PAT PADDEN had a keen desire to learn Chinese Martial Arts at the age of thirteen. She told me "I begged my father to let me study, but the studio was in a bad part of town and Dad would not allow it... I got over it." In California as an adult in her thirties, Pat drove by two martial art studios every day on her way to work and she could not resist joining in. First she started with Chinese Kung Fu (and proceeded to earn a black belt in just about everything). She studied sword fighting, staff, and double stick fighting. Then she moved on to Tai Chi. It was there that she learned about the Chinese people, philosophy, medicine and message. "Both Kung Fu and Tai Chi are martial arts, the first being hard, the second being soft," says Pat.
Some years later Pat and her husband Bill moved to Bellingham. Pat found a good studio, Chinese Martial Arts, in Bellingham and continued her disciplines. She became mesmerized at the calligraphy hanging in the studio. She says she would stare at it for long periods of time, and get lost in it. She wanted to learn how to do it.
Cathy Pak, Master Calligrapher from Hong Kong, who lives in Vancouver, B.C. was giving a children's class (ages 6 - 9) in Bellingham. Pat signed up. She thought, "Why not study as a child? I want to start from the beginning anyway." She studied alongside the children for three months. (I love her for this!) About three years ago Cathy started an adult class which meets at the Chinese Church in Bellingham. Pat found that using a brush came easily for her. From the beginning Chinese looking cranes flew right out of the end of the brush. And bamboo! Bamboo was waiting to be drawn on her paper. Here Pat's voice gets low and she chants, "Must do bamboo...sometimes it's bad, sometimes it good, but must do bamboo before writing anything else!" Even Chinese people have taken note at the authentic way that Pat is able to write their characters. It seems to come naturally for her.
I asked Pat if doing Chinese calligraphy has changed her, and what benefit has it brought to her and those around her? In her own words, "It has become a meditation. It's calming and very relaxing. It affects my whole life. It affects the people around me because I am less stressed. It's bringing out the softness in me and I am much more open and more easily adaptable to things. Tai Chi and calligraphy is part of my life - for good."
Pat's work can be found in select Art Shows in Bellingham. And if one is lucky, may find her practicing Tai Chi somewhere. I am glad to call her friend. When we met together at Pat's favorite CAFE ADAGIO in downtown Bellingham the other day, the owner had decorated Pat's latte foam with a beautiful fern leaf design. That, and the fact that the definition for Adagio is a slow tempo seemed quite appropriate.
Extra:
a·da·gio (-däj, -j-, -zh, -zh-)
1. Music A slow passage, movement, or work, especially one using adagio as the direction.
2. A section of a pas de deux in which the ballerina and her partner perform steps requiring lyricism and great skill in lifting, balancing, and turning.
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