Sumi-e

I have long been fascinated with Eastern art, so it’s not surprising that a friend’s gift of a book on Japanese brush-painting, brushes, paper and ink inspired me to experiment with Sumi-e. I wasexcited and surprised to find an art form that combined humor and joy with serious spiritual and philosophical meaning. The simple forms traditionally created with black ink on white paper fascinate me. My progress was slow while I was raising my children, but in 2002 I took my first sumi-e class, The Zen of Painting, with Fumiko Kimura. When she asked me how long I had been painting sumi-e, I knew that I had found my natural niche. I felt totally at one with my medium from that very first class. In order to achieve the Zen simplicity, I have to fully connect with the subject to understand its true nature, which expresses my love of the natural world. The earthy scent of ink and the brush contacting the rice paper engages all of my senses as my brush spontaneously manifests the subject’s spirit.