Before putting pen to paper, Jake Weidmann listens to classical music to calm his heart and clear his mind. The slightest tension would stifle the flow of the pen’s dance. The smallest tremor would create a flaw in the fluid ink flourishes.
Calligraphy in its highest form is a fine art, and Weidmann is one of the few people in the world who have mastered it. He is a master penman, one of 16 certified by the International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers, and Teachers of Handwriting (IAMPETH). “You don’t practice until you get it right; you practice it until you can’t get it wrong,” he said. Each stroke must be perfect, or the whole work is blemished. “I have always had a deep love for calligraphy—and really handwriting more broadly,” said Weidmann. “I grew up admiring [my mother’s] cursive handwriting: how beautiful the letters flowed together, the lean of the writing across the page that looked like falling rain.”…