Alison D. Stegert

Welcome to Scribed Scriptorium, my lettering studio where I combine three core interests – words, art, and history – into one practice: illumination.

I enjoy making art that celebrates the elegance of the alphabet, the history of storytelling, and the origins of illustration. I’m calling myself a scribe because the term covers both the writing and the illuminating work. (Technically, the correct term for an illuminator of manuscripts is a limner, but I’ll stick with the better known word scribe.)

The (Wiggly) Route to Scribedom

I owe a lot to my high school art teacher, Sister Leonardine, who introduced me to art history. Art, with its tragic ear-lopping painters and quirky geniuses and colour, was fascinating in a way that general history (aka “social studies” back in the day) was not. In addition to introducing art history, Sister Leonardine also insisted her students should learn the rudiments of calligraphy. I didn’t enjoy practising, but I quickly learned that calligraphy was something people were willing to pay for – a welcome bonus to augment 1980’s babysitter’s wages ($2/hour tops).

I studied in Italy for a year, where my interest in art history flourished, and my tastes matured beyond Impressionism. At the Vatican, I experienced a life-shaping moment. While gaping in wonder at Michelangelo’s magnificently evocative Pietá, the ground wavered and I nearly swooned. The emotional power of art was a revelation.

A few years later, in China and Taiwan, I was exposed to a completely different style of art and lettering. The teaching methods were so different to what I’d experienced. Rather than a western focus on creativity, freedom, and emotional expression, art students there were given booklets of a characters or images to copy until they mastered them.

Although I struggled with the restrictiveness (and let’s be honest – the discipline), I couldn’t deny the sense of mastering and absorbing the art form first before unleashing creative freedom. It was a Mr-Miyagi-karate-sensei-sensibility, like when he made his protege Daniel paint up-down, up-down to develop muscle memory before teaching him any flashy karate moves.

Of course I didn’t have the drive to stick with it. Then kids came along, and all my artsy dreams were buried under piles of laundry and motherly duty. (And, okay, other creative pursuits, like smocking and embroidery.)

Inspiration in Picture Books

I finally found my way back to art and lettering several decades later, and children’s books are responsible for reigniting the interest. As a kids’ book author, I’m surrounded by gorgeous books and their amazing artists. I’ve spent years yearning to illustrate, and then more years letting my illustrator-friends’ astounding talent daunt me.

I made a few earnest attempts but couldn’t establish a regular art habit until one day I stumbled upon a sneaky backdoor pass…

A book* I’d read sparked an interest in ancient manuscripts and codices. I mean – what’s not to love? The saturated colours, the first-hand window into history, the entertaining marginalia, THE GOLD, OMG – the gold. It’s so lux. I started searching and wildly pinning beautiful examples on Pinterest. (link below)

I borrowed a book from the library that showed how the manuscripts are designed, painted, and gilded. My curiosity piqued, I had to try. 

A new obsession was unleashed.

Is Creative Strategy an Oxymoron?

That’s when I decided to host an Illuminated Lettering Challenge – a letter a fortnight to complete the English alphabet in a year. It was my way of making art a regular habit, the routine I’d never acquired. It worked. I had a fabulous year of diving into history and painting regularly. I even returned to calligraphy. 

The best part was celebrating at the end of the year with a video of the entire alphabet. Here’s a reel of my #illuminatedletteringchallenge shared on Instagram.

https://videopress.com/v/uYOWCuE3?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&posterUrl=https%3A%2F%2Foneyearinink.wordpress.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F08%2Freel-cover.png&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

It’s funny – in teaching myself this art, I instinctively used the methods I observed in China and Taiwan. I shamelessly copy medieval originals in hopes of absorbing the vibe and assimilating the proportions and, I suppose, acquiring the historical aesthetic.

Most of the twenty-six letter designs for the Illuminated Lettering Challenge came from original historical works I found on Pinterest. My illumination board, Wannabe Scribe, is an enormous, ever-growing catalogue of inspiration.

Sometimes, when I’m really lucky, Pinterest provides some insight into the history behind the piece – the century or the country or even the title of the codex it comes from. I love this, as it sends me on a fun dive down a historical rabbit hole, but it’s also frustrating when I can’t find information on the artist, particularly on more recent works because I like to attribute the source and look at their work.

Nuts & Bolts… and Gold

Lucky for me, a friend in the Aussie kidlit community is a maestro of illumination and calligraphy. Peter Taylor continues to be so generous in sharing his expertise, tools, and encouragement as I learn.

While doing the challenge, I used gouache with Gansai Tambi Kuretake gold watercolours on good watercolour paper instead of investing in costly materials and real transfer gold. Recently, however, I tried synthetic parchment, which is harder to come by and more expensive, but wow,  it gave wonderful results. Rather than sinking into the paper, the gouache “sits” on the surface of the parchment, giving it an authentic manuscript look.

This epiphany prompted me to: a) graduate myself to gold leaf (YAY!), which is a whole new level of challenge and expense, and b) order my own stash of nice parchment, the expensive stuff mainly due to the exorbitant cost of postage to Australia (Sigh…). One day, when my work merits it,  I may try real vellum – stretched and scraped animal hide. For now (if ever), my work isn’t worthy of the sacrifice of an animal.

I’ve come to realise and accept that I needn’t “arrive at perfection” before I can call myself an artist. Art is a journey through growth. Every time I work, I improve and my skills develop. This revelation is both a relief and a reward.

The Scribe Life

I’ve come to see illumination as the mother of today’s illustrated children’s books. Practising this art form may or may not make me into an illustrator, but I don’t really mind. I’m growing as an artist, and this interest has opened  some fun and fascinating opportunities for me. 

Scribed Scriptorium is my name for my studio. In it, I write kids’ books, and I make lettering art. It’s my happy place, and I’m thrilled to share it with you.

*Watch this space. One day, I’ll make a list of cool books about codices and illumination – fiction and nonfiction!