Bobbi Yoffee is a lettering and design artist who operates a studio out of her Riverside home. In addition to calligraphy, she also produces hand-made books on commission.
WHAT IS CALLIGRAPHY?
The term originated from the Greek words kallos, which means beautiful, and graphein, which means write. Together they translate into beautiful handwriting.
“People think of it as just addressing envelopes but it is a fine art.”
WHEN DID YOU LEARN TO DO THIS WORK?
“I’ve been at it formally since the early ‘80s but the learning never stops.”
WHAT ARE YOUR SUBJECTS?
“The Bible is full of choice words. I am a writer at heart so I write a lot of my own text. I especially like to combine hand-lettering with mixed media. It’s self-expression, in whatever form it takes.”
WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE AN ADVERTISING SLOGAN?
“Calligraphers have one caveat that painters, printmakers and other artists do not. If certain words are copyrighted, I can’t use it. If it is something in the public domain or I get permission from the author, I can use it.”
NOT JUST WORDS ON A PAGE
“When a calligrapher is writing something, the alphabet style needs to fit the context of the words expressed and the layout. For example, a wedding invitation wouldn’t use jazzy letters in a free-form style. It would be traditional letters with a formal style. One style does not fit all. A lettering artist has to balance the different components to make a successful piece.”
WHAT OTHER PARAMETERS DO YOU USE?
“If it’s something that has a utilitarian end, it’s got to be legible. If it’s an art piece that’s not to be read, then it’s fine to play. Let it sing. Let it have its own voice. Some calligraphers do plain, abstract lettering.”
WHERE DID YOU LEARN THE SKILL?
Yoffee earned her bachelor’s degree in design at Sophie Newcomb College in New Orleans. Additionally, Yoffee has studied at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and the International Assembly of Lettering Arts Annual Conferences at locations all over the United States and Canada.
“My background is in fine art. I learned painting, drawing, printmaking and design before I formally studied calligraphy.”
WHY FOCUS ON CALLIGRAPHY?
“I have always been fascinated with letters, their shapes and the way they look on a page. There are so many tools to work with, papers and other surfaces to write on. It’s endless. I can use nibs (pens), brushes and sponge brushes.”
LOST IN TRANSLATION
“Writing is considered utilitarian here because we use it every day, yet it can be treated in an artistic manner. In the Far East, calligraphy is held in the highest esteem because they consider it to be a fine art. It’s like looking at an abstract painting. That’s not necessarily so in the West.”
DO YOU WRITE IN CHINESE?
“I write in Hebrew but I wouldn’t try Oriental calligraphy. I have learned some symbols but I like to be able to read what I’m writing. I feel a kinship with the Hebrew language because the letters are so beautiful. If I were writing in Russian, it would be a different experience.”
IS YOFFEE A HEBREW NAME?
Yes. Yoffee is derived from the Hebrew word yaffa, which means pretty.
HOMETOWN
Morgantown, N.C.
WHAT BROUGHT YOU HERE?
“My husband Harry. He’s a retired physician.”
WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF HER FAMILY?
David, Susan and Lisa are Yoffee’s three grown children. She also has two granddaughters, Sam and Erin.
HAVE YOU WORKED IN ANOTHER FIELD?
“I’ve had lots of lives. I did lots of stitcheries, sandcastings and crafts. I had a party-planning business with a partner for 10 years where I did all the invitations. It all started coming together then. I was also an antiques dealer for 10 years but I’ve always done artwork, in one form or another, throughout my life.”
COLOR MY WORLD
“A color workshop in college made me realize how much I didn’t know. My eyes were opened to a whole new world. I couldn’t study calligraphy enough; I couldn’t practice it enough. Since then I’ve taken many classes.”
IT’S ALL IN THE WRIST
“Like other art forms, there is so much junk out there. I think it has to be the best you can offer or don’t put it out there. There is a place for markers when jotting on posters or scrapbooks but you can’t get the flexibility with a marker that you can with a dipped pen.”
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
“There is a pen for every size you want to write — from one-half of a millimeter up to some Oriental brushes that are three feet wide. There’s even a guy who uses a mop for his brush strokes. When I mix colors, I use gouache, an opaque watercolor, to get whatever color I want or I’ll use transparent watercolor. I also use colored pencils, watercolors, acrylics and chalk. There’s no limit to the media available to me.”
WHAT IS CHALLENGING FOR YOU?
“If I’m asked to do something, I’ll say ‘sure’ but when I get down to it, I may not be sure how to do it. It’s challenging but I figure it out. I don’t not want to be challenged. I’ve never been bored in my entire life. The secret is not to do the same thing every day, certainly not in the same way as you did it before.”
WHAT’S THE CRAZIEST THING YOU’VE BEEN ASKED TO DO?
“I got a call one time asking me to do a tombstone for a parakeet but I turned them down. Then there was this one guy who wanted me to write on his truck and another who wanted me to write on a piano.”
TO WHAT GROUPS DOES SHE BELONG?
Yoffee is a member of the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art, First Coast Collage Society, Jacksonville Women’s Network and active with the Association for the Calligraphic Arts.
SPECIAL INTERESTS
An avid reader, Yoffee enjoys biographies, fantasy novels and books on art. She also enjoys heavy dramas and traveling to new places.
WHERE HAS SHE SHOWN HER WORK?
Since 1986, Yoffee has exhibited her art at numerous locations throughout Florida, the continental United States, including the Washington National Cathedral in D.C., and Canada. Locally, she has participated in shows at the Jewish Community Alliance, Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, FCCJ Kent Campus, Reddi Arts Gallery 1037, Jacksonville University and with the Jacksonville Coalition for the Visual Arts.
—by Monica Tsai