| Calligraphy |
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| Calligraphy is my first love. It is through studying Chinese calligraphy that I developed the the desire to study the other related areas of Chinese art. There is a Chinese saying: "Penmanship can reveal one's inner personality." When I was eight years old, my father commented on my writing. He said it was not civilized. That really made me wonder why my writing style was related to my personality. Since then I practiced on my own behind my father's back and insisted not to show him any of my writings anymore. One day, after six years of private practice, I thought I could earn my father's praise by showing him a recent work. His comment was interesting. He said, "Haven't seen your writing for a while (actually it had been six years), it's okay and you are okay." When I reached 13, I got tired of copying other's poems. I decided to write my own. Traditionally, at the end of each piece of work, the calligrapher puts his seal to authenticate the work. So eventually at 15 years old, I went on to learn the art of seal engraving. The following year, I met my calligraphy master, Mr. Chan Man Kit, and a Chinese water color painting master, Mr. Lee Man Shek, and started to pick up painting as well. Chinese Calligraphy is sort of a metaphysical art. Each Chinese character was developed from the inspirations of nature and pertains a hieroglyphic image. It requires a high level of understanding because it is not a literal image of any subject. The shapes, the brush strokes, tonal applications of ink, the black and white spaces, etc., convey ideas, feelings, emotions and pathos within the heart of the calligrapher. A passage of poem, a sentence of proverb, and a phase of words, therefore, can be expressed differently. To Chinese, Calligraphy is also an art of visualized music. It transcends writings, from being an ordinary means of communication, to being an art form. | |||||
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