Shodo calligraphy
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Award for Shodō Calligraphy at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
I am surprised and delighted that my calligraphy artwork has been awarded a Special Selection prize (Tokusen 特選) at the 73rd Shokaisha Exhibition 第73回 書海社展 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, situated inside Ueno Park. The exhibition runs from the 28th January to 2nd February. This annual exhibition of shodо̄ calligraphy features several large rooms…
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Exhibition at Dundee Botanic Gardens
TRACES OF SHODŌMargaret Kerr and Blair Shōgen Thomson Green Gallery: University of Dundee Botanic GardenRiverside Drive, Dundee DD2 1QH30th Oct – 19th Nov 2024 This exhibition shows a series of spontaneous abstract drawings inspired by the flowing and dynamic forms of traditional Japanese Shodō calligraphy, made by Margaret Kerr over the past three years. Alongside…
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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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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…
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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…
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Tracing the heart of the Heart Sutra – Tokyo 2019
Towards the end of the year as the dry leaves rustled across the pavements, Blair practiced Shakyo Sutra tracing at temples in Tokyo, working mainly from Genjo’s version of the Hannya Shingyo – Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. You can see the hanging scroll of Genjo / Xuanzang in the Soto Zen shakyo…
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Shodo zen calligraphy practice
Trying out the zen enso circle, symbol of universality and the idea of beauty within imperfection. Small to medium fude for sho on single hanshi sheets. Working on the character nen – commonly translated as mindfulness or mindful, also attention or care. There is a balance needed between the two parts of the kanji. The…
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Sho calligraphy mark making
Making some marks with fude brushes and fudepen using Japanese sumi ink. Beginning practicing for a series of three Drawing and Painting Studio workshops. Experimenting with the brush stopping and flicking, speed of the marks and energy. In the first Shodo group the Kanji characters ten – heavens/ sky and shin or kokoro – heart/…
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Traces of Time | 時間の足跡
Here are a selection of images of the show plus some Omotesando street views around Gallery 80 in Omotesando Hills building (Aoyama area, Tokyo). It was a very pleasant time of year with the Autumn leaves gathering and crisp clear blue nights…