Calligraphy Art

Look at the picture below.

Now take a closer look, and see that the cat is literally build up from the letters C-A-T, and – ofcourse – the same for the mouse.  (Amazing right !)

This is the work of  calligraphy artist Margaret Shepherd. An author of best-selling books about calligraphy and etiquette. For example books with pretty clear title’s such as;

- The Art of the Handwritten Note: A Guide to Reclaiming Civilized Communication
- The Art of the Personal Letter: A Guide to Connecting Through the Written Word.

Definitely worth checking is her Gallery and Website

Really great stuff !

Artist Statement by Margaret Shepherd, February 2010:

While the letters I use are often the simplest classic pen-written forms, I arrange them in completely new ways. My calligraphy aims at the area of the viewer’s brain right in the middle between reading and seeing. I began by using long passages to build up woven textures, full of pattern and color. Now I use short words to form shapes that look like what the words mean–the letters c a t line up to look like a cat, for instance. The viewer feels as though the image has been concealed in the letters all along, and my art lets it be seen. My mantra is that a letter can be anything–a hoof, a breast, a hat, or a whisker.

I have always tried to free calligraphy from its antiquarian tendencies; I don’t rely on ornamental borders, medieval elements, or expensive materials such as gold leaf to carry the image. I have always sought a page where there is no image other than what is created by the letters.

In addition to exhibiting my work, I have written a number of books for amateurs and students of calligraphy. This year I am writing Calligraphy All Over the World, and discovering that colleagues everywhere are also taking radical new approaches working to their own non-Roman scripts. We each have our own unique style.

A letter can be anything!

Via