calligraphy commissions – Calligraphy by Vicky

陰陽 (in-yō) “yin-yang”

a Japanese calligraphy work of two characters, in silver and gold ink, on dark blue card, framed

Yin is dark, cold, receptive, magnetic. Yang is light, hot, giving, active. Both are present in everything. Rather than being opposites, they are two sides of the same coin. A cup is Yang, but the empty space inside is Yin. Daoists believe that everything contains the seed of its opposite; in this way Yin andContinueContinue reading “陰陽 (in-yō) “yin-yang””

珈琲 (kōhī) “coffee”

a client's tattoo of the kanji for "coffee"

Japanese language students will know that “coffee” is usually written in katakana: コーヒー However it does have a kanji! (Or rather, it’s made of 2 kanji): 珈琲 These kanji are what is known as ateji – kanji which are used to phonetically represent foreign loan words. In many cases, the ateji are chosen primarily forContinueContinue reading “珈琲 (kōhī) “coffee””

Writing foreign names in Japanese

A Japanese calligraphy work in katakana characters, on a small red hanging scroll.

Japanese has a separate writing system for writing foreign words. It’s called katakana and it’s mostly used for foreign loan words such as kōhī (coffee), pan (bread) and gorufu (golf). It’s also used for foreign names. If your name isn’t originally written in kanji (the logographic characters used in Japan, China, and to a lesserContinueContinue reading “Writing foreign names in Japanese”

まこ “Mako”

A framed hiragana calligraphy work next to some flowers.

I was very honoured to receive a commission to create this artwork. “Mako” is the name of the client’s beloved cat, named after the Japanese actor Makoto Iwamatsu. (Image by client). If you’re interested in owning your own custom-made calligraphy artwork, please feel free to email me. Or check out the “purchase a work” pageContinueContinue reading “まこ “Mako””

前進 (zen-shin) “Keep moving forwards!”

A Japanese calligraphy work. Black ink, white card, green frame.

A motivational message for the client to hang in their room, with the option of turning it into a tattoo design. This was my first calligraphy commission 😊

縁 (en) “destined (to be together)”

A framed Japanese calligraphy work of the character for "destiny" in black ink on a white page.

This work was a wedding gift. 縁 (en) can refer to destiny in general, but it often has romantic connotations…. something like “star-crossed lovers”, destined to be together for all eternity.

ウサギちゃん (usagi-chan) “bunny” 🐰(actually “bnuy”…. or maybe “bnuny”…???)

A hanging scroll with Japanese katakana characters.

This was a commission for the client to give as a gift to a friend who likes the word “bunny”… but often intentionally misspells it “bnuy” or “bnuny”. I had to think how to interpret an English misspelling in Japanese. Eventually I came up with the following solution: “rabbit” = 「ウサギ」 (“usagi”) 2. Putting 「ちゃん」ContinueContinue reading “ウサギちゃん (usagi-chan) “bunny” 🐰(actually “bnuy”…. or maybe “bnuny”…???)”

心技体 (shin-gi-tai) “mind, body, spirit”

A framed Japanese calligraphy work with the characters "heart", "skill" and "body".

A calligraphy commission for a martial arts practitioner to use as a wall decoration and also as a tattoo design. Students of Japanese will notice that it doesn’t exactly say “mind, body, spirit”. This is because although this phrase is common in English, it’s a little different in Japanese. Happily there is a similar phraseContinueContinue reading “心技体 (shin-gi-tai) “mind, body, spirit””

翔 “to soar”

A framed calligraphy work of the Japanese character for "soar".

A commission for a friend who enjoys gliding 🛬 If you know someone who would like a unique gift, feel free to contact me about commissioning a calligraphy artwork. You can find more details on my “purchase a work” page.

重い魂… “A heavy soul…”

A Japanese calligraphy artwork with three lines of small vertical text.

重い魂 / A heavy soul 苦心の勝利 / A hard-fought victory 昔と同じものはない / Nothing’s the same as it used to be This was a commission for a client to give to his beloved as a Christmas present. It’s three lines from their favourite song. The song is originally in English, so before I wrote it IContinueContinue reading “重い魂… “A heavy soul…””