Will’s Quills is a specialty calligraphy shop in Sydney, Australia. They do mail order to the rest of the world, and can be checked out on http://www.willsquills.com.au. However, if you’re lucky enough to live in this wonderful part of the world, go in there and check them out at Shop 1, 166 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, Sydney.
This shop is wonderful. Will (William Kin Wah Lai – can’t remember all the qualifications…stacks of them…) is a natural born teacher. You can go in there to buy a $2 nib, and William will quiz you on precisely what you want it for. He will then tell you all the different ways you could do this, go off on at least two tangents about other fascinating art topics, talk to you for around half an hour (always making sure you understand) and then sell you the original $2 nib you asked for. Basically – a calligraphy teacher that doesn’t require paying by the hour.
Will stocks paper, vellum, books, pens, inks…almost everything the calligrapher could ask for. If he doesn’t stock it, he’ll try to get it, and show you a wonderful new product or method in the meantime – just for the sheer joy of sharing his knowledge. Will is a hugely accomplished calligrapher in his own right. If you can’t do something, if a work is going wrong – ask Will and he’ll do his best to help you fix it.
There are too few people like Will in the world today. I just wanted to applaud one of them.