Hi there!
Welcome to the Notes on Paper, where we delve into the captivating realm of Islamic Calligraphy and Arts. I am Yasin Giray, a classically trained Islamic Calligrapher and English Language Instructor, proudly representing Istanbul, Turkey, a thriving epicenter of artistic expression. Your presence is a valued addition to our creative community.
Islamic Arts, with their timeless allure, offer a wellspring of inspiration that transcends cultural boundaries. Together, let's embark on a journey to explore this rich and intricate heritage, uncovering the beauty and depth it has to offer.
We extend our sincere gratitude for your interest and participation in our artistic discourse. Thank you for being a part!
My Story
Everything started around 10 years ago when I was doing my bachelor's. During my Junior year, I had a lot of free time to fill. Then I decided to learn calligraphy, knowing that Istanbul had a lot to offer to an aspiring calligrapher. I had no interest in Arabic lettering then, so I went on to find a calligraphy master who specialized in Latin letters. After searching for the right place to learn, I found a master right inside the famous Grand Bazaar, which has been flooded with people all around the world for the last 600 years. Now it felt like I was connected with the history.
Mukadder Mustafa Erol-My first calligraphy teacher- had an atelier in Cebeci Han, Grand Bazaar. Cebeci Han is one of the many inns inside the Bazaar. There you could find people from all walks of life, so during my time there; I had the chance to experience the rich variety that contributed to my art. I spent one day every week for half a year in an amazing little atelier. It was like a big collection of rare items and artworks: on a 300-year-old Persian rug, there was a big table dating back to the 1880s. on the walls, there are artworks in Islamic Calligraphy, miniature and so on. During my time there, I learned Italic, Gothic and one other stylized and customized script (named Sentez) specially designed by my master. But most importantly, now I had discovered the passion inside me- as Sir Ken Robinson describes, the Element. That passion was calligraphy. So I went into exploring more.
My master then strongly urged me to go and pursue Islamic Calligraphy. He said I could find great masters of Arabic scripts in Istanbul. Correct as he is, I had many options since for the last 600 years, the world’s most renowned Islamic Calligraphers have been in Istanbul. The Ottomans established a great student-master relationship that can be traced all the way to the 1400s. From the same lineage, masters of Arabic scripts were still living in the city, especially around the Uskudar district.
After getting my master’s consent to leave, I enrolled in one of the Arabic Calligraphy Courses provided free by the city council. There I met with Menaf Nam, a highly skilled and award-winning Arabic-Islamic Calligrapher. (Instagram: menafnam). Menaf hocam (hoca is the title given to masters in Turkish) taught me a lot of things that I heard for the first time then: the different scripts, masters, lineage and legacy, history and more.
I struggled a lot in the beginning. Tools were very basic: just a reed pen, ink and paper. The system was almost the same as it had been 500 years ago: you had to learn the individual letters first, then their connections separately, then finally go on to write single and multiple lines. I had to copy a single line that my master wrote for me every week, then in the class, get feedback and correction on what I wrote. It was totally individualistic. In the same class, you can find that each of the learners can be on a different line, so the progress depends on your effort and hard work. Soon I figured out that it was not going to be as easy as I thought.
It took me one and a half year to finish writing the whole required lines in Ruq’ah script. Ruq’ah is like the prep school of Islamic Calligraphy. The strokes and letter forms are quite simplified and robust. Even for that level of simplicity, it took me that long to complete. Then in 2017, I started learning the famous thuluth script, which is regarded as the mother of all Arabic scripts. Thuluth is generally what you admire when you go into a famous mosque. It has these beautiful curves and details, very pleasing to the eye and admirable when stacked on top of each other in a well-balanced artwork. It was beautiful. Compared to Ruq’ah, now I had a tougher task since the proportions and details were very precise.
Writing around 3 hours each day, I completed writing my thuluth curriculum in around 3 years. It required a lot of effort, obviously. I had to sacrifice a lot from my personal life, though. Allocating a huge portion of your day just to sit and practice lettering is a bit hard to explain. At around the same time, I started teaching English in a high school too. So my life revolved around my work at school as a teacher and as a calligraphy student at home. Doing things in two totally different fields was a big challenge, so as I learned deeper, I shifted my focus more to perfecting my craft in Thuluth script.
The pandemic hit when I completed my training in Thuluth. Like most people, weekly meetings with the masters were over, and the courses were dismissed. The case was the same for every master calligraphy artist here in Istanbul. A lot of master calligraphers lost contact with their students or had to stop teaching. Due to a lack of face-to-face classes, a lot of learners quit. Some calligraphers lost their ateliers. During that period, for the calligraphers, the transition from regular classes to online Zoom sessions was not as easy as regular teachers at schools. They had to find the right equipment and technical support to make an overhead setup and make live sessions regularly. Only a few were able, but those were in Turkish.
Right then, I decided to teach Islamic Calligraphy on Zoom in English. Knowing that speaking English and being a classically trained calligrapher would be a rare thing (unfortunately, almost none of the masters here know English, so the international community are generally unaware of them.) There are a couple of foreign artists who got their training in Istanbul, but their exposure to the masters was obviously low, depending on the distances. Of course, I had a lot of things to learn, but I believed I could make this happen and teach somebody who wanted to learn the art but didn’t know where to start. Surprisingly a couple of people were eager, and it was a big success. With the help of an overhead camera setup, I made 50+ classes in my first year with total satisfaction.
Today marks my third year teaching Islamic Calligraphy in English. So far, I have had the blessing of teaching more than 100 students around the world, either in Zoom sessions or on-site workshops. This is something I’d never dreamed of when I started teaching. Last year, I also started doing my master’s degree in Traditional Turkish-Islamic Arts, and for the last two years, I’ve had the utmost blessing to study under master calligrapher Davud Bektaş, who is by a large consensus, the best Islamic Calligrapher alive.
When I first started learning, I had the blessing of meeting one of the best masters in the field without even knowing. This gave me a big head start as I know since I am also an educator myself, learning from a good teacher/master can save you tons of time and energy. It's in the nature of Calligraphy that if you want to become a good one, you have to learn from a good master and be dedicated to learning. I've never seen an alternative way to get better at it for all those years. There is progress when personal effort comes together with good guidance and quality feedback.
Calligraphy changed my life entirely. I found my element in it. Found my passion and endless search for the better. Through calligraphy, I met great people and masters of different scripts along the way. Most importantly, I met with my wife, who is also a prolific artist of tile arts. I believe I have a lot to discover and learn trying to navigate through the beauty.
I hope my story inspires people like myself. Glad you’re here. Nice to meet you!
A valuable community of Islamic Art enthusiasts.
With Notes on Paper, I’ve dedicated much of my time to presenting you stories, facts, artworks and insights into Islamic Calligraphy and Arts through my perspective. I am not an art historian, so together with all these, this publication will also feature a lot of technical features of calligraphy and other arts, such as tutorials, letter breakdowns and phases of putting together a beautiful artwork.
I’d be beyond grateful if I could help put together a community from all walks of life and different backgrounds who are interested in Islamic Arts. I have a lot to post here, so I firmly believe this would be a very interesting journey.
When & What?
Notes on Paper will publish posts twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Posts will feature a lot of rare-to-find articles about Islamic Art, biographies of prominent masters, Tips and tricks for beginners, weekly selected collections of artworks, lettering breakdowns, tool reviews and a lot more. Currently, all posts will be available for free access. If you want to learn more about my paid calligraphy courses, you can check my Courses page or send me a message.
Thank you.
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