This Heart Sutra scroll shows the Shingyo 心 経 or Heart Sutra brushed in the cursive style of Japanese calligraphy. To brush the Heart Sutra in sosho or cursive script is as if you were transforming form into sound, like a musical annotation of the vibration of each … Read More >> about Heart Sutra Scroll In Cursive Script – The Heart Sutra Sung In Sosho
Japanese Calligraphy
Modern Japanese Calligraphy inspired in Buddhism and Zen
It is my wish to bring you closer to the beauty and spiritual power of Japanese Calligraphy. Through my words and my artwork I hope you get enthusiastic about this special art form. Let me introduce you to the way I practice and experience shodo and show you why it is an unceasing source of inspiration for my life and my art.
If you want to have a look first at my Dharma art, click here to view the Shodo Art Gallery. Jump to beautiful pieces of Japanese Calligraphy inspired on Buddhism.
Taking the way of the brush, becoming a shodoka
In the pursuit of a true art form where art meets spirituality I found Japanese Calligraphy, shodo, and its spiritual expression, Zen calligraphy. Since then the brush is rooted in my heart.
What is Japanese Calligraphy for me?
I remember that the first time I saw Zen calligraphy and paintings at an exhibition of Japanese Calligraphy in Berlin I was very impressed by the abstract beauty of this artwork. But there was another secret quality in this art that I was unable to identify at first sight.
Calligraphy is an image of the mind
To create the artist has to be in union with the true self. Then her/his artwork will transmit the timeless essence of the universe and communicate on the deepest level of our being.
In very few art traditions this first creative impulse has been trained and practiced so purely and directly as in Zen calligraphy.
Calligraphy is writing from the heart
It reveals the universal life force ki
The essence of Japanese Calligraphy and Zen calligraphy is true creation, you do not stop training until feeling and reason are no longer separated and body and mind become one. You let life flow into the brush and by so doing you create a vivid movement in the brushstroke that reveals the ki —the universal life force.
That is why Japanese Calligraphy never stops fascinating me; it is an art training that addresses my own inner richness.
It is Dharma art as taught by the Tibetan meditation master, the XIth Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche:
"(...) dharma art refers to art that springs from a certain state of mind on the part of the artist that could be called the meditative state. It is an attitude of directness and unselfconsciousness in one's creative work."
As a Western artist
I dedicate myself to this meditative art, which the ancestors often called the elixir of long life.
When done properly the practice of calligraphy becomes a conversation with the true self. When writing with the brush the mind becomes calm and pure, the intuitive force is released and you discover your inner silent space. It is a fine art feeling that points to the true self and meets with the message of art, the refinement and perfection of the human mind.
At the Shodo Art Gallery you can enjoy and buy my calligraphy and paintings, the contemporary Dharma art of a woman artist. Click here to view Japanese Calligraphy at the shodo art gallery.
May there be happiness!
More From TheArtOfCalligraphy.com
Chinese Watercolors, A World Of Luminosity And Transparency
Chinese watercolors are natural pigments bound with glue. I will explain the types, features and techniques of Chinese watercolors and how to use them. What are Chinese watercolors? Traditional Chinese watercolors are … Read More >> about Chinese Watercolors, A World Of Luminosity And Transparency
Rice Paper – The Magical Treasure For Sumi-e And Japanese Calligraphy
Sized and unsized rice paper are the main types of rice paper used for sumi-e and calligraphy. I will describe their unique qualities, show how they react differently and explain what degree of mastery each requires. Among … Read More >> about Rice Paper – The Magical Treasure For Sumi-e And Japanese Calligraphy
Seal Script, The Splendor Of Japanese And Chinese Calligraphy
Seal script is an ancient form of Japanese and Chinese calligraphy with a special appeal to the artistic eye. This ancient Chinese writing form has a particular expressiveness and magic. Artist-calligrapher Nadja Van Ghelue shows … Read More >> about Seal Script, The Splendor Of Japanese And Chinese Calligraphy
The Calligraphy Brush, A Choreograph On Rice Paper
A calligraphy brush looks simple, but once the Chinese brush or Japanese brush starts to move its tip, its expression reaches beyond the limits of the paper. The play of the calligrapher with the calligraphy brush is … Read More >> about The Calligraphy Brush, A Choreograph On Rice Paper
Sutra Copying – Virtuous Shodo Of The Heart Sutra
The practice of sutra copying, Japanese shakyo, has been a major brush meditation throughout my life. I will introduce you to this virtuous shodo practice and show you some examples of my own style of sutra writing of … Read More >> about Sutra Copying – Virtuous Shodo Of The Heart Sutra
Zen Art Gallery Displays The Art of The No-Brush Stroke In Contemporary Zen Calligraphy And Painting
Go to the zen art gallery In my Zen art gallery of the no-brush stroke I show my own Zen artwork, modern Zen calligraphy and Zen painting. Within the world of Zen art, Zen calligraphy is a genre in itself. … Read More >> about Zen Art Gallery Displays The Art of The No-Brush Stroke In Contemporary Zen Calligraphy And Painting
Zen Calligraphy – Give Birth To A Thought That Is Not Attached To Anything, The Buddhist Practice That Gives The Mind Its Wings Back
This Zen calligraphy quotes a phrase taken from The Diamond Sutra. The Zen calligraphy scroll with six Japanese kanji應 無 所 住 而 生 其 心 , Ō mu sho jū ni shō go shu,meaning Give birth to a thought that is not attached to … Read More >> about Zen Calligraphy – Give Birth To A Thought That Is Not Attached To Anything, The Buddhist Practice That Gives The Mind Its Wings Back
Zen Poetry Calligraphy, Who Will Share A Glass Of Wine? – A Wine Calligraphy Scroll Of Twisting Old Vines
This Zen poetry calligraphy shows the phrase Who will share a glass of wine from a poem by Han Shan, the Chinese hermit poet called Cold Mountain. I have brushed the five characters as if they where old twisted grape vines, … Read More>> about Zen Poetry Calligraphy, Who Will Share A Glass Of Wine? – A Wine Calligraphy Scroll Of Twisting Old Vines
Zen Skull – Return To One, The Great Death !
This Zen skull painting done with black sumi and ink washes, shows a withered skull lying between weeds. Above the Zen skull stands the Japanese calligraphy KI ICHI or Return To One , two characters taken from the Zen koan, … Read More>> about Zen Skull – Return To One, The Great Death !
Zen Riddle Calligraphy – Tell Me : For Whom Do All The Flowers Blossom In Spring ?
This Zen riddle calligraphy shows the Zen words 'For whom do all the flowers blossom in spring?',a verse taken from the fifth case of the Zen koan collection of the Blue Cliff Record. With this verse 'When spring arrives, for … Read More>> about Zen Riddle Calligraphy – Tell Me : For Whom Do All The Flowers Blossom In Spring ?
Contemporary Ink Bamboo Painting On Silver Hanging Scroll
This modern bamboo painting that shows an unwavering brush work in black and gray ink tones brings alive the elegance and strength of the bamboo. The bamboo painting is mounted on a silver matte silken scroll. The scroll … Read More>> about Contemporary Ink Bamboo Painting On Silver Hanging Scroll
Contemporary Grapevine Painting: The Winemaker in Abstract Brush Strokes and Japanese Watercolors
This unique grapevine painting shows a grapevine brushed in an innovating pictorial language, showing a dynamic grapevine with abundant grape clusters. The dark vine in black ink and the subtle colors of the wine grapes and … Read More>> about Contemporary Grapevine Painting: The Winemaker in Abstract Brush Strokes and Japanese Watercolors
Contemporary Grapevine Paintings: The Grapevine Of Life, I Enjoy The Simple Way Of Life …
My grapevine paintings show grapevines brushed in a pictorial language of sumi and Japanese watercolors on rice paper. This particular grapevine painting is a monochrome ink painting. This grapevine painting is mounted on … Read More>> about Contemporary Grapevine Paintings: The Grapevine Of Life, I Enjoy The Simple Way Of Life …
Seascape Painting, A Mediterranean Seascape Art Work In Japanese Watercolors – The Sea Of Light
The seascape painting 'The Sea Of Light Of A Mediterranean Island', depicts the bay of Pollença on the Mediterranean Balearic island of Majorca. This seascape art work is done with Japanese watercolors and the artist chose to … Read More>> about Seascape Painting, A Mediterranean Seascape Art Work In Japanese Watercolors – The Sea Of Light
Zen T-Shirts And Buddhist T-Shirts With Vibrant Contemporary Zen Art Calligraphy
| Buddha Kanji T-shirt | Zen Enso T-shirts | | Zen Kanji T-shirts | Zen Koan T-shirts | Heart Sutra T-shirts | | Kokoro T-shirts | Mindfulness T-shirts | | Mushin T-shirts | Avalokiteshvara T-shirts | The Zen … Read More>> about Zen T-Shirts And Buddhist T-Shirts With Vibrant Contemporary Zen Art Calligraphy