Reviving a fading art form
“9 years ago I began my creative journey with calligraphy. Not only did I find my voice through this art, I’ve been lucky enough to do calligraphy work for Goop, Martha Stewart, and Tiffany & Co.” – Sarah Script
Sarah Script is a talented and Instafamous calligrapher who has been able to turn her passion into a business. She hand-letters wedding invitations, sells t-shirts with her calligraphic doodles, and mentors hundreds of calligraphy students.
Sarah sees calligraphy as an important way to slow down and disconnect from technology.
So how does Sarah deal with digital technology taking over so many traditional arts? She created an NFT collection of calligraphy on OpenSea!
As the use of AI grows in both in art and writing, Sarah hopes to preserve the uniqueness and humanity of calligraphy through NFTs. Each word in her Holy Script collection was calligraphed by hand with ink on paper.
Sarah is passionate about seeing calligraphy survive into the future; she also wants her NFTs to survive as well. With this in mind, Sarah recently moved several of her NFT collections from IPFS to Arweave.
Our Interview
What significance do you find in the written word that drives your passion?
I found calligraphy at a time in my life when I didn’t think I had a voice. Learning this artistic discipline helped me find strength in my own voice by virtue of the words I was choosing to write and seeing that they had an impact on people due to the nature of how I was sharing them. The empowerment I’ve gained through calligraphy is something I’ll always be grateful for.
What inspired you to start the Holy Script NFT collection?
I wanted to bring attention to the art of traditional calligraphy. I hadn’t seen many calligraphy-based collections in this space overall, and I still think it’s underrated in general, especially as AI takes over. I believe this is a time in history when handwritten and handmade work will carry added significance because of its proximity to the AI era.
How do you balance the traditional art of calligraphy with modern technology?
I love doing ink on paper calligraphy as well as digital calligraphy in Procreate. I try to make sure I’m practicing both equally throughout the week, although my goals at this moment are more focused on improving my skills in traditional calligraphy.
How do you envision the future of calligraphy in the digital age?
I hope that blockchain technology is able to be a good steward of the history of calligraphy as an artistic discipline. I believe that preservation of the arts on the blockchain is just as important as innovation in the arts.
How/why did you transition from using Pinata to ArDrive for your NFT collection?
I transitioned to ArDrive because it was a one-time cost to store the art of my NFT collections there whereas Pinata was a monthly fee for the rest of my life.
How does ArDrive’s permanent storage benefit your NFT collection?
What concerned me with Pinata was that if anything were to happen to me, the image of my art that my collectors had in their wallets wouldn’t be there anymore, so I wanted to make sure that there was a permanent storage solution that wasn’t reliant on monthly payments that might fail at some point.
What feedback have you received from the NFT community?
All positive responses! Permanent storage for a one time cost is great for both collectors and artists.