The Great Wave | Modern Carolingian Calligraphy

Modern Carolingian calligraphic artwork called The Great Wave. Work dedicated to Hokusai Katsushika for his talented drawing skills and his philosophy of living.


Calligraphy based on Sallando’s style using gouache paint on handmade paper. Exercise created during a calligraphy course with Keith Adams part of my Postgraduate Course of Advanced Typography at Eina School of Art and Design, Barcelona 2011.


Framed artwork on a white wall above a shelf in a minimalist room

Content: From the age of six I had a mania for drawing the shapes of things. When I was fifty I had published a universe of designs. But all I have done before the the age of seventy is not worth bothering with. At seventy five I'll have learned something of the pattern of nature, of animals, of plants, of trees, birds, fish and insects. When I am eighty you will see real progress. At ninety I shall have cut my way deeply into the mystery of life itself. At a hundred I shall be a marvelous artist. At a hundred and ten everything I create; a dot, a line, will jump to life as never before. To all of you who are going to live as long as I do, I promise to keep my word. I am writing this in my old age. I used to call myself Hokusai, but today I sign my self 'The Old Man Mad About Drawing.'

A blue wave illustration flows across a printed page with text underneath.
Handwritten pages with a blue wave drawing resting on a windowsill in sunlight
Close-up of a tilted book page with decorative text and blue illustration details
Close-up of a curled printed page with dark text and a blue wave illustration on a blue surface.
Close-up of a book page with blue decorative illustration and angled black text.
Maria Montes smiling person with glasses in a navy polka-dot shirt against a turquoise wall

I'm a Catalan-Australian multilingual, multicultural designer, calligraphy-and-type educator. My creative practice is set by the principles of never stop learning, sharing knowledge and create emotion through my work.


I have been teaching calligraphy independently since 2014. My favourite way of learning is by teaching others. I offer in-person and online calligraphy and lettering courses, corporate in-house workshops, as well as private one-to-one tuitions.

Black-and-white close-up portrait of a Ramin Moheb, facing the camera with a neutral expression.
By Maria Montes June 18, 2026
Calligraphy interview featuring student Ramin Moheb. Learn more about calligraphers students, their journeys, challenges & how they got started in the first place!
Calligraphy Meditation logo with teal script and lotus inside a dark circular line on white background
By Maria Montes June 5, 2026
This month of June 2026, I’m joining an online gathering to explore the healing power of calligraphy—where presence matters more than perfection, and I would love to invite to join me.
Two speakers at a panel table, one talking into a microphone with a laptop in front, black-and-white.
June 4, 2026
The Manifesto places handwriting & calligraphy within a relevant debate: how we learn, how we remember, how we think, & what role the body plays in the processes of knowledge acquisition.