Some fluid markmaking with the Japanese fude brushes and sumi ink was a nice relaxed way to start the group, before working with the characters 春 Haru – Spring – and 光明 Koumyou – Brightness. We had fun trying out the expressive shapes of the… Read More »Exploring the characters for Brightness – Koumyou – at Zen Brush Heart
We worked on some kanji characters including nichi/hi (日) and nenbustsu (念仏) as well as ei (永) – eternal which is always a helpful character for practicing the eight strokes (永字八法) of shodo calligraphy used in China and Japan. Some flowing markmaking helped us to loosen… Read More »Nichi and nenbutsu at Zen Heart Brush
On February 17th we led a calligraphy and mindfulness day at Wiston Lodge with the friendly and enthusiastic members of the Border Collie Sangha. The setting and light was beautiful with lodge sitting next to Tinto hill south of Lanark, with ice and snow melt… Read More »Sansui – Mountains and Water calligraphy at Wiston Lodge
Laying out various materials for the Shodo Japanese calligraphy class on Saturday, such as shitajiki (felt mats), bunchin (paper weights), fude brushes, suzuri (ink wells), fudeoki (brush rests) and washi paper. The pavements are still snowy in Glasgow, so we recommend wearing boots and warm… Read More »Preparation for Zen Heart Brush calligraphy group
After a cuppa and a chat about Shodo calligraphy and Chinese and Japanese kanji, we worked on the characters 安楽 anraku, usually meaning comfort or carefree and also meaning ease and joy. Some temples in Japan have this in their name, and it appears in… Read More »Anraku – Ease and Joy brushed with ink
At our Zen Heart Brush calligraphy group, we began listening to some autumn themed haiku poetry before getting a feel for the fude brushes and suzuri ink well with some elemental shapes and marks. Then we practiced some simple shodo calligraphy strokes, before working on… Read More »Autumn dreams drifting on the breeze
It was super to be asked by Margaret Kerr to her inspiring place in Lenzie to work with her on this one day retreat combining meditation, outdoor walking and mindful practice with Shodo calligraphy. We began the day with a chat about the theme –… Read More »Skybrush Earthbrush
Some of the expressive and fun mark making experiments by participants at the start of the group. Trying out the enso circle, symbol of universality and the idea of beauty within imperfection.
Small to medium fude for calligraphy on single ‘hanshi’ sheets. The fude brushes hanging to dry – look like they need another good rinse!
Working on the character nen – commonly translated as mindfulness, also attention or care. Before the group starts in the cosy interior of KSD Rokpa. Painting the Chinese characters Ei and Hei – Eternal Peace. Ei is a classic kanji to work on and learn… Read More »Some work from the calligraphy group
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