When TahJah Harmony, a photographer by trade, posted the first photo of her calligraphy on her Instagram account, she didn’t expect people to be so impressed. For her, calligraphy had been a hobby, from her days as a child practicing flourished script with her mother to learning traditional Japanese methods at Sunday school in a local Asian church.

Although she still devotes most of her time to her job as a full-time photographer, she recently taught her very first calligraphy workshop, where students came to learn how to put a little personality into an everyday art form.

Harmony is the focus of the first installment of inRegister’s new monthly department, The Creatives, in which writer Jeff Roedel spotlights locals who are using their talents in unexpected ways. Check out more of her work on her Instagram, or learn more about her in Roedel’s article in the January issue, available on newsstands now.