Make Medieval Inks & Quills
When: Saturday, September 20th 2025, Start Time: 10:00, End Time: 16:00
Where: The Stables Causeway, Cromarty IV11 8XS
- Part of:
- Applied Craft Workshops
A one day introductory course on the craft and materials of a medieval Irish scribe including making ink, quills from plants, animals and minerals and working on locally produced parchment. It will run from 10am to 4pm, in the morning we will be outside making ink and quills and in the afternoon indoors working on real parchment to create medieval irish calligraphy, everyone can take their artwork, ink and quills home. All of the materials for this course are made on site from local sustainable resources and are biodegradable. It’s £85 per person, bring a pack lunch and wear clothing suitable for being outdoors. No previous experience necessary. Booking and payment through Thomas at [email protected]
Your tutor is Cromarty based artist Thomas Keyes, you can read more about him in his artist statement here:
My work sits in the space created by two letter writing traditions that washed up on the shores of Ireland 1500 years apart yet share much in form, content and cultural application. The graffiti culture that spread from the New York Transit System and took root in Belfast in 1983 and the book culture that arrived sometime in the 5th century with Romano British missionaries and went on to facilitate the greatest feat of calligraphy ever achieved with the Book of Kells in the 9th century.
As a trained and active graffiti writer from the age of 12, I have been brought up within the cultural practices of one of these traditions and now as a self taught Insular manuscript illuminator I produce all the parchment and pigments I need from my surroundings in order to engage with the ancient tradition of the Insular Monastic scribe.
The cultural epoch that these two calligraphic bookends span has formed the modern literate mind, which for most of us is our only tool with which to engage the world. By remaining rooted within these traditions while engaging with themes both ancient and contemporary I aim to gain new perspectives on the seemingly benign yet revolutionary matrix that binds our culture: the alphabet and it’s evolving applications.
