Brian’s interest in calligraphy goes back to his early childhood…when his grandfather (who was a sign painter in the 1930’s) would sit Brian on his lap, and show him basic broad pen alphabets from old Speedball books from that time period. This instilled a love of calligraphy that followed Brian his entire life.

Brian worked as the Postmaster of his town until he retired from there in 2014…and as retirement got closer, he decided to “sharpen up” his calligraphy chops, as he planned to do some calligraphy as a “side hustle” after retirement. In 2012, Brian became interested in pointed pen calligraphy, and was intent upon learning copperplate styles…but he quickly became frustrated with the poor quality of most calligraphy pens that were available at that time. Brian had a lifelong interest in woodworking (another “gift from his signpainter-grandfather)…so he started making his own handmade, high quality calligraphy pens. When he showed those pens on social media, he received many “custom order requests” from other calligraphers. As he received more and more commissions and orders, it became apparent that this was a full-time job; and that was how his company Unique Oblique, LLC came to be!

Brian has continued to study and improve; both his penmanship and his unique handcrafted professional-caliber calligraphy pens. He has studied under many famous, world-class calligraphers. Though he is proficient in several calligraphic styes, he has a special affinity for the ancient (and somewhat “lost art”) of medieval calligraphy.