Learn Japanese Calligraphy as Moving Meditation

Learn Japanese Calligraphy as Moving Meditation
Click on the image above to order your copy of The Japanese Way of the Artist. Including extensive illustrations and an all-new introduction by the author, The Japanese Way of the Artist (Stone Bridge Press, September 2007) anthologizes three complete, out-of-print works by the Director of the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts. With penetrating insight into the universe of Japanese spiritual, artistic, and martial traditions, H. E. Davey explores everything from karate to calligraphy, ikebana to tea, demonstrating how all traditional Japanese arts share the same spiritual goals: serenity, mind/body harmony, awareness, and a sense of connection to the universe.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Japanese Calligraphy for your Home or Business


If you see something at Art of Shodo that appeals to you, contact Davey Sensei about creating a similar original work of art for your home. And if you’ve got an idea for something you’d like to see turned into Japanese calligraphy—a significant word, an interesting phrase, or a Japanese poem—call or write to Davey Sensei. Working together, it may be possible to give birth to a one of a kind work of art. Davey Sensei can be contacted at hedavey@aol.com.

Ranseki Sho Juku Calligraphic Art

On December 28, 2005 the world lost one of Japan’s preeminent practitioners of traditional Japanese art when Kobara Ranseki Sensei passed away in San Francisco. Kobara Sensei, acknowledged in Asia and the USA as perhaps the greatest shodo calligraphy artist outside of Japan, was 81 years old.

To learn more about Ranseki Sho Juku brush calligraphy and painting, the system of fine art created by Kobara Sensei, contact Hiseki Davey Sensei at hedavey@aol.com. Mr. Davey is offering instruction in Integrated Shodo & Meditation based on Kobara Sensei's teachings. You can also learn about Ranseki Sho Juku shodo from the book The Japanese Way of the Artist, which was written by Davey Sensei.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Master's Brush

The Master's Brush

Meet Masako Inkyo, master of Japanese calligraphy, in a film directed by Carole Ryave: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWVkQSRsXcE&feature=player_embedded

To learn more about Japanese calligraphy as art and meditation, pick up a copy of The Japanese Way of the Artist by H. E. Davey.

About Art of Shodo

Art of Shodo offers the public reliable information about Japanese brush calligraphy, or shodo. Art of Shodo features the award winning art of Hiseki Davey Sensei, author of The Japanese Way of the Artist, Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony, and other works. Davey Sensei's calligraphic art can be purchased through Art of Shodo, and Mr. Davey can be commissioned to create shodo art for your personal collection, home, business, or commercial use. He can be contacted at hedavey@aol.com.

Japanese Art

For more information about Japanese art go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_art

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Book Review: "The Sound of One Hand"

The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin
By Audrey Yoshiko Seo and Stephen Addiss

Reviewed by H. E. Davey

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Shambhala (September 7, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1590305787
ISBN-13: 978-1590305782
Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.3 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
List Price: $65.00
 
Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1768) is one of the most prominent figures in the history of Zen, and this gorgeous book focuses on his life, ink paintings, and brush calligraphy. He can be considered the instigator of contemporary Japanese Rinzai Zen practice, one of the two major schools of Zen in Japan. He notably emphasized the value of koan practice in awakening, a technique that concentrates on the solving of metaphysical questions, such as the famous koan, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”

He is also known for having rejuvenated the monastic existence of his time. However, his philosophy wasn’t restricted to the monastery. Hakuin was the classic Zen master of the people, celebrated for taking his instruction to every branch of society, to people in all walks of life, and his painting and calligraphy were particularly potent vehicles for those lessons. He used long-established Buddhist images and sayings—but also themes from legends and every day living—many of which are found in this lavishly illustrated hardback. Hakuin fashioned a new visual idiom for Zen: insightful, whimsical, and different from everything that came before. He is one of the most famous practitioners of Zensho, “Zen calligraphy.” Admirers of Japanese calligraphic art (shodo) should, however, note that not all calligraphy indentifies itself as “Zensho,” and this is but one of many styles of calligraphy practiced in Japan.

In his long life, Hakuin produced thousands of ink paintings and calligraphies. These works of art, combined with his voluminous writings, stands as a testament to his philosophy, illuminating why some feel he was the most significant Zen master of the past 500 years. All of this is thoroughly covered in The Sound of One Hand. The tone of the writing is more scholarly than light, and while his artwork and life is painstakingly examined, The Sound of One Hand will not serve as a basic introduction to Zen. It’s focus is on Hakuin’s Zen life and Zen art, and to some degree it presupposes an existing knowledge of Zen Buddhism.

The Sound of One Hand is a study of Hakuin and his art, illustrated with examples of his work, well-known pieces like “Three Blind Men on a Bridge” as well as lesser acknowledged artwork. It is, without a doubt, the most complete volume on Hakuin and his Zen art currently available.

About the Reviewer: H. E. Davey, the Director of the San Francisco Bay Area-based Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts, is also the author of The Japanese Way of the Artist, Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony, Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation, and other works. He is a direct student of the famed calligrapher Kobara Ranseki Sensei, and he holds the highest rank in Ranseki Sho Juku calligraphic art. His Japanese calligraphy and painting has been in numerous exhibitions in Japan, where he has received multiple top awards. For more information about H. E. Davey and his classes in Japanese arts and forms of meditation, visit www.senninfoundation.com