Two Northumbrian Scribes went to a class in Iranian calligraphy run by the artist Mehrangiz Modarres Tabatabaei at the Hatton Gallery. The Farsi script is very similar to Arabic letters but with a few extra characters. Like Arabic it is written from right to left and Mehrangiz showed us how to use a reed cut with an oblique nib which, if you are right-handed like we both are, means that you have to do a fair amount of pushing to make the letter shapes. The ink is held in a little pot filled with scraps of silk so that you cannot overfill the pen and if you knock the inkpot over it does not spill which is helpful.
The class was only a brief taster of the wonders of Iranian calligraphy but Mehrangiz had brought in some of her own paintings showing how she combines her calligraphy with images. Demand for the class was so strong that another will be run on 14 August from 10.30-12.30 at the Hatton Gallery. To book a place call the gallery on 0191 222 6059.
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