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D+P Studio News

Brushing mountains and waters at Shodo Japanese calligraphy

Brushing mountains and waters at Shodo Japanese calligraphy

At Zen Brush in November we brushed three kanji characters, each repeated twice with different versions, in the monumental zen phrase Yama wa kore yama mizu wa kore mizu 山是山水是水 which can be translated as mountains are mountains, waters are waters (from Zen master Dōgen’s… Read More »Brushing mountains and waters at Shodo Japanese calligraphy

Doodling nocturnal moths and insects

Doodling nocturnal moths and insects

In November we had a mysterious night time theme 🌙 of nocturnal insects, particularly moths with their incredible variety of shapes, curious colour combinations and fascinating patterns. We enjoyed exploring freely with some of us going own way using different materials, and had a relaxing… Read More »Doodling nocturnal moths and insects

Discovering Temples and Shrines in Japanese

Discovering Temples and Shrines in Japanese

We had a Japanese spiritual and cultural life theme for our November meeting of Kanji Club with 寺社 Jisha – Temples and Shrines – we wrote and pronounced these and a few other fascinating related kanji including 神 kami – gods/soul and 社 sha –… Read More »Discovering Temples and Shrines in Japanese

Expressing the Way in Shodo Japanese Calligraphy

Expressing the Way in Shodo Japanese Calligraphy

We brushed the two kanji characters in the inspiring zen phrase Dōtoku 道得 (lterally way/express ; grasp/pick up/able to) which can be translated as expressing the way, expressing truth, or picking up the way. Blair discussed their Zen meanings and connection to calligraphic expression in… Read More »Expressing the Way in Shodo Japanese Calligraphy

Autumn Colours - discovering Japanese Kanji and Chinese

Autumn Colours – discovering Japanese Kanji and Chinese

Everyone had great fun with a timely autumnal and colour theme for October with 紅葉 Kōyō – Autumn Colours. We wrote and pronounced these characters, and discovered their history, as well as more colours 🍂 investigating the meanings of the radical and kanji parts. The… Read More »Autumn Colours – discovering Japanese Kanji and Chinese

Halloween and Day of the Dead creativity

Halloween and Day of the Dead creativity

At our ghoulish late October De-stress drawing group on Zoom we had a deep autumn theme exploring this lively time of year including autumn leaves 🍂 and the festivals of Halloween and the Day of the Dead with themes of celebrating ancestors and seasonal change… Read More »Halloween and Day of the Dead creativity

Drawing the autumn season - fruits and berries

Drawing the autumn season – fruits and berries

At our De-stress drawing group we had an early autumn theme enjoying the wonder of tree fruits in this season of abundance – exploring their textures, shapes and colours – such as nuts, berries, seeds and pods 🫐🌰      Together we found autumnal inspiration… Read More »Drawing the autumn season – fruits and berries

Learning Kanji Japanese and Chinese through the Senses

Learning Kanji Japanese and Chinese through the Senses

We had a sensory theme in September, 感じる Kanjiru (to experience, to sense), and we wrote and pronounced the characters for each of the Five Senses, as well as certain katakana and hiragana 👁️👂👃👅✋ We looked at related kanji and commonly used vocabulary, there are… Read More »Learning Kanji Japanese and Chinese through the Senses

Maryhill Hub Mural Project

Maryhill Hub Mural Painting Project

It has been a really busy creative summer for us here in Glasgow with our main project being recently completed, a colourful community mural transforming the wide outer wall of The Maryhill Hub community centre, please see the gallery of photos below. Huge thanks to… Read More »Maryhill Hub Mural Painting Project

Be Well - Free relaxing art and nature sessions at Ruchill

Be Well – Free relaxing art and nature sessions at Ruchill

Adult Wellbeing Group Thursdays– 10:30 – 11:30: nature walk/ foraging/ nature activity, with Claire and Blair  🌳 🌸– 11:45 – 12:30: meet back in Ruchill for a social brunch ☕️– 12:30 – 14:00: art, mindful creativity, and nature wellbeing with Blair and Claire ✍️ 🎨… Read More »Be Well – Free relaxing art and nature sessions at Ruchill