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Calligraphy for Collecting
These calligraphies are recent works done in the last two years. Some of them are favorite themes (Wind, Dragon) that I've done all my life; and others are new themes, done at the request of friends, such as Lightning, Gratitude, Magic.
Size and Price
In general, I do two sizes, usually one character per piece, although there are exceptions such as cards (very small), or full 6-panel screens (very large). The standard sizes are:
96cm x 65cm $300
65cm x 48cm $200
Individual pieces vary slightly in size as they may have been cut in the finishing and mounting process.
Shipping
Prices do not include shipping. We usually ship the pieces by FedEx, rolled in a tube.
Custom Order
In addition to purchasing the pieces shown here, you can custom order a calligraphy with a favorite meaning, or of a particular size and color.
Edging with Brocade Borders
If requested, we can add brocade borders (please see Mounting for background). We provide a choice of brocades and colors; the width of the edging is also up to you. The cost of having a calligraphy or painting "edged" with brocade ranges from $50~$80 per piece depending on the style of edging.
For further information, please contact me at : origin@truemail.co.th
Color
Dragon
Flute
Fragrant
Fulfill your heart
Gratitude
I Ching, The Creative
Immortality
Journey
Lightning
Love
Magic
Water
Wind
Color
色 Iro, Shiki (Japanese), Si (Chinese)
97cm x 65.2cm $300
This character literally means "color," but also means "sex," "sensuality," "the material world." In the Heart Sutra 般若心経 it is contrasted with emptiness, or nirvana, in a famous paradoxical saying that supposedly harbors the ultimate wisdom. 色即是空、空即是色 Shiki soku ze ku, Ku soku ze shiki: "the material world is the same as emptiness, emptiness is the same as the material world." Another translation would be: "Samsara (the sea of sorrows) is the same as Nirvana; Nirvana is the same as Samsara." All these undertones are contained in the word "Color".
I used a purple-blue ink with gold for this. In writing it there was a long splash that fell ecstatically off to the left of the character, suggesting something of the hedonism in the idea of Color.
Dragon
龍 Ryu (Japanese), Long (Chinese)
65cm x 50cm $200
I was born in the year of the dragon, and this has always been one of my favorite characters, since childhood when I was entranced by its complex play of strokes ending with the curling tail. Dragons symbolize the elemental powers of nature, especially mountains, clouds, waves, and rainfall.
I used blue ink with gold for this. The left-hand side is relatively restrained, but the tail on the right hand side runs away and shows the Dragon's wild side.
Flute
篪 Chi (Japanese), Chi (Chinese)
96.5cm x 65.3cm $300
"Flute" is my signature character, which I also use as my artistic name (called a Go 号 in Japanese, or Hao in Chinese). It came about because I used to play the flute, and when I bought my old thatched house in Iya Valley in 1973, I named it Chiiori 篪庵, or "Cottage of the Flute." Ever since then I've been using Chiiori, or just Chi as my signature, especially in recent years when I rarely use seals.
I love the shape of this character, with the bamboo radical 竹 at the top and a tiger 虎 at the bottom. Like Dragon, it has a great tail, which tends to be even more wavy and energetic. Writing it always conjures up Chiiori, the moss-covered thatched house sitting in the rain, far up on a hillside above swirling mists.
Fragrant
馨 Kaoru (Japanese)
97.2cm x 65.5cm $300
This character consists of two parts: "Voice" 殸 on the top and "Fragrance" 香 on the bottom. It connotes the power of fragrance to "speak to us", to influence, to reverberate almost like the gong of a bell.
I wrote this for a Japanese friend who happened to have this character as his name. It's done in black ink with gold accents, very sharp and spiky, and rather eccentric, compared to my normal style. I think it came out this way because otherwise, the effect might have been all too "pretty". It needed some rough edges and loose ends.
Fulfill Your Heart
盡其心 立命也Sono kokoro wo tsukusu, Ritsumei nari (Japanese)
Jin qi xin, Li ming ye (Chinese)
65cm x 50cm $200
The meaning is:: "Fulfill your heart, Stand on your destiny". It's abbreviated from a famous passage by the 4th century BC Chinese philosopher Mencius (Mengzi), which has always moved me profoundly since I first came across the lines in college. The full quotation is:
尽其心者知其性也
He who fulfills his heart, knows his true nature.
知其性則知天矣
If he knows his true nature, then he will know Heaven.
存其心養其性所以事天也
To rely on one's true heart, and nurture one's nature, is the way to serve Heaven
妖寿不貳
If you die young or live to old age, it makes no difference
脩身以俟之所以立命也
Polish yourself and wait on things, and this is how to stand on your true Destiny
These words contain within them the Confucian idea that people's hearts are basically good, and the secret of life is to sweep away the dust and get back to the bright mirror of one's original soul. At the same time, there's a Taoist concept here, which is that you should not press against fate. Be yourself and follow the most natural path available, and your destiny will unfold as it should.
Whenever I'm feeling depressed or worried, I remember back to these lines and they serve as a comfort and a beacon.
I used a rather subdued blue for this, with no gold or silver. It needs no decoration!
Gratitude
恩 On (Japanese) En (Chinese)
95.5cm x 65.3cm $300
I wrote this character at the request of a friend. It's one of the most powerful words in Japanese or Chinese, as it suggests not only the feeling of gratitude, but the weight of obligation one feels forever after. So frankly it felt rather "heavy" and until she asked for it I never thought to do this character. But oddly, after writing it for the first time, I find it is becoming a new favorite. It's something to meditate on.
The character is done in blue, with strong accents of gold and silver — gratitude with feeling behind it.
The Creative
乾 Ken (Japanese) Qian (Chinese)
97.5cm x 65.8cm $300
I love doing the characters that denote the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching 易経. Each character is redolent of cosmic ideas, and wisps of old predictions I've had when I cast the I Ching in the past about something.
This is the name of the First Hexagram, which consists of six unbroken lines, meaning pure Yang (vs Yin), Heaven (vs Earth), The Beginning (vs the end), the Creative (vs the Receptive), Dry (vs Wet), and so forth.
The I Ching says, "The Creative works through sublime success, Furthering through perseverance. The movement of heaven is full of power. Thus the superior man makes himself strong and untiring." It's a good character for any time, but especially when starting something new. It's full of hope.
I did the character in green, with overlays of white and silver. The green is the green of dragons, since the six unbroken lines of the hexagram represent six dragons flying through the sky.
Immortality
寿 Kotobuki (Japanese) Shou (Chinese)
65cm x 48cm $200
"Immortality" is perhaps the single most popular character in Chinese, painted and carved on silk and paper, in wood and lacquer, steel, gold, silver, jade, ceramics, textiles, and bronze. It was the goal of Taoist mystics, and implies a state of transcendence in which one has risen above the shifting and mutable world.
More to the point, it simply means "long life" and hence is the ultimate auspicious symbol.
I did it in Taoist red, with silver.
Trek
辿 Tadoru (Japanese)
96cm x 64cm $300
This is one of those very rare characters with no original in Chinese. The Japanese made it up. Meaning "Journey" or "Trek," it consists of two radicals: a mountain 山 enveloped by the "progress radical" and so suggests the feeling of a traveler in the mountains. It means to seek, and also to arrive.
A trek involves many vicissitudes, so I did this in red, mixed with black and white to indicate that many things can happen when one is on a journey.
Lightning
雷 Kaminari (Japanese) Lei (Chinese)
95.5cm x 65.3cm $300
I did this at the request of a friend. The character means not only lightning but thunder at the same time. Usually I prefer to write the related character 電 which means electricity, but I like the way that this character completes itself with a ball of energy at the bottom. In old Chinese and Japanese prints and paintings, lightning doesn't descend in a zigzag going from heaven to earth, as we portray it in the West, but meanders through the clouds in a series of key-fret patterns. In other words, lightning doesn't just go down, it goes around and around before it finally strikes.
Lightning is pure energy, so it's written in blue with splashes of gold and silver.
Love
愛 Ai (Japanese) Ai (Chinese)
65cm x 50cm $200
Well, this is a character that needs no introduction. I guess the special thing about it's composition is that it contains the character for Heart 心 within it.
I did it in deep red, with gold.
Magic
魔 Ma (Japanese) Ma (Chinese)
97.5cm x 65cm $250
I wrote this character at the end of a long wine-drinking night of calligraphy, inspired by a Thai friend from the Khmer border. Thais believe that the Khmers are heir to ancient magic, and this friend seems to have something preternatural about him. The character consists of the radical for hemp 麻 above the radical for devil or demon 鬼, symbolizing weird and tricky things afoot.
Magic is about illusion and things appearing more beautiful and appealing than perhaps they. This character, done in blue with gold and silver, is full of swirling movement culminating in a playful twist of the devil's tail.
Water
水 Mizu (Japanese) Shui (Chinese)
90cm x 60cm $300
Simple though it is, this is one of the most rewarding of all characters to write, lending itself to many interpretations. I never tire of it. In just a few strokes it contains all the variety and dynamic line that is so fascinating in Chinese calligraphy. Water, in every language, symbolizes life, fluid motion, flow.
I've written it in a style found in old Japanese court poetry, with the curling final stroke rising up again at the end. The color is blue, plentifully splashed with gold and silver.
Wind
風 Kaze (Japanese) Feng (Chinese)
97cm x 65.5cm $300
Wind, like Water, is a primal character; it's a favorite theme, as the movement of the brush to the left, then sweeping over the right, only to return to the center, is very elegant, almost like an onnagata's dance in Kabuki.
I've done this blue with gold, with a relatively thin and attenuated line in Japanese court style. It's to suggest gentleness: not a strong wind, just a breeze.
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