But wait...there's more

So this is the essence of summer to me.  Long hours in the garden and long walks, just filling up with the quiet and the sights. Currently, I'm reading The Hidden Life of Trees which has me questioning ever definition of sentient life I have ever heard.  Coupled with my class in Buddhism, I find myself pondering quite a bit lately and feeling that perhaps, I've been sleep walking through life thus far. Along with this I've been wandering through the Blue Cliff record.

A classic of Chinese Chan (Zen) Buddhism, this text contains 100 verse of "cases" with commentary as well as 100 koans (think, "What is the sound of one hand clapping.") This text was named for the temple where it was write by Yuanwu Keqin, a monk and teacher.  Designed to test the discipline and comprehension of his students, this text began as a series of lectures during the Song Dynasty (around the 12th century).  I love that Yuanwu Keqin was quote as saying, "All summer I've been verbosely making up complications... and tripping up all the monks in the land."  Zen is meant to be understood not conceptually or with the intellect but through immediate experience which is why the koans seem so strange and often confusing. Which brings me back to my walks through the trees and my own garden.

To put my feelings into words at these times I feel would sound silly or convoluted. But, at the time, my heart/mind tells me, "Yes!" and then it disappears as quick as the affirmation came.  That what my art is for, I think, my meager attempt at capturing those "Zen" moments when everything around me feels alive and conscious. ​

I'm finding that I am not alone in this experience, particularly among artists.  Feeling affirmation of my experience while drawing in nature has been a happy accident.  Both The Ways of Drawing and The Unknown Craftsman speak if it.  I am so happy that my students a colleagues are reading these over the summer.  I'm excited to find out what spoke to them in their artistic practice from these texts.

So what have I been making? Well, my focus, when I'm not working on my bonsai project, has been on honing my skills in Japanese printmaking through an excellent online course in Mokuhanga by Terry McKenna at the Karuizawa School in Nagano, Japan.  I know I've mentioned before in my blog how much I love online learning, but, I really do.  What a treat to learn and travel the world without having to leave my beloved home, a home bodies' dream!  I've been continuing sketching, refining and carving my series of blocks of images inspired by the Blue Cliff Record.

Today however, I am starting something new. I'm designing a hand printed book that will feature blue birds or rather birds that are blue.  This was inspired from checking my email and learning that the Book Workers Guild is planning an exhibit of books that have a "blue" theme.  Nothing like a deadline to get you moving! Stay tuned for sketches and bonsai updates!