Meet Italian calligraphers, Claudio Mezzo, Elena Pellicoro and Barbara Pallaro

Typographers, lettering artists and calligraphers have one thing in common worldwide — we love seeing words and letters come to life, either on a page, as sculptures, in animations, or via a myriad of media. We love ink, paper, fonts, pens, books, creating new work and sharing our work and passion with others. During a recent trip to Italy, I had the opportunity to meet new friends through the Typism Community and share our passion for lettering and calligraphy.

Claudio Mezzo in Typism Book 8.

Claudio Mezzo is a talented calligrapher who teaches workshops, exhibits his designs and recently co-created the water-based Hamburg inks. He specialises in Copperplate, brush script, Neuland, Foundational, and more. Located in Torino, Claudio was featured in 2024’s Ten Years of Typism exhibition in Meanjin/Brisbane. Among 36 selected designers, Claudio’s black-and-white alphabet, shown below, was printed onto an A1-size poster and exhibited during l’Association Typographique Internationale’s conference. Knowing I was travelling to Europe soon after, I asked exhibitor, Dr Dominique Falla, if I could hand-deliver the poster to Claudio in Torino. Dominique kindly reprinted an unmarked poster and placed it in a huge cardboard roll which I collected and wrapped safely for departure.

Arriving in picturesque Torino, a green leafy city in northern Italy, Claudio met me for a pasta meal and walk around the city centre. Torino is known for its Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical and Art Nouveau architecture, and I was fascinated to see the local fountains, walkways, and palazzos lined with bustling shops and, of course, incredible lettering. Claudio was thrilled to receive his poster and it was a wonderful conversation piece — connections created across the globe.

Claudio Mezzo’s artwork from Typism Book 9, featured in the Ten Years of Typism poster exhibition.

During Day 2 in Torino, Claudio took me to meet Elena Pellicoro, one of Italy’s most esteemed calligraphers. Elena’s art career began at Torino’s Istituto d’Arte and, in 1982, she ventured into book restoration and designing detailed paper works. In 1987, she started teaching Fine Arts including Trompe l’Oeuil and Decoration, developing artisanal manufacturing techniques using mixed media. Her MiroModo Art Studio reflects the variety of media she has mastered, including origami, papercutting, calligraphy, 3D works and book art, which she teaches during the year.

Elena Pellicoro’s MiroModo design studio in Torino, Italy, is filled with colourful origami, papercutting, calligraphy, 3D works and book art. International calligraphers, Claudio Mezzo, Barbara Pallaro and many others come here to teach.

Watch the videos to see Elena Pellicoro’s MiroModo Studio space. Contact Elena for workshop dates.

Thank you gifts

On the last night of my stay in Torino, I met for farewells with Claudio and he kindly gifted me some water-based Hamburg Ink and a calligraphed tote bag printed with his design. He also gifted our friend, Delphie Joy, the same and Claudio explained more about Hamburg Ink. Starting in Milan in 1922, Hamburg produced dark ink and stamp pads. Recently, Hamburg branched out to create vibrant water-based calligraphy inks, which Claudio and fellow calligrapher, Barbara Pallaro, have been instrumental in refining.

The intense Hamburg shades can be lightened through dilution, or mixed together to create new shades. Perfect for nib calligraphy or high-impact illustrations, water-based Hamburg Ink can be used with glass pens, ruling pens, brushes and fountain pens. Watch the videos below and read more about Hamburg Ink here.

Meet Barbara Pallaro

During the visit to MiroModo, Elena and Claudio video-called Barbara Pallaro and I learned that she would be in her hometown of Venice during the next leg of my travels, so we planned to meet. Taking the 8-hour train from Torino to Trieste, I stopped in at Venice to meet Barbara for a drink and chat.

Barbara is well-known for her bold colour choices, expressive use of ruling pens and masterful calligraphy techniques. Skilled in Foundational, Textura, Gothic, brush script, Copperplate, and more, Barbara works from her home studio and travels across Europe teaching calligraphy at art fairs and creative workshops.

Her work was featured in Typism Book 9 and she recently created a series of tote bags and cards showcasing her ruling pen designs. Shown below is a ruling pen design using Hamburg Ink’s Valentino russet red colour.

Barbara Pallaro teaches artistic calligraphy workshops showing how to use ruling pens and Hamburg Ink to achieve dynamic designs.

Beautiful calligraphy gifts

A standout piece from Barbara’s lastest work is her Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia tote bag, shown in the video below, which she kindly gifted to me. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is one of the longest words in the dictionary and, ironically, means ‘a fear of long words’. Barbara’s technique for the design uses Pentel parallel pens at a flat angle to create tight layouts where counters and empty spaces are filled with bright pops of colour. Barbara is teaching this calligraphy style using the parallel pens at MiroModo Torino during December 2024. Find out more via Barbara Pallaro or Elena Pellicoro.

Barbara also creates her own bamboo ruling pens with built-in reservoirs! They sit beautifully in your hand and, uniquely, feature a slit in the middle of the nib to allow ink to flow smoothly, as a regular dip nib does. Watch the video below to see more, and contact Barbara to purchase.

Reach out to international lettering artists

Whether travelling in your region, interstate or internationally, connecting with like-minded lettering artists and type designers is akin to feeling among family, where any lettering topic is open for discussion. Do you want to talk about left-handedness, or whether Fabriano paper is better than Arches? Okay. Or how about discussing the lightfast qualities of different inks and the best ways to blend colours? Let’s talk about that too. I love finding out how people started their design journey, how their home table is set up, and what they’re currently working on.

But, if you’re an introvert like me or unsure of the best way to reach out, here are a few tips to making contact with other lettering artists:

• Make a comment on one of their social media posts then follow up with a direct message to see if they will be near your travel area. Try to make contact as soon as you know your travel dates and be proactive setting a date, time and location.

• Ask a mutual friend to introduce you via a shared video, text or social media post.

• Find the courage to walk up to other artists at meetings, conferences and workshops. Don’t walk away and later think, “I could have met [insert name] but felt too embarrassed/shy/unsure”. Trust me, I’ve been there and, as shy as you might feel in the moment, there is so much to gain by making a new connection. Meeting fellow letterers face-to-face is usually a fleeting opportunity and one that is sure to bring long-lasting positive outcomes when you do.

• Be open to meeting outside your travel area, even at the last minute — perhaps you get to see a new destination that was completely unplanned and it becomes one of your favourite memories!