The Calligraphy of Anna Zhao

I recently had a lovely visit from Richmond’s Anna Zhao, who studies and practices calligraphy in the Shou Jin style. She came bearing gifts — including this gorgeous fan on which she had written my name. She gave me this background information: The ‘Shou Jin’ style (literal translation being “slender gold”) was developed by empire Zhao Jie of the Song dynasty from AD1082-1135.He was a very talented artists gifted in various forms of artwork including...

Unsung Heros, Unsung Scribes

Strangely, it didn’t occur to me that when the Calligraphy Society of Ottawa invited me to teach a two-day workshop, that I’d be meeting Canada’s “national scribes”. Perhaps that was for the best. Had I understood that earlier, I would have been very intimidated by those in attendence at my evening slide presentation and weekend workshop!Though I had been to Ottawa many times, I confess I had never visited our national Memorial Chamber located in...