notes from the drifting spaces

Blair’s art notes…

透 – tō – to be transparent, leave gap, hold light 明 – mei – bright/ illumination観 – kan observation meditation; perceive transparent and moving, perceiving interpenetrating and making space, like the bird shape of Kannon 観音 soaring, seeing and feeling My series of abstracted photographs has been expanding in the last couple of years and

Breathing spaces and balance – Japanese & Chinese seal engraving

It was great to have the time to work on 篆刻 tenkoku seal engraving for hansetsu sized calligraphy paper. These hakubun and shubun white and red letter 印 stamps have a face of 2cm square. After designing the two stamps with a combination of my surname, calligraphy and zen name, and painting on the kanji

Twisting branches, fading spaces – sumi-e ink painting

I worked outside in the North of Glasgow with my friend artist Margaret Kerr, painting in my large sketchbook a 水墨画 suibokuga ink painting (style is also called sumi-e) of silver birch trees. It was comfy kneeling on my picnic mat with my suzuri inkwell and bowls and fude brushes all laid out, and very

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 skyline of Tokyo, using Japanese gansai pigments. To join our

Vista painting and punky rocks at Traprain Law

It was peaceful working with artist Margaret Kerr (please have a look at her beautiful and mesmerizing work: @megkerr245 on Instagram) in East Lothian – Margaret kindly invited me over to collaborate, she been practicing a deep creative exploration of Traprain Law and its environment and past. The atmosphere, open spaces and vistas as well

Meditatively stitching a zen robe

Having been born to meet the spread of this Dharma, if we cover our body with the kasaya only once, receiving it and retaining it for just a ksana or a muhurta, that experience will surely serve as a talisman to protect us in the realization of the supreme state of bodhi. Dogen Zenji, Kesa

In reisho calligraphy – the movement and light of the seasons

I worked from Suenaga 末永 Sensei’s reisho 隷書 style of a peaceful and joyful poem by 6th C Chinese poet 陸瓊（りくけい）Rikukei: 春風秋月恒好 spring wind autumn moon always pleasing It was very likeable too brushing this on the large hansetsu size paper, lots of fun with a long tip fude. Some of the kanji

Kusen 255 collaboration with John Fraser

Dragons see palaces (heavy rain is falling) In the Mountains and Waters Sutra, Dogen says that when human beings see water, fish and dragons see palaces. He doesn’t say that the fish and dragons are mistaken. He also says that although human beings see mountains as still, they are always walking. Within this ocean, are

Shakyo – bringing the Sutra to life with each brush stroke and pen mark

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. This was a joint event I led for the D+P Studio and Glasgow Zen Group. Beginning with an introduction about the

worlds within worlds