Gemma Black
Mixed Media + Design
Maker Member
Gemma is a calligrapher, lettering artist and allied arts practitioner living on ngunnawal country Canberra, where she runs her studio-based practice. Her work evolves around creating formal documents on vellum and fine art paper, heraldry, book inscriptions, calligraphy for citations, certificates and more. Gemma also creates book structures, decorative paper techniques and abstract watercolour painting. Gemma has a healthy lecture program where she is invited to speak on a variety of lettering & book-art subjects and has taught extensively for over thirty years.
She is a Churchill Fellow and Fellow of the Calligraphy & Lettering Arts Society, UK. Her work is held in private and public collections around the world including Parliament House Canberra, the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK, the European Parliament, Museum for International Calligraphy, Moscow and Stanford University Libraries, USA.
"I make art. I craft my art with text. My basic tools of choice are pen, paper & ink whereas my substrates range from vellum for high-end works to scraps of paper for ephemera. For me, inscribing text is a cathartic process. I create for the pure pleasure of making marks and images with letterforms. I am grateful that I am in a position to do so as it is an opportunity not given to many."
Online Resources:
Website: https://www.gemmablack.com/
Instagram: @gemmablackcalligrapher