Calligraphy is different from every other art form (even its closest of kin, lettering). For one thing, it is possible to create a poem, a story a picture, a photograph or a poster design about an unlovable subject; sometimes the more obnoxious, the more inspirational. But for a calligrapher, there is only one subject - letterforms - and he or she must be inexorably in love with them.

Calligraphers have visceral responses to the curve of an S, the leg of an I the articulation of a crossbar. In the words of calligrapher Roger Druet, who is also Professor of Art History, History of Writing and Graphics at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués de Paris... "a letter may provoke a sensation solely related to the state of mind; with no true rela­tion to its place in the alphabet:.. The thought has its extension in the hand...from there, the body speaks, doubtlessly more reliably than the mind ever can."

From that description of the genesis of a work of calligraphy it is clear that another intrinsic, difference between calligraphy and other art forms is its complete spontaneity. There are no plans, no sketches, no layouts, no outlines, no revises, no alterations. Each piece is an unrehearsed performance, based of coarse on-years and years of practice exercises.

The vision born in the mind's eye informs the hand; the hand guides the tool and the tool responds - to the angle, the pressure, the fullness of ink, the receptivity of the paper All the esthetic considerations - the placement on the page, the proportions of black and white, the relationship between form and counter form, the rhythm and energy of strokes-the entire concert is under the direction of the calligrapher's spontaneous sensibility.

In its highest form, calligraphy is not just beautiful writing, but expressive drawing, as in these works of Roger Cru et. Here are arrangements of letters that are visual similes for the flight of bees, undulating underwater plants, floating clouds; also expressions of human experiences –joy, gaiety, love and rebirth. In this cool, calculated, programmed electronic age of ours, it's reassuring to know that calligra­phers still carry on and warm our spirits with their gifts, which are obviously as lovable to give as to perceive.

Marion Muller