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Art Groups

Shugetsu

Shodo of the autumn moon shining in the blue pool.. 

Inspired by one of Chinese poet Han Shan’s Cold Mountain poems, we brushed the characters for autumn moon – shūgetsu 秋月, at our online Shodo group Zen Brush. Some of us were lucky to catch a glimpse of the waxing crescent moon in the early evening above the… Read More »Shodo of the autumn moon shining in the blue pool.. 

Cutting and carving stones for Japanese and Chinese stamps

Cutting and carving stones for Japanese and Chinese stamps

At the November 篆刻 tenkoku (seal engraving) group meeting online by zoom, Blair gave an in depth demonstration of carving techniques to directly guide participants and give them tips on this exciting part of the process! This covered how to handle and work with each… Read More »Cutting and carving stones for Japanese and Chinese stamps

Relaxing and immersing ourselves in autumnal lines

Relaxing and immersing ourselves in autumnal lines

At our De-stress drawing group on zoom we enjoyed a slow paced, peaceful doodling time with a loose autumn theme. To start we relaxed with doodling zig zags and curves, before taking a moment to notice the pattern and feel of the changing season ?  We loosely sketched some… Read More »Relaxing and immersing ourselves in autumnal lines

Shakyo 写経 copying the sutra of boundless awareness and life

Shakyo 写経 copying the sutra of boundless awareness and life

At our Shakyo group, co-hosted with Glasgow Zen Group, we enjoyed peacefully copying the Boundless Life Ten Phrase Kannon Sutra 延命十句観音経. It felt right to trace it at this time, being a sutra that has been close to people’s hearts over the centuries and considered… Read More »Shakyo 写経 copying the sutra of boundless awareness and life

Opening your heart to 愛 Ai Love in Shodo

Opening your heart to 愛 Ai Love in Shodo

We brushed 愛 Ai – Love, care, affection, craving/ attachment – at our Monday online Zen brush Shodo calligraphy 書道 group in October. It was inspiring to work with this single kanji (Chinese character) as it is so delightful to brush in the shodo styles. Please have… Read More »Opening your heart to 愛 Ai Love in Shodo

Tenkoku styles Blair Thomson D+P Studio

Dynamic lines at Tenkoku seal engraving

It was an easygoing and peaceful 篆刻 tenkoku (seal engraving) group where we each worked on designs for stamps (in 印) or worked on our stones or erasers (the keshigomu method). Thanks for taking part. There was some time to look at the very varied… Read More »Dynamic lines at Tenkoku seal engraving

Shodo - Brushing the wonderful with Myouhou

Shodo – Brushing the wonderful with Myouhou 

妙法 Myouhou – all life and things wondrous – was captivating to brush in the kaisho and sousho styles of Shodo calligraphy 書道. On its own myou means mystery, or excellent, strange or wonderful and hou can mean method, teachings, dharma, or process ✨ It was… Read More »Shodo – Brushing the wonderful with Myouhou 

Exploring vast spaces through small stamp designs

Exploring vast spaces through small stamp designs

At our first regular 篆刻 tenkoku (seal engraving) group on zoom we had fun pioneering Japanese and Chinese stamp making online! This time we mainly worked on designs for our in 印 stamps. After a short intro by Blair to the practice, his experience of… Read More »Exploring vast spaces through small stamp designs

Practicing intuitive wisdom with each small stroke

Practicing intuitive wisdom with each small stroke 

We gently traced and copied the famous and inspiring Mahayana Buddhist Heart Sutra, or to use the full title, the Great Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra. After Blair and the group discussed about the Shakyo practice and some of the meanings and structure of the sutra,… Read More »Practicing intuitive wisdom with each small stroke 

Eternal peace with the eight strokes of 永 Ei - Yong

Eternal peace with the eight strokes of 永 Ei – Yong

At Zen Brush we worked with the graceful eight strokes of eternal eijihappoh 永字八法, also known as the eight principles of yong – getting a feel for them and having some fun with the flow of the brush. Inspired by some Japanese haiku and old… Read More »Eternal peace with the eight strokes of 永 Ei – Yong