Lettering design: one-day workshop
Saturday 17 May 2025
Ruthin Craft Centre, Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales  
Tutor: John Neilson

A one-day hands-on workshop concentrating on the basics of lettering design, which can be useful for many applications including designing stone inscriptions (something which may be offered in the future). There will be a bit of pen calligraphy, then some drawing with a pencil, looking at the proportions and details of Roman capitals and how these are influenced by the pen or brush. For more details and to book a place see the Ruthin Craft Centre website or Eventbrite, or phone 01824 704774.

Lettercarving in stone & lettering design
Monday 16 – Friday 20 June 2025
Powys, Wales  
Tutor: John Neilson

This will be the eighth five-day design & carving course at this delightful venue in north-east Wales. The course is intended for those with some experience of lettering and lettercarving and so will not suit complete beginners. The loose overall theme this year will be ‘irregular lettering’  – making a composition of original letterforms – but other topics may be covered by prior arrangement. We will cover both design and carving, but the proportion of these is flexible. The number of participants is limited to 10.
A delicious lunch, tea, coffee, etc are provided. Self-catering bunkhouse accommodation is available at the course venue, or there are other B&B and self-catering options in the local area. As of April 2025 this course is fully booked, however if you would like to go onto the reserve list or be informed of future courses, please contact me.

Here are some photos from previous years showing the yard area where we carve if the weather is fine, and the kitchen/dining/designing room.

Other courses
Here are some other people or organisations who sometimes provide short courses in letter carving. Click on their names to go to their websites.
Abraxas Academy (Charlotte Howarth & Nina Bilbey, Norfolk)
Pip Hall (Cumbria).
Cromarty Arts Trust (Cromarty, Scotland, Robbie Schneider).
Lettering Arts Trust (info only: no longer run courses themselves).
West Dean College (Sussex, Tom Perkins).
ELI/Lieve Cornil (Bruges, Belgium, and online).
City & Guilds of London Art School (London, Tom Young).