Sumi-e class in Tokyo

It is wonderful to attend my Sumi-e Sensei’s class again after what seems ages ago.

As before I remembered walking from the station to his studio, the oak leaf hydrangea producing new season’s leaves before budding into huge clusters of flowers. Just around the corner is the pot full of tulips under the cherry blossom tree with petals fluttering like snow.

Making the sumi-e ink lulls you into a state of serenity before commencing, but as usual it took me time to settle because I tend to rush at things ‘like a bull at a gate’ and that is certainly not the essence of Sumi-e. ‘Slowly slowly is the order of the day’ where one skims the brush across the surface of the paper allowing the ink leave a trace of the movement. Being heavy-handed does not produce elegant work, so again I had to step back and allow the rhythm of movement create the work.

It is very similar to ikebana where one has to be calm, allowing the rhythm of the material take form and you are like a conductor orchestrating the way.