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Charles Pearce (Calligrapher) (1943 - ) is one of the foremost calligraphers of his generation. His work may be found in collections around the globe, including members of the British Royal Family. He is recognized for the strength and beauty of his letterforms and his calligraphy manuals are recommended to their students by calligraphy teachers around the world.
Born Charles Rothwell Pearce in Aston, Birmingham, England the eldest son of Charles Kenneth Rothwell Pearce, an English and Drama teacher, later Headmaster, and Winifred Helen Mary Pearce (nee Evans), a concert pianist. He has two brothers, Robert and Julian, and a sister, Barbara.
In 1966, he married Linda Margaret (nee Cook), and lived for three years in Palmers Green, London, before moving to Hertford in 1969 and then to Ware, Hertfordshire. They have three sons Charles Mark Rothwell (b. 1967), Aaron Xavier (b. 1972) and Daniel Alexander (b. 1977). Pearce and his wife were divorced in 1979.
Education
Tettenhall College, Wolverhampton, England. Leek School of Arts and Crafts, London, England. Central School of Arts and Crafts, London, England. He studied with Dorothy Mahoney, William Gardner and Ann Camp. Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, London, England. He studied under Donald Jackson and Sidney Bendall, graduating with a National Diploma in Design at Special Level in Writing and Illuminating and Lettering.
Professional Years
After graduation Pearce went to work for Decca Record Company in their studio in Lambeth, England designing record sleeves and promotional literature, and then on to a small advertising agency in the West End of London. He left there to become an assistant to both Donald Jackson and Sidney Bendall. He worked with Bendall for some four years, but remained with Donald Jackson for almost fifteen years.
In 1971 he was made a Fellow of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators. Pearce and Donald Jackson continued to work together until late in 1979. They worked on many commissions which came into Jackson's studio. One of the many commissions carried out included a huge Family Tree which measured 8ft by 4ft, and was a large board covered with a cow hide which had been prepared as for vellum.
In 1980 Pearce moved to New York City to live and work. Much of the work he undertook while living in New York was for two major clients - Pentalic Corporation and RKO Century Warner Theaters.
Pearce moved to Cleveland in 1991 and worked in the design studios of American Greetings for almost ten years during which time he trained in the use of computer technology in the world of greeting card design. He finally left to go back to working freelance and was granted a contract by AG for 16 months to give him the opportunity to work his way back into that market.
Freelance Work
Pearce began to use brushes on canvas rather than pens and paper which gave him the opportunity to work considerably larger than previously. He has developed a technique which involves the throwing of paint onto raw canvas, to create the start of his paintings. He then stretches the canvas onto frames/stretchers which he has designed specially to take the force of stretching the canvas, which doesn't involve any cross-bracing. His largest single canvas to date measures 5ft by 9ft.
It was on a visit back to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, where he had taught a workshop back in 1988, that he was suddenly struck by the idea that he no longer needed to live in Cleveland and could, in fact, do something which he had wanted to do for much of his life which was to live in the country. In late 2000 he bought 12 acres just outside Eureka Springs and began work on designing and constructing a studio in which he could also live. The studio was completed in 2003. Pearce's home and studio is called Whiskey Spring Studio.
Teaching
Pearce has gained worldwide recognition and has taught widely on three continents. His workshops around North America are very well-attended and he teaches a variety of subjects involved in the calligraphic arts. He is always willing to travel and fairly recently completed a tour of Australia and New Zealand in which he taught nine workshops and gave five lectures in seven weeks. His most recent workshops saw him teaching two three-weekend workshops, one in Chicago and one in Montreal, Canada, on the history and execution of Roman Monumental Capitals. His one regret is that in the thirty odd years since he left his native Britain, he has never been invited back to teach.
Publications
1975, Calligraphy, The Art of Fine Writing, published by Cumberland Graphics. 1978, Lettering, The Art of Calligraphy, published by Platignum. 1979, Italic Writing, published by Platignum. 1980, A Young Person's Guide to Calligraphy, published by Pentalic. 1981, The Little Manual of Calligraphy, published by Taplinger/Harper Collins. 1981, A Calligraphy Manual for the Beginner, published by Pentalic. 1985, A Calligraphy Sampler, published by Harper Collins. 1987, The Anatomy of Letters, published by Taplinger.
One Man Gallery Shows
1986 New School Gallery, New York City. 1990 Fedano's Gallery, New York City. 1996 Servi Textus, St Johns University, Collegeville, MN. 2004 University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff. 2005 Performing Arts Center Gallery, Subiaco Abbey, Paris, AR. 2005 Community First Bank Gallery, Eureka Springs, AR. 2006 EureKan Art, Eureka Springs, AR. 2010 Expressions of Shakespeare, Quincy Arts Center, Quincy, IL. 2010 The Painted Word, John Brown University, Siloam Springs, AR. 2011 Calligraphic Abstractions, The Laman Library, North Little Rock, AR. 2011 Recent Work, Ozark Center for the Arts, Springdale, AR.
Group Gallery Shows
1998 Celebrating American Poetry, Frye Museum, Seattle, WA. 1999 Twentieth Century Calligraphy, AIGA Gallery, New York, NY. 2001 Two man show with Mark Mueller, American Greetings Gallery, Cleveland, OH. 2001 Cleveland Biennial Juried Art Show, Cleveland State University Gallery, Cleveland, OH. 2006 Faculty exhibit, Black and White Conference, Issaquah, WA. 2006 Faculty exhibit, Letterforum, James Madison University, VA. 2008 Faculty exhibit, Letters Mingle Souls, Chicago, IL. 2009 Faculty exhibit, The Calligraphy Connection, Collegeville, MN. 2011 Artists In Situ, six artists in three venues, Eureka Springs, AR.
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