Calligraphy and Happy Birthday Mom!

Here are some pictures of my latest attempts at calligraphy with Maeda-sensei. I couldn't post them earlier because I framed this one and gave it to my mom for her birthday. I painted 母 or haha. It means mother in Japanese.

My initial plan was to paint 友人　or "friend" but I talked to my parents that morning and my mom suggested "mother" since "you know my birthday is coming up soon." That means next time I have to try "father" so she can have a matching set to hang in the living room. It's too bad that "family" isn't easier or I could have just given her one. ;-)

This one is a fairly easy one to write and I was really happy with the results. The smaller characters down the side are my name. I joked that I should have written it across the top with a "no" so it would say Jennifer's mother. And I got to use my stamp! I'm really pleased with this one and needless to say my mother loved it. Although she couldn't remember asking for it and had to call and ask what it meant. (That might have something to do with the fact that I mailed it two weeks after her birthday so almost a full month after that conversation...oops.)

I bought the frame at the bookstore where they sell frames especially sized for calligraphy boards. Before I go home I need to go back and buy at least one more for myself for my other attempts.