August 18: I was going my devotional and was listening to some worship music. Some of the lyrics struck me, and I wanted to meditate on those few words. They were so powerful that I wanted those keywords to be set apart from the other words I was writing. So, I flipped to the other page and found the same words on Pinterest and began to copy those words onto the other page.
What started as a one-time meditation of some compelling words, quickly escalated into a hobby and soon to be a one-time business opportunity.
I noticed how, in calligraphy, the lines aren't all the same thickness, so I used my pen to add definition to the letters and make them appear as if I had written them with a calligraphy pen, but it was just a simple black ink pen.
While at my boyfriend's house, I wanted to upgrade my new-found hobby from pen and notebook paper to a sharpie and printer paper. I took some of his printer paper and a sharpie and had found that I was falling in love with the concentration, steadiness, and patience of writing and drawing letters.
I soon traded in printer paper for a sketch book, and eventually a drawing pad, where I now keep a collection of works I've done for almost 2 months now.
When I moved into my dorm room just a few days after discovering this hidden passion of mine, I soon learned that my suitemate enjoyed calligraphy as well, but more importantly, watercolors. I gave her a few of my quotes I had drawn and showed her examples on Pinterest of calligraphy quotes with watercolor backgrounds. She soon got to work and we realized we made a great pair when it came to our artistic abilities.
We even decided to sell our creations this coming November 5 at the Troll Market at our college. (Come stop by and visit us!)
While partaking in this new art, I went back to where it all started -- my devotionals. I discovered the art of "bible art journaling" through a class at my college and it really intrigued me. Although I don't feel 100% comfortable drawing with colored pencils all over pages of my Bible, I'm perfectly fine with underlining and highlighting verses as well as calligraphy throughout my Bible.
This brought me back to why I started calligraphy in the first place -- to meditate on God's word in a creative way. There are days when I don't have the time, energy, or desire to open up my Bible and read God's Word (that sounds horrible, I know). What I do, instead, is I'll take a Bible verse or a few words and write them in calligraphy. I'll listen to worship music and take some time to be with my heavenly Father in an unorthodox way.
By writing calligraphy, I simply reflect on a few words and really concentrate on their meaning while making something beautiful out of something so simple.
I hope this gives you a little more insight on how I got started in calligraphy and how you can begin to do calligraphy, too.