Bio
Cari Ferraro has been practicing and teaching calligraphy for over three decades. A degree in literature and writing combined with an abiding interest in hand work fueled her creative direction. Making books is the fulfillment of a youthful desire to write books, but now she is lettering and painting and stitching them too.
Artist's Statement
My painted manuscript books explore folklore, ceremony, writing, the old ways, and line in its many magical forms. I approach books as devotional objects, illuminated with sacred calligraphy, symbols, paint and gold leaf. My current work takes the form of unique or limited edition books, using my own texts and those from literary and historical sources.
Websites
www.proseandletters.com
Contact Information
Phone:
eMail: cari at proseandletters dot com
Website: www.proseandletters.com
Affiliations
Bay Area Book Artists, Pacific Center for the Book Arts, Guild of Bookworkers, Friends of Calligraphy
Exhibitions
Selected Exhibits
“Between the Covers”, a invitational book arts exhibit, Painted Fish Gallery, Dunedin, Florida, 2008
“Multiples”, juried book arts exhibit at East End Applied Arts, Aurora, Colorado, 2008
“BookWorks”
Trienniel exhibit of Pacific Center for Book Arts, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, California, 2008
“Illuminations: Enlightening Words”, retrospective solo show of calligraphic paintings and illuminations, Kaleid Gallery, San Jose, California, 2007
“Lyrical Lines in Bloom”, Pacific Scribes exhibit, Filoli Gardens, Woodside, California, 2007
“Sacred Texts/Contemporary Forms: Spiritual Traditions in the Digital Age”
Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2007
One of my books was used on the promotional poster.
“Bound to Inspire”, Bay Area Book Artists’ 10-year retrospective exhibit, Olive Hyde Gallery, Fremont, California, 2006
“Kalligraphia” , triennial membership exhibit of the Friends of Calligraphy, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, California, 2006
"Word Art", Cincinnati Book Arts Society, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2005
Bright Hill Fourth Annual Juried Book Exhibit, Treadwell, New York, 2005
“BookWorks”
Trienniel exhibit of Pacific Center for Book Arts, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, California, 2005
“Touch my Books, Please”, Bay Area Book Artists exhibit, Art Museum of Los Gatos, California, 2004
“Visions of the Spirit II”, juried exhibit at the Washington National Cathedral, Washington D.C., 1999
Professional Services
Prose and Letters has fulfilled calligraphy commissions for weddings, corporations, institutions and individuals since 1982.
Teaching & Workshops
Discover Calligraphy and Illumination, Walter Foster Publishing, 2006
Beginner’s Guide to Calligraphy and Illumination, Walter Foster Publishing, 2007
Occasional workshops are offered to private students at the studio in the South San Francisco Bay Area.
Publications
Her work has appeared in Letter Arts Review, Bound and Lettered, Ampersand, Somerset Studio, The Calligrapher’s Engagement Calendar, and Victoria.
