Tom Perkins

Tom Perkins has been a professional lettering artist since 1978, and his book 'The Art of Letter Carving in Stone ' was published by The Crowood Press in 2007, and a monograph about his work was published by the Edward Johnston Foundation in 1998.

He has conducted many workshops in lettering and letter carving widely in Britain , including for Memorials by Artists and West Dean College, and also in the U.S.A., Japan and Finland, and a number of assistants have been introduced into letter carving in stone in his Cambridgeshire workshop. He also taught lettering in the 80's and 90's on the calligraphy course at the former Roehampton Institute.

He works largely to commission throughout the UK, and also for exhibition, and worked with some of the leading lettering craftsmen of the day in the 1970's and 80's. His work ranges over a wide spectrum including public art, architectural signage, memorials, plaques and work for garden and landscape and graphics work including book jacket and logo design. Commissions include a plaque and main building titling for the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace, architectural lettering for the recently refurbished St Martin-in-the-Fields Trafalgar Square, main dedication plaque for the Sheffield Peace Gardens, main titling carved on the building for the Alexander Gibson Opera School at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ,Glasgow, and five standing stones along the Peddars Way in Norfolk.

Born in Plymouth 1957, Tom was introduced in his teens to drawn Roman lettering by his art teacher at school, which kindled a lifelong interest in lettering and calligraphy, and the letterform, itself, as well as the design, has remained the main focus of his work for over 30 years. After two years studying calligraphy at Reigate School of Art & Design, he went to work with Richard Kindersley for a year learning letter carving in stone. Tom is a Fellow of The Calligraphy & Lettering Arts Society, the Society of Designer Craftsmen, Temenos Academy , Royal Society of Arts, and a member of the Art Workers Guild and Letter Exchange.