Wednesday, June 15, 2011

As the Deer

I did small calligraphy project for a friend's birthday. I asked her what her favorite Scripture was and she wasn't sure. As I was running and meditating, the Song As the Deer written by Marty Nystrom kept "playing" in my head. So that was it, just the first 2 lines.

It is based on Psalm 42:1 in the Bible. I looked up the Scripture and found many translations. Who speaks like those people in the King James versioneth? But when written nicely on a nice sheet of paper, all of a sudden those "eths" "thuses" and "thees" start to look better than if written in the modern translations.

But in the King James, it is written "As the hart"...what's a hart? So I stuck to Marty's choice of words since it seemed more poetic.

I wasn't happy with the finished project, I never am. I look at how uneven my letters are. Sometimes there's a smudge. I form the letters incorrect. But if I keep trying to write a perfect piece I'll never ever finish anything. However if step back and take a look at the overall finished project. Not too shabby!

Besides that's the beauty of the human touch, the imperfections! Not perfect like a computer generated font filled inkjet printed word checked piece of "art" if you can call it that. I hope she likes it.

Happy Birthday Kim!


3 comments:

  1. It's beautiful. I have the same problem when I do lettering too. I worry that things aren't perfect but when I leave it for a while and return to it I wonder why I disliked it so much. You are right,the imperfections are what make it unique and interesting. Thanks for sharing with us! :D

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  2. Beautiful quote and a beautiful presentation.

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