A Calligraphy Journey of a Hong Kong and Singapore based calligrapher

As a self taught calligrapher, I constantly feel inadequate and that I still have plenty of rooms for improvement. Like any other skills, no one can really perfect it unless you work on it over and over and over again. If you have read the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, he says that it takes roughly ten thousand hours (that's 166 days without sleep!) of practice to achieve mastery in a field. 

I am sure 10,000 hours of calligraphy practice will help but if you are scared by this thought, I suggest you to remember "P P P " - which is my personal motto and the key to writing beautiful calligraphy (and achieving any goal in life really)! We'll all know that no one is born to write perfect penmanship naturally, the best calligraphy can only be done through "Practice, Passion & Patience"!

Some of you might realise I rarely blogged about my personal achievement but TODAY I gained an insight from an online video of Dr Wayne's lecture on "Your Thoughts Are Creating Your Reality" (it is a really meaningful lecture that everyone should watch it!). In this lecture, he mentioned a quote from Tao Te Ching - "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Every thing, any thing,  big or small, begins from one single step and we should never forget each and individual step we take. Similar to my calligraphy journey, it started off from a baby step of curiosity (I was stunned by the beautiful contrast of thin and thick brushstrokes) and gradually it has become a foot path, a core passion in my life. 

So learning from Tao Te Ching's teaching, I am now spending a moment to remind myself the every little footstep I took in my journey as a calligrapher. Spending a moment to appreciate and recognise my own achievements! 

One of my 2014's new year resolutions is to continue to improve my calligraphy, to practice whenever I can and to take more opportunities to utilise this precious yet vanishing skill. I am really pleased that I am gradually achieving this goal! 

Since I started in 2004, I have ...

• painted, printed, wrote calligraphy and handmade a set of baby taboo game cards for my dear friend's baby shower party! My friend loves them!

• the honour to design and calligraphy for a dear friend's wedding in Mexico and the honour to calligraphy all the wedding invitation envelopes for my sister's wedding!

• met a bunch of talented, like-minded and generous calligraphy friends like MaryEllen and Belinda Love Lee via Instagram, who are willing to share hints and tips with me even though we've never met personally in real life before!

• gained more clients' requests to calligraphy for their wedding stationery!

• been working on a new collection of calligraphy greeting card designs which will be letterpress printed in March and will be sold in bookstores and shops across Asia!

• the honour to be invited by Shop Wonderland & The New Romantics - a florist / cafe / studio in the heart of Haji Lane, an arty district in Singapore to teach a series of calligraphy workshops!!! *I will post more information on the workshop details soon!

All these outcomes result from the baby foot step I took, from the initial curiosity. They are such wonderful blessings, which I couldn't ask for more!

Baby Taboo Game Cards by Kalo Make Art for a friend's baby shower party

 

 

Calligraphy place cards by Kalo Make Art

for a friend's wedding in Mexico

Place cards were originally hand painted with watercolour

then edited with computer design program

Calligraphy wedding invitation envelopes by Kalo Make Art

"Home Sweet Home Across the World" - Bespoke Artwork Poster for Singapore client

Aileen approached me to create an unique piece of artwork as a gift for her nieces and nephew. She wanted to express her love for them, although they did not live in the same country, she thought of them everyday.

Through brainstorming and chatting to Aileen, I came up with an idea of a A3 size poster to convey her message of "Home Sweet Home Across the World". In the same house, Aileen lived on the top floor in Singapore (hinted by a photograph of the famous Merlion statue), Lily and Eoin lived on the middle floor in Los Angeles (hinted by the American flag and Laker poster), while Isabelle and Eva lived on the ground floor in Dublin (hinted by the clover patterned wall paper).The children were doing activities that they enjoyed and good at (painting, playing football, cooking and ballet dancing).

To make the bespoke art poster more fun and interesting, I suggested to use real photos to mix with my illustrations. Once the poster design was printed, I cut out individual objects carefully and sticked them layer by layer to create a 3-D effect. The completed design was mounted in a red frame which gave the artwork a bit of a pop!

"Our Love Story" - Bespoke Wedding Invitation for Hong Kong book lover couple

Working as a journalist and a book publisher, it is only natural for Stephanie and Thomas to convey their love story through a booklet style wedding invitation! The book cover reveals their purple wedding theme colour and the design comes with matching stickers for envelopes' enclosure!

Hong Kong Creative Project: MAKE and SWAP

I recently participated in this very cool Christmas ornaments swapping project organised by MAKE and SWAP. The idea is to create some handmade ornaments and post them to other swappers who participated in this project. Before Christmas, I will receive a bunch of lovely handmade ornaments from other creatives! It was such fun making these Christmas rosettes. What an interactive project and I am really thrilled to know there are a bunch of creative designers in Hong Kong!

Hope everyone have a lovely Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sneak Peek: Behind the Scene of Edible Art Movement at the Singapore Affordable Art Fair

These weeks, besides designing wedding invitations, I am also invited to participate in an art installation that takes place at the Singapore Affordable Art Fair 2013! I had so much fun working with a bunch of talented and passionate artists from all over the world! 

Today the Cirque de Scent by Edible Art Movement is officially opened at the Singapore Affordable Art Fair to the public! It is a an interactive art installation, filled with scents, dancers, performers, movements, drawings, making, colours, magical lights - an art installation that gets you involved and intrigues to stimulate your senses!

Here is a sneak peek of the behind the scene! Do come and experience this fun art installation yourself! 

For more information:

Edible Art Movement EAM

Website: www.edibleartmovement.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/EdibleArtMovement

Singapore Affordable Art Fair

Open times: 21 to 24 November 2013 (Thurs to Sunday) 

Website: www.affordableartfair.com/singapore/

Hope to see you there!