Skip to content

Art Groups

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

Spirit of the way in each Shodo stroke

Spirit of the way in each Shodo stroke

At the last Zen Brush calligraphy group on zoom we were inspired by the two well known characters dou 道 (Way/ road/path) and shin or kokoro 心 (heart/mind/spirit). Brushing them in the kaisho as well as the sousho ‘grass writing’ styles, we explored their meanings,… Read More »Spirit of the way in each Shodo stroke

Brushing Zen

Brushing Zen at online Shodo

At our recent Zen Brush shodo group – our first online ? – we enjoyed brushing the character 禅 Zen in four very different styles, which were developed over centuries. It was really intriguing to explore the meanings of the different parts of the kanji… Read More »Brushing Zen at online Shodo

禅 zen shodo practice

Practicing zen in different styles of shodo calligraphy

At our Zen Brush ? calligraphy group coming up on Monday the group will be working from the varied styles and strokes of the mysterious and graceful character 禅 for Zen. And we will explore the multi layered meanings within the kanji character itself. It… Read More »Practicing zen in different styles of shodo calligraphy

Shakyo - bringing the Sutra to life with each brush stroke and pen mark

Shakyo – bringing the Sutra to life with each brush stroke and pen mark

Our first online Shakyo 写経 practice event saw us come together from Scotland, and elsewhere such as the rest of the UK and Canada, forming a lovely group of sutra tracing and copying practitioners.  Beginning with an introduction about the history of shakyo and the… Read More »Shakyo – bringing the Sutra to life with each brush stroke and pen mark

Soothing sounds and flowing rhythms

Soothing sounds and flowing rhythms

Last week at Clydebank art group we enjoyed a carefree evening of painting. We’re sorry to say that this night marked the end of the project for the adults group for the time being (please note for updates on the Wednesday afterschool art group for… Read More »Soothing sounds and flowing rhythms

Peering into the spacious textured worlds of stones

Peering into the spacious textured worlds of stones

Recently we were inspired by the textures of stones from hills and seashore, peering into their worlds, as well as the spaciousness of clouds and water. We’re sorry to say that we’ve reached the end of the Clydebank Art Group project so this is our… Read More »Peering into the spacious textured worlds of stones

Seal carving and blowing stone dust at the Japanese Garden at Cowden

Seal carving and blowing stone dust at the Japanese Garden at Cowden

On a blustery day with the March sun shining through the clouds into the garden and our cozy workspace, we enjoyed practicing Tenkoku 篆刻 seal carving to create our own stamps or inkan (more commonly known as hanko). It is a captivating process and was… Read More »Seal carving and blowing stone dust at the Japanese Garden at Cowden

Mysterious universe calligraphy at Zen Heart Brush

Mysterious universe calligraphy at Zen Heart Brush

the heavens and earth are dark and yellow the universe and timeboundless Senjimon 千字文thousand character classic We continued to work from the Thousand Character Classic 千字文 – Senjimon this time at the last Zen Heart Brush, working with genkou 玄黄, partly inspired by the delightful… Read More »Mysterious universe calligraphy at Zen Heart Brush