Renée Locks is a painter, calligrapher, and poet. She taught Western calligraphy for ten years before devoting herself to the sumi-e brush and shodo – the way of writing beautifully. Locks is inspired by ancient Asian calligraphy, especially by the Japanese Kansai style of writing, which is executed rapidly and without lines. She describes it as “like walking a tightrope between control and freedom, mind focused as a straight arrow, from top of head through the brush, no hesitation.” She paints on 300-year-old rice paper and grinds her own ink with an ink stick and water on a special stone. For more information, please visit her website.