We had a lovely morning of Shōdo calligraphy at Kagyu Samye Dzong on Saturday 2nd September, with an enthusiastic group keen to try out the styles and materials 😊 We brushed 安楽 anraku – peace and joy or ease and comfort – a word that… Read More »Brushing Anraku – with Ease and Enjoyment
At our Zen Brush Shodo calligraphy online on zoom we brushed the kanji characters of the positive phrase Nichi nichi kore kō nichi 日日是好日 – meaning something like: every day is a good day; or, day after day we make the best of the moments and… Read More »Every Day is a Good Day in Calligraphy
It has been a buzzing summer season for Blair and the D+P Studio with busy weekly sessions and events through the east, north and west of Glasgow in July and August 🌞These were for families and also aimed at adults, working at wonderful places like… Read More »Vibrant summer of activities at D+P Studio
It was relaxing brushing the seasonal phrase Shoka 初夏 – early summer – with the participants of the June Zen Brush group on Zoom. It was an easygoing group for our last session before the summer break. At the end we wished we had a… Read More »Early Summer Shodō calligraphy
After a wait of over three years we were delighted to re-start our Shōdo group at Kagyu Samye Dzong Tibetan Buddhist centre at the start of June. It was great to be back in the Woodlands area of Glasgow. It was a delightful group and… Read More »Shodo Calligraphy returns to the Tibetan Buddhist Centre
We began our Monday online calligraphy class on zoom with an introduction by Blair to each of his materials and tools uses, then we worked stroke practice and holding the fude for particular strokes. This time we brushed the four kanji characters of the zen… Read More »Finding balance and harmony in Shodo calligraphy
At our recent Zen Brush shodō class in April we brushed the two nature based kanji characters of the zen phrase Kūge 空華 . These are well known kanji and together can be translated variously as sky flowers, petals of emptiness, sky splendour. They were… Read More »Brushing sky flowers at Shodo calligraphy
Inspired by meditation and calligraphy itself, as well as the first signs of spring emerging, at the March meeting of Zen Brush Shodo calligraphy we brushed the three kanji characters of the zen phrase Hi Shi Ryo 非思量 which can be translated as something like… Read More »Hishiryo spacious thinking in zen and calligraphy
In February and March we ran a series of Japanese stamp making classes – called Tenkoku 篆刻 – in the Glasgow area of Scotland, kindly sponsored by The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, helping people discover the traditional Japanese stamp making process. These inspiring cultural groups… Read More »Tenkoku Japanese Stamp Making Events
Last month at Zen Brush Shodo calligraphy we brushed the four kanji characters of the inspiring zen phrase Shin Jin Ichi Nyo 身心一如 which can be translated as body and mind/spirit, oneness (from Zen master Dōgen’s Bendowa writing). This is about how our heart/mind/spirit and… Read More »Brushing oneness at Zen Shodo Calligraphy