Featured Member: Stacey Johnson

This week we're sharing our first ever Typism Featured Member Stacey Johnson! We will take a look at her amazing work and find out about her lettering journey.

Stacey is an art teacher with a love for lettering and calligraphy. Because of COVID, Stacey found more time to learn new skills and connect with other lettering artists, starting a blog on her website—which we recommend checking out! 

What sparked your interest in hand lettering and calligraphy?

I became interested in lettering years ago. I was looking at work by Sean McCabe at the time. But, I was also attempting to find reliable work in the midst of a huge economic downturn. Eventually, I had to set the lettering aside so that I could focus on getting employed and the changes going on in my life.

From time to time, I’d peek in on the lettering community and learn other names like Mary Kate McDevitt and Jessica Hische. I had also learned how to keep a planner because I don’t know how to do all the things it takes to be an educator without one! So, I’d doodle letters in my planner … playing with pocket pens, etc. I felt like it was a way to keep stoking the fires, even if it was minimal. Fast forward to 2020 and I now have a career where my job description actually requires me to use lettering in my art teaching. It’s about as close to perfect as I can get to merge my interests! But, the bug came back full force with quarantine. I felt like it was my opportunity to really look around and see what I could learn with the time I had stuck in the house. I found that the lettering community really grew in the years I was not following along. It’s amazing to see the variety of work now and not difficult at all to get starry-eyed with the range of possibilities now in lettering and calligraphy. From 3-D letters, to making GIFs and animations, combining letters and illustration and so on. I really can’t get bored. In this day of fleeting attention spans, that says a lot! 

When practising your lettering who or what inspires your work?

Oh my goodness! Who doesn’t inspire me? I’m still at the point where everything is ooohhhh and aaahhh. Shiny object syndrome, maybe? One reason for that is probably because I enjoy both hand lettering AND calligraphy and all variations of them. So, I regularly salivate over the work of a variety of artists in both camps.

There are a lot of well-known names that everybody knows: Ken Barber, Martina Flor, Mary Kate McDevitt, Lauren Hom, Stefan Kunz, Ian Barnard, Seb Lester, etc. Theirs was typically the work that I would see first when I was looking up hand lettering. But, thanks to the joy that is social media with all its lovely algorithms (ha ha!), I can add names that I might not have found before I was stuck in the house like Ivan Castro, Colin Tierney, Tobias Saul, Nubia Navarro, Chris Piascik, Mark Caneso, Gia Graham, David Milan.

Some of those are probably still well-known names in the lettering community. But they were unknown to me before the quarantine. Most recently, with the #amplifymelinatedvoices movement, I can add names like Tiff Reed, Nia Bailey, and Cymone Wilder as well. For lack of space, I'll spare you the list of IG accounts I follow for lettering and calligraphy. Due to what has gone on since the quarantine, I think I would have to add the caveat that I enjoy all of their work and skill and the majority of messages that I’ve seen them put out into the world. But, I am still learning about the character behind the work, if that makes any sense?

While I’m still new to the practice, I’m learning that lettering is much more than just well-formed letters and crafted compositions. The fact that it has recently shown itself to me to be a potentially, powerful force to create change is inspiring in itself. I’m sure I’ll have to whittle my list down and hone in on the aspects of lettering that drive me most at some point. But, this is the stage I’m at in the process … and I think it’s okay for now to just enjoy the crazy ride that 2020 has provided. 

Being a teacher do you try and incorporate your passion for lettering into your lessons or throughout your classroom?

Yes, and I love it!! Well, it is actually in the job description … so I’m really not the genius that thought it up. But, I do have the benefit of being able to implement it! The school where I work serves a diverse body of learners that may not have found success in the typical classroom setting. Our school model uses arts integration as an approach to teaching difficult-to-master skills and content for them. Quite a few of the students I teach have difficulty with writing, which can be a barrier to learning and realizing personal power. Although lettering is more about drawing letters, attempting to teach them how to control their hands using hand lettering skills and how to express themselves in their lettering projects in art class can be an effective way to help them with their writing and how to articulate their ideas in academic classes. It does help with the classroom budget that the basic tools for lettering are so simple and economically-affordable for my school and students that are working at home now. Pencils, markers, pens and paper. Honestly, that's all they need. If they have access to more, that's even better but not a requirement. 

Currently, my elementary students are learning the difference between drawing serif and sans-serif letters and how to put them together to emphasize words to express a thought. On the other side of the coin, my middle school students are learning script strokes and how to combine natural media and digital media. We’re all in virtual classrooms right now. But, I use the projects I work on as posters in my virtual classrooms. When we come back, they’ll see some of those very projects on the walls and my chalkboard sign. 

There are definitely pros and cons to being in this strictly, virtual space. But, the beauty of this time right now, especially for my middle schoolers, is that they get to try many ways of working that they wouldn’t have been able to try in the physical classroom.

What are the three favourite artworks you’ve created and why?

This is a tough one! I really feel like my absolute favourite stuff happens in my sketchbook and I have yet to figure out how to bridge the gap between what happens in there versus what I show to the world. But, if I had to pick three to date, I’d say it would be:

I am so very proud to be basic—because I just think it’s really fun and it’s a personal mantra I’ve used for years. I’m about as basic as they come. But, I like my basic self and I feel like I’ve earned the right to say that. I choose to wear it like a badge and with gusto!    

Karen's gon’ hate Ken's gon’ troll—was a response to a comment trail on Instagram where I refused to get into a war of words, per se, with an individual who disagreed with me. Instead, I turned to drawing the words I felt. I think when you first start out with lettering, most of us use quotes we find … many of them having been used ad nauseam before. Or we do lettering challenges to keep our hands busy. There’s nothing wrong with starting out that way or even just using them for continued practice or to show support. But, I think, as artists, we all have to eventually find our own way to express things we need to say. I think this was the first time that I felt I was doing that. I’d like to do more of that in the future.

Hey Boo—I just like the style of letters, and I’m not sure I would’ve tried it without being prompted by the class that required it. Sometimes, I have to be kicked out the nest to try something new and I’m usually surprised by what comes out of that, which I guess is pretty probable. These were getting out of my comfort zone letters. 

What drew you to sign up to the Typism Membership?

Typism was a name that I would see frequently in lettering and calligraphy that would come up in my Instagram stream. I also followed on Facebook. There was always this phenomenal work attached to anything they posted and I loved the Typism selfies! I definitely want to be in the book one day!

But, I think I was sold when I saw the founder of Typism, Dominique Falla, post about a book she had written called CREATIVE SPACE. It’s about learning to be a little selfish, basically (in a good way). Carving out space for your own creative pursuits requires time, energy and space that the constant rush of the average life attempts to squeeze out and sometimes tries to convince you that you’re irresponsible to pursue it.

That is something that I have fought with as a mother, once (and about to be again) wife, and employee since I graduated from grad school. I have always been one to attempt to bring the loose strings of my life together to create a more holistic coexistence of responsibility and creativity (hence, lettering and teaching being combined). I have come to believe these messages never go away and get more persistent as life gets more complex. So, I’ve gravitated to messages that inspire and remind me of how to make, or reclaim (and keep reclaiming) these spaces for myself.

Signing up to be part of the Typism community felt like signing up to a community whose values aligned with my own and would keep those ideals front of mind. 
 

What is your favourite aspect of the membership so far?

So far, I like the resources on the site. The bank of classes that I can attend online (I’m a sucker for taking a class … educator over here) are really good. While I’m not quite ready to leave teaching, and as I’m still learning what my personal messages are, I’m not sure when that time will come, but, eventually, I’d like my practice to turn into something of a profession as well. So, I think that the roadmap that Typism provides will be useful for that.  The teacher in me likes to have a plan!

I’ve printed the whole road map out and I read through it in chunks from time to time. It takes me a while to digest new material. Art school definitely skipped a few things in regards to marketing oneself and the business side of art-making. But, I feel like the things I can put into practice now, I do … and when the time comes to refer to it for the next steps, I have it there as a guide. There’s also a forum that I can dig into if I have a question. I’m typically more of a lurker when it comes to online forums. But, the fact that it’s there if I need to ask, is helpful. 

If you've loved Stacey's work and want to learn more you can visit her website or give her a follow on Instagram and Facebook. You can also find Stacey on Youtube and Pinterest.

Our Typism Featured Member series is going to continue so if you would like to be featured make sure you're a member of our Typism Membership and get in touch!