Chinese Calligraphy Writing for
@ Riley's Birthday Party
May 19, 2007
(Under Construction)
Many thanks to
Melanie for her invitation to Riley's birthday party. The family's business
clients as well
as Riley's friends got their names written in Chinese calligraphy as
collectable artwork.
A silk mounted work for Melanie, Riley's mom.
Writing "Melanie" (left 3 characters) & Kathy
Traylor (right 4 characters) on premium Shuan paper during the party.
The paper comes with 7
cirles of dragon and phoenix design - just the right number for the mother's
and daugher's names.
Please click the "Play" button twice
Thanks to Kathy
for taking this short video clip of writing "Melanie" ( 
) which means "beautiful" in Chinese.
The English names are written in Chinese calligraphy based on "phonetic
translation" first. Then Joshua picks up the good,
beautiful, encouraging, or lucky Chinese characters and select the ones that
look more artistic and write with a brush.
In advanced level
of Chinese calligraphic writing, the calligrapher may need to use the
Hanging Arm Technique instead of resting the arm and wrist on the table. Also
the brush
and the arm do not move too obviously; the motion comes from within the torso.
The family has collections from many cultural diversities.