Carmen Macri
Words and Photos by Carmen Macri
Some of us never stood a chance with our handwriting. Some of us tried valiantly to fix it in middle school, only to fail miserably. And then there are the truly unlucky ones (like me) who missed out entirely because by the time we hit elementary school, cursive had been axed from the curriculum. Why? I’ll never know. No matter how hard we (I) try, writing in cursive just feels unnatural. What do you mean we can’t lift up the pen until the word is finished?
But this article isn’t just about cursive—it’s about the lost art of calligraphy and how Jacksonville local Abby Weisman is helping bring it back to life through Sip & Script.
The art of calligraphy dates back thousands of years and spans dozens of cultures worldwide. Its roots stretch back to ancient civilizations like Egypt and Mesopotamia, where early scripts were carved into stone or clay. In China, calligraphy became a revered art form during the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BCE) with the brush and ink becoming key tools of expression. In the West, Roman and Greek scripts laid the groundwork for European calligraphy.
Fast forward to today and the art of calligraphy seems buried under a sea of easily accessible fonts and graphics. With everything at our fingertips, many people no longer feel the need to learn the craft. That was until COVID-19 forced into solitude — and to save themselves from going insane, they picked up hobbies.
“I think that COVID kind of helped, too, because everyone slowed down and started to pick up some hobbies that they didn’t have before,” Weisman explained. “It forced everybody to slow down and kind of go back to basics, if you will, of a lot of things.”
Weisman, who is a self-proclaimed serial hobbyist, began her calligraphy journey only last year during a South Florida Sip & Script class. Weisman took the class to add it to her never-ending list of hyper-fixation hobbies — like using the calligraphy skills to write on her cookies for her baking business. She never anticipated falling so deeply in love with the art, yet just a few months later, she found herself fully committed to teaching it.
After sharing on social media that she’d written her kids’ letters from Santa in calligraphy, Weisman was flooded with messages asking how she did it and if she was taking commissions. That’s when she realized there was a community eager to learn from her back home. After packing up and moving back to Jacksonville to be closer to family, she reached out to Sip and Script to ask if they had any classes in the area—or if they’d be interested in one with her at the helm.
They quickly responded, revealing they didn’t have any classes in Northeast Florida and would love for her to teach.
So that’s why on a sunny Friday morning, I strolled into The Greenhouse Bar, grabbed a coffee, took in the lush greenery around me, and found a cozy spot by the open window to dive into a crash course on the ins and outs of calligraphy.
“I started doing classes here in June and I’ve taught hundreds of people now already. It’s been really well-received,” Weisman shared. “Jacksonville is so geographically big that I can really never make enough classes because there’s so many little pockets I can go to.” 
Sip & Script started as a simple idea between two friends and calligraphers from Boston, Meg and Julie. They wanted to create a laid-back space where people — whether hobbyists or professionals — could come together, enjoy a cocktail, learn calligraphy and hand lettering and connect over their shared passion for the art. It didn’t take long for the class to gain popularity, and soon, people across the country were hearing about it and requesting local sessions.
“A lot of people think that if you have bad handwriting you can’t do calligraphy, but it’s totally the opposite. It’s all new; it’s a totally new skill you’re learning. You’re actually learning different shapes and different strokes,” Weisman explained. “It’s totally different than your handwriting. So it doesn’t matter if your handwriting is bad. You also don’t keep your pen down the whole time like you would when you’re doing cursive. Modern calligraphy has a lot more flexibility for you to kind of make it your own. So once you learn the rules of how everything works, how the pen works, you can really put your own twist on it. And that’s what makes it art, right? So it’s interpretive, your own twist.”
Did you read that? You don’t keep your pen down like you would when doing cursive: There’s hope!
During our conversation, Weisman began aimlessly practicing — or showing off — her calligraphy skills, fully pulling me into a trance while she explained the nature of it all. The different types of strokes matched with the appropriate pressure applied. They were unfamiliar concepts to me, yet they had my full attention.
“It is muscle memory. And you’re pressing down and training your hand how to apply pressure and release pressure in different areas and things like that,” Weisman explained. “So, I always tell people that you have to be relaxed. Your whole body, like your shoulders, need to be relaxed. It’s called Sip & Script, right? The more you sip the more relaxed you become.”
By this point, the interview felt more like a chat between two old friends catching up on everything they’d missed over the years. That’s just the kind of energy Weisman brings — a warmth and ease that’s likely a big part of why her classes are selling out so fast. Before Sip & Script, she had never taught anything. Not only was she still mastering the art of calligraphy herself, but now she was teaching it to hundreds of people. True to form, though, she took to teaching just as quickly as she had to calligraphy and baking and painting and just about every other craft you can think of.
“I just think I’ve learned that I like teaching more than I thought that I would. I never thought that. I mean, it wasn’t something I thought I would be doing. It’s just kind of a little side hustle thing that I really loved in the class, and it’s really grown into more than I thought it would,” Weisman shared. “But I never thought that I would love the aspect of teaching so much to the point where I’m more like, what else can I do? And I love getting to meet so many people from all over. I went to college here, lived here, worked here, then I left. But I’m back in Jacksonville in a new chapter of my life, and it’s been fun to kind of get to know people all over again.”
If you are interested in a fun night out, check out Weismans website at https://sipandscript.com/organizer/abby-weisman/ or her Instagram: @martinimanuscript
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