship in the lower right corner and fancy scrollwork on the left side. It received 2nd place.

It was clear that the artwork I’ve seen among members of calligraphy guilds would give this guy a run for his money. If you are in the Orange County, CA, area, I encourage you to enter a work. I will try to enter as many pieces as I can next year. Let’s fill a table with calligraphy over there and show the public that calligraphy is alive and well!