Skip to content

Julia Fish Thompson Julia Fish Thompson Julia Fish Thompson Julia Fish Thompson

  • Home
  • Bio
  • Portfolio
    • Frameable Art
    • Frameable Art—Commemorative
    • Send To
    • Signage
    • Engraving Fragrance & Beauty
    • Engraving Other
    • Bottle Painting
    • Heat Foiling
    • Exploratory Books
    • Wedding
    • Objects
    • Logos
    • Interior Walls
    • Exterior Walls and Windows
    • Random Acts
    • Recognition
  • Instagram Feed
  • Contact
  • Announcements

JuliaFishThompson.com © 2026 All rights reserved.

Instagram Feed

calligrafish.julia

Create · Beautify · Inspire
Calligraphy, engraving, painting
If it will hold still, I will letter on it!
Indianapolis, IN USA

The Indiana State Fair just ended and it was anoth The Indiana State Fair just ended and it was another fun year. David and I have been going every year for over two decades, taking kids and friends. I try to enter a few pieces annually in the professional calligraphy category; it pushes me to make finished work. I did not fare so well this year; the pink and blue piece got third and the other one didn’t place. However, my amazing students won first, second, third, and honorable mention in the non-professional category! They are amazing!! My fellow guild members also did well and I’m so happy for them!
#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
Indiana State Fair
Here is a little jobs photo dump from the first ha Here is a little jobs photo dump from the first half of 2026. Fragrance bottles, family heirloom golf trophies, certificates, pewter boxes, Waterford wedding cake accoutrements, a hand blown vase, a goofy mirror, and an attendance chart for my dance exercise class. One favorite is the expensive cake stand cover, originally engraved with a single letter L. The bride who owned it later divorced and remarried; her mom bright it to me to see what could be done. I flipped and mirrored the L and added flourishes until it became a frame for a letter M, the first letter of her new surname.
#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
Pointed pen calligraphy
Indianapolis engraver 
Indiana engraver
Calligraphy engraving
Custom engraving
A few highlights from the IAMPETH conference I jus A few highlights from the IAMPETH conference I just attended in Salt Lake City. I had my first experience chiseling a letter into slate (much harder than it looks) and I really surprised myself by writing sentences backwards with my left hand! How wonderful it was to reunite with so many wonderful pen people!🤩
#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
IAMPETH
Pointed pen calligraphy
I’ve had the honor to do this commemorative weddin I’ve had the honor to do this commemorative wedding piece for Reagan and Adam, lovely people and wonderful clients. I was surprised and delighted when they commissioned me and I’ve had a blast getting it just the way they wanted, and in record time. I matched floral colors to the bride’s bouquet, incorporated an infinity symbol and two meaningful Hebrew words, and emphasized important words in their vows with tiny gold lines. I’ve combined raised and flat gilding and used both gouache and watercolor. One of the groomsmen handmade the incredible Peruvian walnut frame and I cut the mats and assembled it just in time for the wedding. 😍
#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
Pointed pen calligraphy
Gilding
In a previous post I mentioned that I have recentl In a previous post I mentioned that I have recently been at an extended family reunion. Some months ago I was asked by the family members in charge of reunion shirts to create a logo that could be used on about 215 shirts. The grandparents whose posterity attended were both born in 1926 so this was a centennial of sorts. I incorporated many visual details about their lives and the heritage they crafted for their children and grandchildren. They passed on many years ago but the growing family is still quite close and values each member. In fact, every person has a number corresponding to when they entered the family. You can see my granddaughters, numbers 200 and 201, at the end of this reel 😍

#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
It’s almost time for the annual IAMPETH conference It’s almost time for the annual IAMPETH conference and I’m now ready with my exchange cards. The rules are that each must be written in your own hand on a 2x3.5” card and I will trade mine away for a whole bunch of other artists’ gorgeousness next week.
I used Bristol paper, chalk pastel, and gouache in a Hunt 22 nib.
Just recently I have been rebranding and made myself a new logo so I used that general design for the exchange cards.
#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
IAMPETH
Pointed pen calligraphy
Aren’t these beauties just amazing? I can’t get en Aren’t these beauties just amazing? I can’t get enough of them! And if you can’t get enough of them either, you can now take my class!!! It launches August 1 on learncalligraphy.com. Thank you to Kestrel for this maiden voyage into prerecorded online teaching.💕
I used The Creative Kinds Luna metallic watercolor on heavy Canson paper and the video is in real time.
#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
Calligraphy teaching
Pointed pen calligraphy
Just finished up a big extended family reunion hel Just finished up a big extended family reunion held over the July 4 weekend. There are well over 200 people in this family and a majority of them attended! My aunt likes a good parade, even in the heat, and asked me to make a few banners and letter signs for the fourteen states where our extended family members live at present. I had a little advance notice so I  brought some brushes and paint in my suitcase. Usually we do a lot of fireworks together on July 4th but the state is so dry and there have been so many fires that they were banned.😬 After my paint pen splattered on the sign where it wasn’t supposed to, I just drew in a bunch of fireworks 🎆😁

#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
I did a fun collaboration with my calligrafriend J I did a fun collaboration with my calligrafriend Julie @calligraphy_jewels! This was a massive job—8 hand lettered certificates with four different designs, painted and gilded letters, and each certificate matted and framed. It was previously done biannually by @sandrarwagner and she passed the job to me. I did not have enough time to complete it by the deadline (and it was overwhelming!) so I phoned a friend. We divided up the tasks; I did all the lettering because I have more experience with Italic. I had a lot of fun working with Julie and getting to know her better, eating homemade tomato soup, and swapping stories about kids and grandkids. We kept some good notes so we don’t have to reinvent this wheel in two years when some more doctors need awards. Usually calligraphy is such a solitary endeavor and I really enjoyed some camaraderie in the studio!

#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
I love going to Camp Cheerio! It’s always a magnif I love going to Camp Cheerio! It’s always a magnificent week full of amazing learning and inspiring people. This May the wonderful Suzanne Moore guided us and I had a blast. My calligrafriends old and new made some awesome work and contributed so much to my experience. Thank you to @davidfgasser for the high quality photos with me in them and of course @tetascribe for providing this opportunity for all of us. I want to make more work like this.

#lettering
Calligrafish
Camp Cheerio
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
Art book
Book art
A big thank you to @rc.calligraphy for inviting me A big thank you to @rc.calligraphy for inviting me to engrave with her! We spent parts of three days at the JW Marriott downtown Indianapolis personalizing whiskey glasses at TD Synnex. It was not lost on all the attendees that real artists were creating keepsakes in real time without AI or computers!
Thanks also goes to @liveartinternational and IBM. 
When I realized I was working for IBM, I had a full circle moment. Back in college I got a job at IBM cleaning up pixelated artwork for “Touch Typing for Beginners.” It was a great job for that time in my life and I loved working with the other artists and the programmers.

#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
Pointed pen calligraphy
Indianapolis engraver 
Indiana engraver
Calligraphy engraving
Custom engraving
Event calligraphy
Live event artist
I had the opportunity to do a fun collaboration! O I had the opportunity to do a fun collaboration! Oh, and this piece went to the moon‼️ 🌖 
My friend Cynthia, artist and director of SullivanMunce Cultural Center, asked me about lettering this collaborative poem about rivers in Indiana. She did the concept work and the painting. Several poets contributed to the poem. It was selected to be part of Lunar Codex, a digitized archive of art that was launched on a SpaceX rocket and now resides on the lunar South Pole.🤯🤯

If you’d like to see the original, it is hanging in SullivanMunce Cultural Center in Zionsville, Indiana.

#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
A great engraving day at Nordstrom just before Mot A great engraving day at Nordstrom just before Mother’s Day. Thanks to @sundreamsproductions and @jomalonelondon for all the fun I got to have!

#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art

Pointed pen calligraphy
Indianapolis engraver 
Indiana engraver
Calligraphy engraving
Custom engraving
Event calligraphy
Live event artist
Some fun cards done with metallic watercolor and T Some fun cards done with metallic watercolor and Thomas Weston capitals. My DIL gave me some @iuilewatercolors and love how mesmerizing they are. I figured you would, too😁 
#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
Pointed pen calligraphy
My niece asked if I would paint her graduation cap My niece asked if I would paint her graduation cap. 🎓 I didn’t even know this was a thing but evidently some can get elaborate. I was a little nervous that several things could go sideways but I used some high quality acrylic without too much water and it behaved well. She art directed and I pushed a few different brushes. Very fun!

#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
I just spent a week doing a big job in my grandkid I just spent a week doing a big job in my grandkids’ playroom! My daughter requested these quotes from The Once and Future King and she chose the palette and the symbols. I made sketches (that were not very detailed 😅) before arriving. She had some kraft paper that I pieced together and we sized it for the spaces. I took a while drawing out all the letters on a horizontal surface before transferring it to the wall with transfer paper. I decided to underpaint it all with white to make it pop. I custom mixed the colors and carefully applied them with various brushes, designing some things as I went. I had lots of interaction and help from the little people who spend lots of time in this room, which made the job take longer but hopefully be more meaningful to them. Gratefully I finished before it was time to fly home!
#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
Wall painting
Hand lettering
This was a cool client job. The client’s great gre This was a cool client job. The client’s great great grandfather’s Civil War sword was displayed in his home hanging from this blue wooden sign. The client’s father had written out—in calligraphy!— the name and dates on a piece of paper and glued it to the sign. The glue was failing and he brought it to me to rewrite it on another piece of paper. To me it seemed a much better choice to letter right on the sign so the same thing wouldn’t happen again. I placed a wet rag on the sign overnight and was able to scrape all the old glue off. I traced the lettering onto the sign and painted it in gold to match the edging. His father’s lettering was preserved for generations to come.😊
#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
Sign painting
Another piece for the awesome client from my previ Another piece for the awesome client from my previous post. His daughter and her husband own a schooner and run tours off the coast of Maine! This hymn is a gift for them and features their anchor and their helm or ship’s wheel. I worked from photos to get those details just right. The client wanted “angry waves” and had chosen a typeface he liked that I imitated. Watercolor, gouache, ink and metallic watercolor on Arches, 20x24”. 
Now I need to figure out how I can get a tour of the coast of Maine on this schooner….

#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
I just finished some very custom work for a deligh I just finished some very custom work for a delightful client. His daughter and new son-in-law own this schooner and run tours off the coast of Maine. 🌊🤩 We couldn’t finish in time for their wedding but he thinks it was worth the wait.
I worked from a photo he sent. I did the 16x20” watercolor first, sprayed it with fixative, and then lettered the Tennyson poem in blue gouache.

#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
Watercolor
Leather blotters for my wonderful students! What Leather blotters for my wonderful students!

What a pleasure to teach these ladies, each dedicated and talented! I so enjoy sharing what I have learned and hopefully I inspire other calligraphers.

#lettering
Calligrafish
Indiana calligraphy
Indiana calligrapher
Indy calligrapher
Midwest calligrapher
The Calligraphy Guild of Indiana
Calligraphy art 
Custom art
Pointed pen calligraphy
Leather foiling
Follow on Instagram
JuliaFishThompson.com © 2026 All rights reserved.