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Shodo calligraphy

Shugetsu

Shodo of the autumn moon shining in the blue pool.. 

Inspired by one of Chinese poet Han Shan’s Cold Mountain poems, we brushed the characters for autumn moon – shūgetsu 秋月, at our online Shodo group Zen Brush. Some of us were lucky to catch a glimpse of the waxing crescent moon in the early evening above the… Read More »Shodo of the autumn moon shining in the blue pool.. 

Opening your heart to 愛 Ai Love in Shodo

Opening your heart to 愛 Ai Love in Shodo

We brushed 愛 Ai – Love, care, affection, craving/ attachment – at our Monday online Zen brush Shodo calligraphy 書道 group in October. It was inspiring to work with this single kanji (Chinese character) as it is so delightful to brush in the shodo styles. Please have… Read More »Opening your heart to 愛 Ai Love in Shodo

Love 愛 Ai in Shodo calligraphy

Brushing Love 愛 ai in the old tensho style of Japanese and Chinese calligraphy with deep orange-red sumi 🙂 Ai is also fun to brush in the more flowing sosho grass style of shodo calligraphy, in a much more simplified form. As well as love or… Read More »Love 愛 Ai in Shodo calligraphy

Shodo - Brushing the wonderful with Myouhou

Shodo – Brushing the wonderful with Myouhou 

妙法 Myouhou – all life and things wondrous – was captivating to brush in the kaisho and sousho styles of Shodo calligraphy 書道. On its own myou means mystery, or excellent, strange or wonderful and hou can mean method, teachings, dharma, or process ✨ It was… Read More »Shodo – Brushing the wonderful with Myouhou 

Carving seals and stamping onto calligraphy and artwork

Here is an example of stamped calligraphy (this is kokotsubun shell and bone style). You can stamp on your shodo calligraphy, artwork, poetry or sutra copying, or anything else you fancy ? This example is of stamped artwork by Blair was inspired by the dynamic… Read More »Carving seals and stamping onto calligraphy and artwork

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