About Connie
Photo by Victoria Liu Photography
Connie Chen is the youngest Master Penman in the world, and the only one recognized for her skills in Engrosser’s Script, Ornamental Penmanship, and Offhand Flourishing by both Senior Master Penman William A. Lilly and Master Penman John DeCollibus. Connie apprenticed to Senior Master Penman William A. Lilly, who earned a Gold Seal Certificate at the Zanerian College, the top award given by America’s leading school of penmanship and engrossing. With more than 20 years of experience in English and Chinese calligraphy, Connie creates art that transcends the boundaries of geography, culture, and time.
As a calligrapher and artist, she attempts to reflect the beauty of the divine in her art on @connie.chen on Instagram. It is her goal and prayer that Life may in the art she presents to you.
Connie has served as the Vice-President of the New England Calligraphy Organization Masscribes and is an active member of the International Association of Master Penman and Teachers of Handwriting (IAMPETH).
Connie received her Bachelor’s degree in English, with Honors, from Wellesley College, and her Master’s degree with a focus on religion and literature from Harvard University. She is currently pursuing her MFA in creative nonfiction at the University of Iowa, where she is an Iowa Arts Fellow.
Connie’s scholarly interests include nineteenth and early twentieth century American literature, literary theory and criticism, and disability studies, with a current focus on the works of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Flannery O’Connor. Connie has presented her research at a number of academic conferences such as the South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference, the American Literature Association Conference, the International Hemingway Society Conference, and the International F. Scott Fitzgerald Society Conference. She is now working on Hemingway and religion with the support of the Pamela Daniel's Fellowship and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Research Grant, as well as disability in Flannery O’Connor’s work with the support of the Georgia College Ina Dillard Russell Library Research Grant.
Here is my Master Penman Certificate, the beginning of my journey. The bird represents the Spirit of God. It is what brought me to and through my calligraphy journey. But looking at the title, it is also interceding, sitting on the scripture John 1:1, reminding me that “The Word was with God” first. So I must write where the Spirit leads me. I must write for the gospel. This spiritual heritage transitions into my earthly heritage in my Chinese name embedded in my English name written in the Chinese calligraphy I so love.
My Certificate of Engrosser's Script signed and sealed by Senior Master Penman Mr. William A. Lilly.