Editor's note: This version corrects the time of the Mysticalligraphers monthly meeting and the spelling of co-president Annette Chittenden's name.

The dozen people gathered inside Mystic & Noank Library are all using pencils on tracing paper to practice, with steady hands and artistic finesse, creating Roman capital letters.

Fran Baldwin, who leads the session, explains the intricacies of this type of lettering and gives them guidance as things progress and they move on to graph paper. She tells them that if they know the basic structure of the letters, they'll have the foundation to play.

The atmosphere fluctuates between quiet concentration and friendly chats about such topics as calligraphy classes they have taken over the years.

So it goes during a recent monthly meeting of Mysticalligraphers. The group — in which calligraphers of all levels can share ideas and techniques — is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. With calligraphy guilds in Hartford and New Haven having disbanded over that time, Mysticalligraphers stands as the sole remaining guild in the state.

Making an art out of it

Lynn Anderson, who lives in Noank, was one of the group's charter members. She recalls that, back in 1982, it "was a time when calligraphy was the thing. Everybody was learning it, everybody was doing it. It was all over. You could make a living teaching calligraphy, easy."

She and two other women — Jane Schmidt, who lived at Mumford Cove and was a Noank grade school teacher, and Dorothy Steel, who lived in Noank; both have since passed away — had each started doing calligraphy on her own. Once they met, Schmidt suggested they bring in a calligrapher to instruct them, since they were self-taught at that point. They invited Margaret Shepherd down from Boston and put out the word welcoming anyone who wanted to attend the session.

Folks came from all over. Afterward, the organizing trio thought they should keep things going as a group where everyone could take part in classes and workshops led by professionals, and they could teach each other as well. That was the start of Mysticalligraphers.

Over time, the popularity of calligraphy as a hobby and as a business has ebbed and flowed.

"Calligraphy has gone from that kind of 'everybody's doing it' to a much more specialized thing. But there are wonderful calligraphers working now who really make an art out of it, and that's great," Anderson says.

Indeed, calligraphy is art as much as handwriting. The sheer variety of works by members of the Mysticalligraphers is impressive proof of that. The letters are perfectly designed, though they vary, creatively and colorfully, from piece to piece. Some race along with cursive grace, while others stand with foundational strength.

People interested in seeing their work should note that Mysticalligraphers will have exhibits at three local libraries during 2022: April at Mystic & Noank Library; August at Groton Public Library; and November at Waterford Public Library.

The group meets every second Wednesday of the month at 5 p.m. at the Mystic & Noank Library in Mystic. During July and August, they also hold creative sessions on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month.

Milly Carlson, of Groton, who has been a member of Mysticalligraphers for 30 years, says, "It continues to be interesting for our members, both old and new, who each have a variety of talents, to come together to learn and share and create."

She adds, "We in the group get to know each other pretty well and are comfortable with (each other) and do feel that we become good friends."

Mysticalligraphers currently has 38 members, and Barbara Read, a Stonington resident who has been with Mysticalligraphers since the early 1990s, says that the group is always friendly, especially to beginners.

"We share, and we're supportive of each other," Carlson says.

A rave in Yankee Magazine

Over the years, Mysticalligraphers have created small books and calendars, and have framed and exhibited their paintings. One of the more notable efforts was a cookbook in 1984.

"We got reviewed in Yankee Magazine, so that's a blessing and a curse," Anderson says with a laugh. "We didn't have a lot of (the books), and we had no system for sending them or taking the orders. We just thought a few people locally would enjoy them. ... The reviewer, I remember, said, 'I usually don't read or review cookbooks done in calligraphy because they're so hard to read, but this one ...' She said it was wonderful, and it just took off. We had to scramble, we really did."

Through the years, some folks have left calligraphy and gone in a different artistic direction. Anderson, for instance, is now known locally for her wide-ranging art (her favorite pursuits currently are children's book writing and illustration, editorial cartooning and watercolor painting). She remains an honorary but not active member of Mysticalligraphers.

'Why does it live?'

People mostly text now; handwriting is rarely necessary. People can print out wedding invitations by computer rather than have someone use calligraphy for them.

"So why does it live? It lives because it's beautiful handwriting — because maybe we miss that," Anderson says. "Nobody does handwriting anymore. I take notes at meetings, and people look over my shoulder and say, 'Wow, you have good handwriting.'"

Not every calligrapher brings that art to their daily handwriting. Anderson, though, says she brings calligraphy to everything she does.

She recalls a teacher who was also a member of Mysticalligraphers saying that calligraphy was like dancing.

"And I think she's right. There's an athletic quality to it and rhythm," Anderson says.

Beautiful handwriting not required

How does a person become good at calligraphy? Practice, practice, practice, of course.

Read says when she taught calligraphy at Norwich and Stonington adult education programs, "I had very good success (with students). It's like you're playing an instrument. If you practice every day, even just for half an hour, 20 minutes, you can do it. And you don't have to have beautiful handwriting to do it."

Indeed, Mysticalligraphers co-president Annette Chittenden of Madison says her handwriting was so illegible as a young student that the nuns literally threw her notebook out the window. And she claims it hasn't gotten much better.

But, she says, "The study of calligraphy forces you to slow down and practice mindfully."

She says it's about the proportions, and there can be a whole story in one letter.

For Chittenden, what is so fascinating about calligraphy is "the combination of art and words. I am a voracious reader and a collector of quotes. When I went to my first calligraphy show in New Haven, I thought, 'This is what I've been looking for! It combines everything in one place — illustration, painting, letters, profounds words by scientists, artists, everyone.'"

How they got started

The members of Mysticalligraphers came to calligraphy through different routes.

Read, who was a grade school teacher and became a sub after her kids had gotten older, remembers seeing a student use a calligraphy marker pen, which makes a wide stroke when a person draws down and a thin stroke when going up. She thought it looked interesting and got to try it. Her husband gave her a calligraphy set "and from then on, I was taken," she says.

Carlson, meanwhile, was first drawn to the art when saw a "gorgeous" international calligraphy exhibit at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London in 1991-92 "and that's what grabbed me. It was fantastic."

"It became evident to me that this was a special sector of artists who were doing beautiful art pieces, which combined lettering, text, beautiful calligraphic line," she says. She adds that, since that time, calligraphy, or the letter art, has "developed to the point that the work may or may not even be legible. ... So this sector of art is far beyond the usual just 'beautiful writing' concept. It is beautiful art."

If you go

What: Mysticalligraphers’ 40th Anniversary Art Exhibit

When: Opens Monday and runs through April 30

Where: Mystic and Noank Library, Ames Room, 40 Library St., Mystic

Hours: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon. and Wed., and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues., Thurs.-Sat.

Contact: (203) 671-4656