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
永字八法. Practice the eight classic strokes of Ei or Yong 永 brushed in Japanese and Chinese calligraphy.
As the season gradually changes from summer towards autumn and we reach out for more jumpers and get cosy during the darker nights, let’s take a moment to notice the atmosphere and what going on around us. And write a haiku or short poem about… Read More »Creative time – From late Summer to early Autumn
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
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
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
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
Try out writing spring (or vernal) equinox – Shunbun 春分 – using Japanese Shodo calligraphy, or in your own style in any language! These two kanji on their own literally mean spring and segment/part/share. March Equinox – this is the time equal day and night, when… Read More »Let’s write Spring Equinox
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
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