Shodo means the “way of calligraphy,” and it is one of the most respected ancient Japanese fine arts. Painted with a brush, Japanese calligraphy uses centuries old kanji (“Chinese characters”), which due to their pictographic nature have similarities to abstract expressionism. Balance, grace, dignity, dynamic movement, and the beauty of line combine to create an ink painting of the mind that people all over the world have come to admire.
The Sennin Foundation Center presents you with an opportunity to study genuine Japanese shodo—an art rarely taught outside of Japan—for artistic expression and moving meditation. Students study kanji and kana—a phonetic script—along with classical ink painting. You’ll also learn to brush age-old haiku and waka poems, sometimes with accompanying ink and water painted illustrations. And shodo is a fun way to study Japanese language and learn about Japanese culture.
H. E. Davey Sensei is the author of Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony and Living the Japanese Arts & Ways: 45 Paths to Meditation & Beauty (both Stone Bridge Press). He is a top student of the late Kobara Ranseki Sensei of Kyoto, the founder of Ranseki Sho Juku calligraphy. He received the highest rank in Ranseki Sho Juku brush writing, and he exhibits his artwork annually at the International Shodo Exhibition in Japan, where he received Jun Taisho, the “Associate Grand Prize,” among many other awards. Davey Sensei’s artwork has been featured in numerous American and Japanese magazines and newspapers.
