Live event calligraphy at Jo Malone London - 2023

Wow - where do I start?

What an honour it was to be recommended by a calligrapher friend to fill in on this live calligraphy event at short notice. When I say short notice…this was 24 hours! I had no previous live event experience and none of the right equipment at home, so what do you do?

You say yes of course!

Let me take you back to the beginning. It was Friday mid morning just before Mother’s Day and I was doing some overtime at work (I work at the hospital as well as doing calligraphy) when a random number phoned me, I was at work so I didn’t answer but then a voicemail popped up. I just thought oh it’s probably one of those spam calls, I will just check it later. Then five minutes later I got an email from the Modern Calligraphy Co asking if I was available the next day to do live calligraphy for a brand. That is when my heart almost stopped. I read the email and just could not believe what I was seeing.

A calligrapher had called in sick for the next day and someone had recommended me…..me!???

Once I caught a breath, I was able to read the rest of the email and then go and call them back. I was still shaking on the phone and just couldn’t believe that this was happening. It was so scary and daunting but just such an exciting and amazing opportunity that I knew there was no way I could pass this up. You know what they say…Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway! (Fantastic book by Susan Jeffers, totally recommend.)

I finished work a few hours later in time to pick my son up from school, he had an awards ceremony which was amazing to see and then it was time to shoot to a few various shops across the city. I have been planning to get into live events this year so I already knew the sort of thing I would need, however this is a different story when you are working on behalf of someone else plus you know how it is, you never have anything to wear! Luckily Jarrolds the department store was my Knight in shining Bricks and very much came to my rescue. I was able to get a beautiful black blouse from one of the concessions and they have a fabulous art store (which I could spend so much time in but that is a story for another day) and thankfully, they had the gouache paint I needed - in the exact colours! Next it was time to shoot to the other side of the city to get to Argos to click and collect a make up trolley. All about looking professional!

Now, home for dinner and bedtime with Archie. I then spent the evening mixing gouache to the right colour and consistency, practising writing a new alphabet and packing my very handy and amazing new trolley. I have never played around with gouache before or done any colour mixing so this was another new experience. I had no idea how easy it actually could be and this is definitely something I need to have another go at. Perhaps I should start another blog on that subject….

Finally, time for sleep. But, how can you possibly sleep when you have all of the butterflies in your tummy and you have no idea what to expect! Thankfully, I did manage to somehow fall asleep though because before I knew it, it was THE BIG DAY.

I arrived at the Jo Malone store in Fenwick, Colchester and was greeted by the loveliest, warmest staff. Laura was the manager there and she was so helpful and kind. Of course, I had never even written on a box of this luxury texture before so that was nerve wracking in itself. I had a good practise and got some display boxes ready and all set up on the table.

I snapped a few photos and before I knew it there were customers watching, intrigued and amazed and asking for personalised boxes. I worked from 12-4pm and the time just flew. It quietened down a little after 3pm so I spent that time writing more messages on other spare boxes that the team could then use the next day or in the future.

I cannot put into words how amazing it was to have this experience, to personalise boxes for peoples loved ones with beautiful writing that just made them even more special. I am so grateful to Alex for recommending me in the first place and to the team at The Modern Calligraphy Co for trusting me with the event. You just never know what is around the corner and what opportunities await you. If I had let any anxiety or fear take over, I would never have had this dream come true. Now, where will you see me next?

If you got here, then thanks so much for reading! Let me know what you thought, I would love to hear from you.