Lion Head

Zoomorphic and Flora Calligrams

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Zoomorphic calligraphy is a very popular choice for tattoos, as well as an interesting choice for artwork and logo designs. In a zoomorphic design, the calligraphy creates the shape of a bird or a lion or some other animal. Closely related are florigrams, in which the calligraphy creates the shape of a flower or a tree or some other plant. Together these designs are all labelled calligrams. Calligrams present a unique challenge to me as a calligrapher, as I must create a specific shape–animal or plant–while retaining some of the essential qualities of the calligraphy. Fortunately, Arabic and Perso-Arabic script is a wonderfully flexible medium, and the tradition allows the artist a great deal of freedom in using the words to create artistic designs.

Calligrams, Zoomorphic Calligraphy, Zoomorphic Tattoos, Florigrams, Persian Zoomorphic Tattoos, Arabic Tattoos

About Me

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[symple_tabgroup] [symple_tab title=”SPECIALTIES”] SJ_Thomas_2019_c-768x768S. J. Thomas, Calligrapher
— خطاط و خوشنويس — استوار طوماس —
I have been in love with pen and ink for most of my life.  I began learning Persian/Farsi calligraphy in elementary school in Iran. Our teacher would walk around the class and cut a nib on each student’s reed pen and write out a line of poetry at the top of a notebook page. We would lean over our pages, copying the line of poetry over and over again. What a mess of we made with those reed pens dipped in bottles of ink!

I still use dip pens, both reeds and metal pens with reservoirs, as well as an array of other calligraphic tools. For intricate geometric borders I use very fine brushes with just a few hairs. Watercolor paintings require another assortment of brushes.

I have been a professional calligrapher for over 40 years. If you want to order Persian, Farsi, Arabic, Dari or Urdu calligraphy, please explore the options on this website. If you are interested in the many other world languages and scripts I work in, please visit www.palmstone.com

Illustration and Illumination

Many of my larger calligraphy works include elaborate border designs, illumination and watercolour illustration. I create original border designs in the tradition of manuscripts and miniature paintings from the Middle East, Europe and India.