Every Day is a Good Day in Calligraphy

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 situations that arise; each moment is irreplaceable 🌞

Blair talked a bit more about the zen meanings of this well known phrase of master Unmon Bunen, and discussed how the meaning and repeated choice of kanji affects the combination of styles of characters that could be used.

We brushed them together in two styles (kaisho, sōsho), finding the balance between the five characters, and had fun exploring the variations within the repetition of the kanji ✨

In keeping with the still weather and season, Blair also shared this short summer haiku poem by poet Basho..

Even a woodpecker
Wouldn’t crack the tea hut.
In the summer grove

Basho

Thanks kindly to those who shared pictures of their work made at the group to include in this post.