Category Archives: calligraphy commissions

痛みは避けられない… (pain is inevitable, but suffering depends on you!)

痛みは 避けられない でも苦しみは 自分次第だ！ Pain is inevitable but suffering depends on you! This Buddhist-inspired quote is by the famous Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, from his book on how he uses Buddhist teachings to live a good life. It’s one of my housemate’s favourite phrases. This work was my birthday present to him a few yearsContinueContinue reading “痛みは避けられない… (pain is inevitable, but suffering depends on you!)”

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

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”…???)”

和気藹々 (wa-ki-ai-ai) “happy friendly atmosphere”

My housemate wanted some calligraphy for our house. He asked for a phrase which relates to people coming together and having a good time. I asked my Japanese teacher for such a phrase and she recommended this 4-character idiom. Loosely translated, it means “full of a happy friendly atmosphere when people gather together”. 和 =ContinueContinue reading “和気藹々 (wa-ki-ai-ai) “happy friendly atmosphere””

陰陽 (in-yō) “yin-yang”

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”

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

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”

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 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 😊