06/08/25 Calligraphy Workshop at Poughkeepsie Galleria Community Room

This was a long overdue members’ workshop since I had to postpone our January program, so I was very excited that I was finally able to do this.

I was also very happy to see the improvement in writing as all of the participants were regulars. They were all able to quickly catch up with their techniques and skills after months of not writing with a calligraphy brush. The letter “tatsu” or “ken” (which means “build”) is not an easy Kanji character to write but it was strongly built and well balanced at the end.

Then there were original Haiku poems by a couple that were beautifully composed and calligraphed. To be honest, I found myself struggling at first to write them well enough to show as a sample. So, I was extremely happy to see what they achieved after 2 hours of serious practice. Last, who knew there was a Kanji character for a “lottery”? It was the hardest character I’ve ever encountered as there were so many little lines and strokes within a limited space. When I saw it come together perfectly, I felt she should get a winning lottery ticket at the end of the day as she deserved one.

This workshop was very focused and led to high quality work, and I enjoyed it very much. I hope many others will take advantage of these opportunities to learn, which are some of the privileges of being a member.

Midori Shinye

Calligraphy instructor  

6月8日プケプシーギャラリアでの習字ワークショップ

1月のメンバー用ワークショップのプログラムが出来なかった為に随分長くお待たせしましたが、ようやくオープン出来て安心しました。

しばらく習字の筆を使わなかったら直ぐに腕と技術が落ちてしまいますが、参加者の皆さんはレギュラーだからかあっという間に調子を取り戻していらっしゃるのを見て嬉しかったです。「建」という漢字は結構難しい字ですが、最後にはちゃんとしっかりバランスのとれた字になっていました。

カップルのお二人がご自分達で詠まれた俳句を美しく書かれました。正直言いますと、私は最初お手本を書く時に一寸手間取ったので、2時間真剣に練習された後のお二人の作品を見て大変感激しました。それから、(くじ引きの)くじが「鬮」という漢字なのを皆さんご存知でしたか?　それは狭いスペースの中に細々と小さい縦棒とか横棒があって、今までに出会った漢字の中で一番ややこしい字でしたが、最後にまとまっているのを見て、間違いなく今日の終わりには書者の方にはロタリーが当たるだろうと思ったものです。

今日のワークショップはじっくり集中出来たのでなかなかクォリティーの良いものだったと思います。他のメンバーの皆さんにもぜひ会員の特権である学ぶチャンスを利用して頂けたらと願います。

新江　緑

習字インストラクター