23/06/2025
I often get asked why I chose to put this art in my office (and this particular kanji, “woman”) so here’s the story!
Before I was born, my mom won the Japan national championship for calligraphy.
She gifted the winning piece to my dad as a wedding present, and it hangs in the home I grew up in in Florida.
Ever since I can remember, I’ve been begging her to do a calligraphy for me. I wanted to have something by her that I could cherish.
But she kept brushing it off - she was out of practice, she didn’t have the materials, she’d want to get back into it first, etc.
It’s hard to produce something when you have a high standard for yourself and know what perfection could look like, so I get it.
But I didn’t give up 😂
One day several years ago, I decided I had to make it happen somehow.
So I bought some canvas, got out a paintbrush and black paint and was like “Look mom, it’s all set up so just do your thing.”
The reason why I asked her to do 女 (woman) is because I saw a beautiful painting of what I thought was an abstract art piece.
Upon closer look, I realized it was 女 but with each stroke in a different color. That realization that it said “woman” suddenly hit me and the art felt so powerful.
Anyway, so in the end, my mom finally did it 😂 And little did she know, I got it framed whether she thought it was good or not 🤷🏻♀️
Fun fact about this is she did it with a flat paint brush and acrylic paint - not a calligraphy brush nor ink.
What’s something meaningful to you in your workspace?