Out of the Comfort Zone: Brushstrokes

A couple of months ago some friends introduced me to a traditional Chinese calligrapher. He was making a wall scroll for them containing a poem about how they met here in Taiwan. I had asked to go with them when they were going to meet with him to discuss the details because I was curious and wanted to learn something of this art form.

The calligrapher's English name is Dennis and I'd say he is about my age. His wife is a teacher and he has two small kids. He learned the art of calligraphy from his father. His studio space on a busy road was actually the house he was born in. It is one story with the rooms lined up from the front on the road to the back on a quiet garden space. The front room is a place to wait and greet guests with a comfortable living room set up. It also has a ping pong table as Dennis offers classes and many of his students are children. They play ping pong while they wait for their parents to pick them up.

Dennis, the Calligrapher

Dennis is an extremely nice guy. But I think at first he thought it a little strange that a foreigner, who barely knew any Chinese, would want to learn calligraphy. We had arranged for me to begin on a certain Saturday and he asked me to come in during the week so he could understand what I was after. I explained that I would like to learn the techniques and the process and that I'd just like to keep it simple. I probably wouldn't be composing any Chinese poetry. So he designed a whole lesson plan just for me!

When I arrived for my first lesson on a Saturday, I entered a roomful of students who were mostly under 10. Every Taiwanese has to learn this artform to some extent when they are kids. I work with kids all week so I didn't mind. They were inquisitive and shyly introduced themselves in English. They kept watching me and wanted to share their candy. Dennis provided me with all the tools and materials I would use and came over with paperwork he had prepared. He referred to this as "lectures". He told me I was his first foreign student and the other students were very excited that I was there. I think he was joking when he said more signed up for this time slot when they heard a foreigner was coming but I can't be sure.

So, he started by handing me an ink stick and stone bowl. He added a little water to the bowl and told me to grind the ink stick into it for 500 strokes! This took a little while. But the idea is not only to create the ink to work with but to slow yourself down and get in the right "head space" to create beautiful calligraphy. He then showed me how to hold the brush and how to manipulate it to get the correct brush strokes. I had to practice over and over the various techniques for getting the different lines. And that was my homework for the following week.

Ink stone and stick and commercially produced ink in a bottle

Each Saturday morning I go in for these lessons. Sometimes the makeup of the class changes. There are often one or two adults who take the class with their child or on their own. It is a very quiet relaxed space. Dennis plays calming Chinese music and everyone is quietly working. His assistant brings me a cup of tea. It's a very nice way to spend a Saturday morning after teaching kids English all week. My calligraphy is improving though I have by no means mastered it. Dennis keeps coming over and gasping at the beauty of my work and holding it up for all to see. I think he's humoring me. But Chinese New Year is next week. And it is the tradition to create three long pieces to go over and on either side of the door to your house. These pieces have different characters but they generally include things like prosperity, luck, good fortune, spring, etc. This next year is going to be the year of the rabbit so the characters for "the jade rabbit comes in spring" are part of it.