In 2013, Lauren Fitzmaurice faced the unimaginable as a parent when her son Miles had open heart surgery. What started as a journey to cope with the stresses of his medical condition led Fitzmaurice to a blessing in disguise.
“The first year of his life was full of doctors appointments,” Fitzmaurice said. “As a teacher and mom, I felt like I had to make sure my family is okay, my son is okay, my kids at school are okay, and I didn’t really take care of myself. I was feeling burnt out after that year.”
At the time, Fitzmaurice said calligraphy started getting big on Instagram. Many people were taking online classes and she became interested.
“My mom said she would buy me a calligraphy class and I started in January 2015,” Fitzmaurice said. “I practiced every night once the boys went to bed and I loved it. It took a lot of practice but it was fun doing something for me after I’d done everything to take care of everyone else.”
It didn’t take long for the new pastime to click for Fitzmaurice, who says she landed her first job doing envelopes for a sorority sister’s wedding. That’s how Renmade Calligraphy was born.
“I was one of many Lauren’s in college so I was often called Ren. My dad had called me Renskie growing up,” Fitzmaurice said of the Renmade name. “My logo has a heart because for me, calligraphy is from the heart, related to the heart and the result of my son having heart surgery
Over the past six years, Fitzmaurice says the more she learned and dedicated time to mastering her craft, the more she saw it infused into all areas of her life.
“I lettered things for my classroom, I lettered all over the school, even lettered for Opening Day in our district,” she said. “I started to post more on Instagram. That’s how I got many of the connections I’ve made, including a lot of big brands.”
Before she knew it, Fitzmaurice was getting more and more paid work, writing blog posts, filming online classes and eventually being sent on trips to places like Georgia, Arizona, and California.
“I call these my lettering adventures,” she said. “Lettering opened a lot of doors for me by taking a chance and starting a hobby.”
Although she was traveling and had quite an audience online, Fitzmaurice wanted to find a way to reach even more people, including her own local community.
“I had been teaching classes at Studio Slant and enjoyed offering in-person workshops,” Fitzmaurice said. “I’ve taught more than a thousand students that way, but teaching in person is harder to spread and share it to people. That’s when I decided to write a book.”
Fitzmaurice took that opportunity at the end of 2020, fulfilling something that had been on her bucket list for a while. Learning to juggle her time became increasingly important once more.
“I am expecting my third son, teaching in the middle of a pandemic, trying to be a good mom, teacher and wife, all while trying to write a book — it became all about balance,” Fitzmaurice said.
The idea behind the book is self-care through lettering and calligraphy, something the author says she didn’t originally realize was self-care. Fitzmaurice dedicated an hour or two every night after her kids went to bed, realizing that the process was self-care, too.
“This has really helped me, healed me, and made me more confident,” she said. “It has enhanced my leadership ability at school, and given me a talent to share with others. I want to show people that like I tell my students, ‘It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.’ I tell my fourth-grade students that any dream will be worth it in the end, so I want to authentically demonstrate that for them.”
The book, Hand Lettering for Self-Care is on presale now on Amazon and through the publisher’s website at Ulyssespress.com.
“I want this to be for anyone, no matter what their tools, even with just a marker or pencil someone can try it,” Fitzmaurice said. “I want to make an impact on other people, helping them find a new habit or hobby for themselves. Yes, I have a lot on my plate, but this is what I’m doing for me. I want everyone to have something like this.”
