新年快乐！马年大吉！马上开心！
Happy New Year! Wishing you a prosperous Year of the Horse! May you be happy from now on!

For the occasion, I made a little “study” on the character 馬, which means horse. Three different styles that became a triptych.

There are two idioms I like related to the horse, which could seem antithetical at first. But I think they actually complement and balance each other.

悬崖勒马 xuán yá lè mǎ

which, literally, means “to rein in the horse at the edge of the precipice”.
This idiom means to wake up to danger or to ward off disaster at the critical moment, to stop before it's too late.
To me, it tells the importance of staying vigilant so as to avert danger before crossing the point of no return. But it also emphasizes the fact that course correction, or even redemption if we are being a bit dramatic, is always possible, even at the very last moment.
And I think we've come to a point in history when we're at the edge of the precipice and it's time to change the course of things, as hard as it may be to rein in a horse that is on fire.
And so it takes me to the second idiom.

万马奔腾 wàn mǎ bēn téng

which, literally, means “(like) ten thousand horses galloping”. In other words, going full steam ahead.
The poets of the Song Dynasty started using this image of sheer grandeur to describe the sometimes overwhelming power of natural elements, like waterfalls or ocean waves.
There's a sense of momentum that feels unstoppable and powerful. So, it might seem in complete contradiction with the previous idiom. We could feel some sense of powerlessness in the face of this vicious cycle of endless destruction we're currently in, and like it's impossible to actually avoid falling off the cliff.
But we could also think of those ten thousand horses galloping as the energy of collective action. There is power in numbers and I think, or at least I want to believe, that there are many more of us who want to change the course of things to ride towards a better future than the few leading us into the precipice.

So there you have it, with the power of the collective, we can still stop all this and decide to go full steam ahead in a different direction. Of course, it won't be easy. This year is the year of the Fire Horse 丙午. The Heavenly stem 丙 is yang fire and the Earthly branch 午 is also yang fire, so not a very balanced year to say the least.
But just like the horse, let's use our vitality and our passion, let's be brave, let's be relentless, and let's be wise. And with the unstoppable power of an ocean wave, we'll be able to balance and control the fire.
 
 
This triptych can be read both ways.
If we are reading it right to left, as were written historical Chinese texts, and as calligraphy is still usually written, then it would be: with the unstoppable power of ten thousand horses galloping, we can avert disaster and rein in the one horse at the edge of the precipice, tame the fire horse and find balance again.

And if we are reading it left to right, as in modern day writings, then it would be: the fire horse, with all the unbalanced power of its yang fire, has become uncontrollable and has led us to the edge of the precipice. But it is still time to rein it in, and with the balancing power of an ocean wave like ten thousand horses galloping, we can change the course of things and ride away towards a better future.
 
 
 
#Art #VisualArt #ChineseCalligraphy #calligraphy #BlackAndWhite #ink #brush #seal #ChineseSeal #YearOfTheHorse #LunarNewYear #horse #FireHorse #马 #馬 #马年 #丙午 #ChineseIdioms #power #fire #balance #change

February 2025

Godkidlla 廖小子 is a highly regarded Taiwanese graphic artist.
Learn more about his work and political engagement in this Pancouver article about his lantern creation for Lunar New Year 2025 in Vancouver.

During this workshop, we got to experiment with different tools: traditional calligraphy brush, wide tip paint marker and squeezable round tip dabber marker.
It was so freeing to work with tools I'm not used to, or rediscovering the things you can do with a traditional brush.

📷 1: Self-introduction

I first drew roots with the traditional brush, because one side of myself is very grounded and practical, and also interested in the traditional/classical origins of things. Then I used the paint marker to very freely draw curves and waves, to represent my creative side, dance and trying to go with the flow. Once I was finished, I realized it looked a bit like a face and the roots became a flow of words coming out of my mouth, representing my love for words and writing. The whole thing can be seen as an infinite circle: anchoring myself and drawing from my roots to find my creative self, which in turn flows back out of me to plant new roots.

📷 2: Curves

Just experimenting with the wide tip paint marker.

📷 3: 跳舞 – Dance

I used the wide tip paint marker. I really love the result! I totally went with the flow on this one, not knowing what the result would be since it's such an unconventional tool for calligraphy. I quite literally let the pen dance on the paper.

📷 4: 山 – Mountain

Experiment with the wide tip paint marker.

📷 5 and 6: 返璞归真 – Return to one's true self

Photo 5 is with the brush, and 6 with the paint marker.
I actually really like the one with the traditional brush. I forced myself to write very quickly without trying to stick to the proper traditional way of writing calligraphy, and I'm quite happy with the result. I guess by being more intuitive, I came closer to my “true self”. But I think it's interesting that I did this with the traditional brush, the “proper” calligraphy tool. I guess it does reflect my personality in a way.
When it comes to calligraphy, I still have so much to learn and so much practice to do to understand the proper technique, to acquire a good, if not perfect, balance and harmony in my characters. But letting things go a bit was very freeing, and I think somehow it helped me reach a better harmony than when I try hard to write perfectly. I guess there's a lesson in there somewhere.

📷 7: 太湖石 – Tai Hu rocks

Experimenting with the squeezable round tip dabber marker.
I find those look a bit like 太湖石 Tai Hu rocks.

📷 8: 安娜 Anna (Anne, my name)

Wide tip marker (and a little mistake only the Chinese speakers will notice haha!)

📷 9: 写 – Write

With the round tip marker.
 
 
Then experimenting with much bigger size paper.

📷 10: 地水气 – Earth Water Air

Wide tip marker, except for the characters with traditional brush. I started this one completely intuitively, not knowing where it would go or what it would represent. Then Godkidlla mentioned the waves at the bottom looked like seismic waves. And from this I could see the earth, the water and the air. I decided to finish it by integrating the Chinese characters for those 3 words.

📷 11: 地 – Earth

Detail of 地水气 – Earth Water Air

📷 12: 水 – Water

Detail of 地水气 – Earth Water Air

📷 13: 气 – Air

Detail of 地水气 – Earth Water Air

📷 14: Tree stump

A super quick experiment at the very end of the workshop to draw a tree stump with the wide tip marker.
 
 
 
#Art #VisualArt #ChineseCalligraphy #calligraphy #graffiti #BlackAndWhite #ink #brush #PaintMarker #dabber #Godkidlla

February 2025
 
 
 
#Art #VisualArt #ChineseCalligraphy #calligraphy #ink #pen #brush #lines #chinese #mandarin #LunarNewYear #snake #YearOfTheSnake

August 2023

每人有自己位的
细心观者识天理
一千歌百万耳语
森林密被风带走

To each their own place and purpose
An order only known to the attentive observer
A thousand songs and a million whispers
The forest secret is carried away by the wind
 
 
 
This poem was inspired by the enchanted mess of the forest. But a mess only in appearance. Once we pay close attention, we realize that every living being, birds, animals, insects, plants, has a place within this rich ecosystem. And all are equally important. Same goes with each and everyone of us within the rich ecosystem that is humanity. We all have a role to play that is equally essential. It might not be obvious, blurred by the chatter of millions of voices, and this secret, this truth is sometimes escaping our understanding. Which is why we always have to listen and pay attention.

It is my first poem in Chinese, so I hope I'm honouring this beautiful language.

I had submitted this piece to the first International Calligraphy Contest organized by the Dr Sun Yat-Set Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver with Master Su Jiangang back in Summer 2023, for which I garnered an honourable mention. I was so honoured and humbled by it.

It was such a great challenge for me.
First, I challenged myself to write my very own original poem in Mandarin for it. So I did some research on Chinese poetry to try and understand the rules and secrets. It was a very superficial research but still super interesting, and it's exciting to know how much more there is to discover in this new-to-me territory. The poem, I know, is full of mistakes, incorrect Mandarin as well as improper use of the rules of Chinese poetry, but I tried my very best for it. And let's say it's creative license haha! But I must say, I'm so freakin' proud of myself no matter how bad it might be.
It was also a great opportunity to practice my calligraphy, which I find so soothing and meditative, and so meaningful at the same time. I practised each character over and over. Of course I can see all the flaws, imbalances and wrong proportions, but again, I'm proud of it nonetheless.
 
 
 
#Art #VisualArt #ChineseCalligraphy #calligraphy #brush #ink #poetry #poem #nature #forest #chinese #mandarin