Olga Varlamova

Beauty of calligraphy

No one would deny the beauty of calligraphy. What is the secret of this beauty and is it the beauty which is the reason for attractiveness of the art? Let us consider these questions.

Calligraphic pages give us unprecedented joy and feeling of soaring. However, in this case beauty can be reasonably explained.

Calligraphy is a kind of graphic art where the line plays the crucial role: its direction, course, thickness and character of edges. Properly following the flow of a line we feel the movement of an artist’s hand.

Details and nuances are of great importance in calligraphy. A tiny shift and change in form give a feeling of movement or calmness, sharpness or softness.

Second, I would like to talk about the charming beauty of calligraphy as an activity and consider it from the view point of a person engaged in this activity.

First I see a white or black sheet of paper, put a dot and start a line. And then the line as if starting to grow, a calligraphic instrument starts dancing and a flat sheet becomes three dimensional. Calligraphy studies are the creation of a new world. When I create a calligraphic composition I am completely absorbed by the space of the sheet.

Third, it is worthwhile mentioning here the positive influence of calligraphy on the environment.

The beauty of calligraphy is not passive; it is the kind of beauty which encourages the creator to change oneself and the world. Otherwise calligraphy wouldn’t have been attributed the sacred mission by various nations.

A close interrelation between work on the letter and work on oneself is clear when one starts to improve an autograph. An autograph is like an auto portrait. One can hate one’s autograph and use it every day. An ugly and alien in character autograph is a big problem. First it is necessary to see in a disharmonic autograph a germ of future beauty which can be absolutely unpredictable. I think that most of us are not eager to fully change oneself or refuse oneself – we have a lot of kindness in us. We mustn’t really change our autographs but use the good sides of them and get rid of unpleasant things in them. This is the way to preserve an autograph’s individuality and improve its evil character. Polishing our autographs we work on ourselves. The same with handwriting.

As far as we are dealing with all kinds of scriptures, words and texts every day, the beautiful calligraphy can be present everywhere whenever we want it to be. A calligraphic form very well conveys the meaning of the word and the form of its signs can reflect any event.

A human being engaged in calligraphy never goes into the shell of one kind of art. In my case the beauty of calligraphy stimulated my interest in music and poetry. Calligraphy studies is not an escapism but the clue to self-improvement in other spheres as well.

Olga Varlamova,
St. Petersburg, Russia, 2009