At the Washington Calligraphers Guild's Holiday Calligrafest, held in October 2000 at the Vienna (VA) Community Center, some 200 attendees enjoyed shopping for art and art supplies, trying their luck in raffle drawings and the silent auction, and observing demonstrations geared to all skill levels.

The artwork of dozens of calligraphers was for sale at the Oh My Word Calligraphy booth (above l.) and at the booths of various WCG members (above r.). A variety of artists' supplies was available at Plaza Art Supplies (l.), Artwares (r.), and Paper & Ink Books (below).

Attendees commissioned elegant bookmarks on the spot from Michael Clark or Mary Lou O'Brian.

Crowds gathered around WCG members as they demonstrated throughout the day (a list of demonstrations appears at the bottom of this page). At left, Marta Legeckis presents an introductory class for beginners; right, Ann Pope demonstrates versals.

Rick Paulus (seated l. and below l.) showed his copperplate skills to a rapt crowd, and Cynthia Campbell (below) assembled a simple book. Below, Michael Clark demonstrated commercial lettering applications (l.) and Linda Levine used a flat brush to create letterforms.

More than 50 prizes were awarded during hourly raffle drawings (left). Supplies and templates were available to attendees of all ages who wanted to try their hand at lettering (r.).

Dozens of donated works of art, including a piece from French calligrapher Jean Larcher (r.) and Islamic calligraphy specialist Mohammed Zakariya (below), were part of the silent auction to benefit the Guild.