Activities
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Shūsaku Prize awarded for calligraphy at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
I am thrilled that my calligraphy artwork has been awarded a Shūsaku Prize (秀作 Excellent Work) at the 74th Shokaisha Exhibition 第74回 書海社展 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, situated inside Ueno Park. The exhibition ran from the 28th January to 3rd February at the bustling museum. This annual exhibition of shodо̄ calligraphy features several
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Japanese Waka, Materiality and Movement in Heian Poetry and Kana Calligraphy
It gives me great pleasure to announce the details of Japanese Waka, Materiality and Movement in Heian Poetry and Kana Calligraphy, a Japanese 和歌 waka poetry and calligraphy project generously supported by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation. Combined workshops and talks for adults as well as for young people will introduce the poetic themes of
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Season’s Greetings
Below is my simple Season’s Greetings card for this year, a sketch of the twisting movement of tilted rocks, including metasandstone, doodled on the west coast of Islay with brush pens and sketchbook. This year I was delighted (and somewhat relieved) that my calligraphy work was accepted for the 73rd Shokaisha Exhibition 第73回 書海社展 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art
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Season’s Greetings
Hope you are keeping well and wishing you a peaceful and relaxing Christmas and New Year holiday ❄️ Here is my Season’s Greetings card, with a sketch of rock strata made speedily on the spot at Oshima Island, south of Tokyo, using brush pens and sketchbook. Recently I exhibited some of my Shodō calligraphy practice
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Bristol University Japanese Calligraphy Workshop
In the Arts Complex of Bristol University at the end of April, Blair presented two taster Japanese Shodō calligraphy workshops with a Zen theme, for the Buddhist Studies Day in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, with schools and staff participating. This was part of a varied and educational day of events including discussions, demonstrations
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Bristol University award received at the Bristol Beacon
I was delighted and surprised to be awarded the University of Bristol Outstanding PLUS Award: Wellbeing Champion for the 2023/24 academic year. Here is an excerpt from the university blog with more information. Wellbeing Champion Brief: Improve the student experience or wellbeing of others in your community or workplace. Blair Thomson – Religion and Theology (MPhil) As a
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Season’s Greetings ❄☃
Hope you are keeping cosy and wishing you a peaceful and relaxing Christmas and New Year holiday Here is my Season’s Greetings card, an an abstracted view (actually a few viewpoints brought together in one piece) made in the Dundee University Botanical Gardens using pens, ink and pencil on calligraphy board. This artwork, as well
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Season’s Greetings
Hope you are keeping well and wishing you a peaceful and relaxing Christmas and New Year holiday ❄️ Here is my Season’s Greetings card, an aerial inspired one of Glasgow this year. In 2022 I’ve been creating worlds within worlds – photography, paintings, Japanese stamp making and practising Shodo calligraphy. In May I was fortunate
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Season’s Greetings ❄️
Hope you are keeping well and wishing you a peaceful and relaxing Christmas and New Year holiday ☃️ 最近の2021年のアートワークは絵と写真と書道といろいろ。 I’ve been fortunate to practice different styles of Shodo calligraphy, jazzy abstract pieces and mysterious photography in 2021. I’ve been especially busy with community creative groups in Glasgow and online on Zoom. よいお年を、ご自愛下さい。 With palms together