Art as a Healing Practice

[Mitka]

Loving everyone's art! I too have been delving into my more creative side recently. Here is some amateur practice (I just picked up a calligraphy brush today for the first time in around 20 years) calligraphy and ensos.

WIN_20200329_20_26_31_Pro.jpg

The two characters are actually not characters, not in the Chinese or kanji sense. They are an alphabet I created to write a language I also created. The alphabet is similar to the Korean Hangul script, letters are arraigned in syllable blocks to create words. The two syllables I used here read [tsuo|e], which is the word for "Buddha nature" in the language I created. They are both marked for the ergative case, which marks the subject of a transitive verb. "|" is a sound made by rapidly withdrawing your tongue from your teeth, technically it is called a dental click. It is the disapproving sound English speakers make that we usually write "tssk-tssk".

I've always love languages ever since my dad read The Lord of The Rings to me and I fell in love with all the languages Tolkien created for his books. I made a lot of languages (the process of making a language is called "conlanging"- "constructed languageing") myself when I was young. They were mostly Latin clones. I haven't made any languages in years, it was mostly a youthful obsession. But recently I have gotten back into it, and have been having a lot of fun. This language I've been working with is especially fun. It's a lot like Chinese, with some Swahili grammar mixed in and a Klingon word order. It contains some unusual sounds like clicks and implosives. I've tried to work Buddhist ideas into the grammar... for example, one noun class (think grammatical gender like Spanish los muchachos/ las muchachas) includes all "sticky things". Some words in that class are: honey, molasses, mud, thoughts, feelings, perceptions, time, the past, the future.

I've been translating some Buddhist texts into my language. Maybe I will share them later on.

Gassho,
Mitka
Sat

[Yokai]

Thank you Mitka for sharing your unique calligraphy and your fascinating creative process. Your post exemplifies Art as Healing...it is fragrant with the pleasure you get from this linguistic/artistic adventure! Just great!

Deeps bows, Chris

[Mitka]

Thank you Chris. Usually people just think I'm weird for creating my own languages (they think it's a complete waste of time which, granted, it is!), so I was happy to read your reply. To me the whole impracticability of conlanging is one of the advantages of it. Since it is uniquely inaccessible as an art form (nobody is going to learn your language in order to appreciate how much thought and attention you put into it) there is less thought about profiting by it in some way and more space to just focus on doing it just because you like doing it. I know a lot of painters and poets and novel writers can do this too, but for me it was always a problem. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on my what I shared, I hope to be able to share some more later.

Art is healing. It reminds us that there is a whole dimension of reality separate from everyday life and invites us to spend more time there than we usually do. In that way it is like meditation. Thank you everyone for sharing your art and inspiring me to revisit some of my old interests.

Lockdown: here's my boy Dylan, gazing at the world outside...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6355[/ATTACH]

In this together...
Gassho, Chris satlah

I love this. I can really feel the longing and frustration for not being able to go outside. Also reminds me of what it feels like to look out a window after a good zazen session.

Gassho,
Mitka
Sat

[Jishin]

My good friend Loki (god of mischief) is always ready for a modeling session.

Gassho, Jishin, __/stlah\__

[Jakuden]

Loving everyone's art! I too have been delving into my more creative side recently. Here is some amateur practice (I just picked up a calligraphy brush today for the first time in around 20 years) calligraphy and ensos.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6357[/ATTACH]

The two characters are actually not characters, not in the Chinese or kanji sense. They are an alphabet I created to write a language I also created. The alphabet is similar to the Korean Hangul script, letters are arraigned in syllable blocks to create words. The two syllables I used here read [tsuo|e], which is the word for "Buddha nature" in the language I created. They are both marked for the ergative case, which marks the subject of a transitive verb. "|" is a sound made by rapidly withdrawing your tongue from your teeth, technically it is called a dental click. It is the disapproving sound English speakers make that we usually write "tssk-tssk".

I've always love languages ever since my dad read The Lord of The Rings to me and I fell in love with all the languages Tolkien created for his books. I made a lot of languages (the process of making a language is called "conlanging"- "constructed languageing") myself when I was young. They were mostly Latin clones. I haven't made any languages in years, it was mostly a youthful obsession. But recently I have gotten back into it, and have been having a lot of fun. This language I've been working with is especially fun. It's a lot like Chinese, with some Swahili grammar mixed in and a Klingon word order. It contains some unusual sounds like clicks and implosives. I've tried to work Buddhist ideas into the grammar... for example, one noun class (think grammatical gender like Spanish los muchachos/ las muchachas) includes all "sticky things". Some words in that class are: honey, molasses, mud, thoughts, feelings, perceptions, time, the past, the future.

I've been translating some Buddhist texts into my language. Maybe I will share them later on.

Gassho,
Mitka
Sat

Holy cow that is the coolest thing I've heard in awhile (probably since Sekishi's dabblings with pixels and AI learning)

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH

[Cooperix]

Loving everyone's art! I too have been delving into my more creative side recently. Here is some amateur practice (I just picked up a calligraphy brush today for the first time in around 20 years) calligraphy and ensos.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6357[/ATTACH]

The two characters are actually not characters, not in the Chinese or kanji sense. They are an alphabet I created to write a language I also created. The alphabet is similar to the Korean Hangul script, letters are arraigned in syllable blocks to create words. The two syllables I used here read [tsuo|e], which is the word for "Buddha nature" in the language I created. They are both marked for the ergative case, which marks the subject of a transitive verb. "|" is a sound made by rapidly withdrawing your tongue from your teeth, technically it is called a dental click. It is the disapproving sound English speakers make that we usually write "tssk-tssk".

I've always love languages ever since my dad read The Lord of The Rings to me and I fell in love with all the languages Tolkien created for his books. I made a lot of languages (the process of making a language is called "conlanging"- "constructed languageing") myself when I was young. They were mostly Latin clones. I haven't made any languages in years, it was mostly a youthful obsession. But recently I have gotten back into it, and have been having a lot of fun. This language I've been working with is especially fun. It's a lot like Chinese, with some Swahili grammar mixed in and a Klingon word order. It contains some unusual sounds like clicks and implosives. I've tried to work Buddhist ideas into the grammar... for example, one noun class (think grammatical gender like Spanish los muchachos/ las muchachas) includes all "sticky things". Some words in that class are: honey, molasses, mud, thoughts, feelings, perceptions, time, the past, the future.

I've been translating some Buddhist texts into my language. Maybe I will share them later on.

Gassho,
Mitka
Sat

Hello Mitka,

I agree with Jakuken!

Languages are fascinating and the way marks are made to denote ideas is as well. I use marks as notations that could be language, or written thoughts or chants often in my artwork, but you've gone a step further and actually made up a written language. I love that. Clearly you know linguistics to formulate syntax and grammar and must know a fair bit about obscure languages. Totally cool.

Wonderful and good that you have returned to a childhood passion. So much of our creativity is squashed out of us once we 'grow up'.
"Every child is an artist. The problem is to remain an artist once they grow up." Picasso

bows
Anne

~lahst~

[Tai Do]

Thank you all for your sharing your work with us here. Mitka, I’m impressed by what you are doing. And I think the real beauty of art is that it is really not useful for anything directly, in other words, it is not a means for other ends, but function as an end in itself. In my book, it makes these processes more valuable than the things we do in order to achieve other ends.

I will present here a poem I've been working on since last spring (september-december in Southern Hemisphere). It is a seasonable poem in tanka format (Japanese morae 5-7-5-7-7). I made the poem in Portuguese, then translated it to Japanese and started to change the words until I reached the format. It take me some months in order to give its final form (of course I did not work on it every day). I intend to write it with ink on paper, but the kanji are very complicated for me to write in calligraphy form right now.

Here is the final version:

春の朝
小鳥の声を
ジャカランダが
道の横には
紫に咲く

English translation:

Spring’s morning
[I hear] the voice of a small bird
The jacaranda [tree]
In the side of the road
Blooms in purple

I love this tree, as is one of the more commons and appreciated trees in my family’s city, Porto Alegre. They bloom beautifully in purple and male the ground like a purple tapestry. I made this poem because I was surprised to see that they also exist and blooms here (center of Brazil), although there is no cold and no humidity like in the South. Of course, the trees here are very small compared to the southern ones, but the birds sing just like there.
In these lockdown autumn times, the remembrance of the spring is a good thing to do.
Here are some photos from google images of jacaranda blooming on Porto Alegre (they are the purple ones, the others are ypes):

https://www.google.com/search?q=jacarand%C3%A1s+florindo+porto+alegre&sxsrf=ALeKk03NyDUTbpg_KBpoSbnCGo_5xQ3xzA:1585857006549&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhu6jcwcroAhUiHbkGHeUKAVAQ_AUoAnoECAoQBA&biw=1366&bih=623

Gassho,
Mateus
Sat/LAH

[Heiso]

Thank you everyone for sharing your art. I need to find a medium other than the garden, I'm following this thread with interest.

Gassho,

Heiso

StLah

[Tai Do]

Show us your garden in photos, Heiso. I think it is wonderful to care for a garden.
Gassho,
Mateus
Sat/LAH

[Mitka]

Thanks everyone! I'm happy to know that other people beside us language geeks can be enthusiastic about language .

Hello Mitka,

I agree with Jakuken!

Languages are fascinating and the way marks are made to denote ideas is as well. I use marks as notations that could be language, or written thoughts or chants often in my artwork, but you've gone a step further and actually made up a written language. I love that. Clearly you know linguistics to formulate syntax and grammar and must know a fair bit about obscure languages. Totally cool.

Marks and types of notation are forms of languages too. The only difference is how much information they convey. The beauty of art is that it is so expressive in it's own right it usually doesn't need a full blown writing system of it's own. Artists can convey ideas and emotions outside words and across language barriers. It's a little bit like Zen in that way. Another reason it can be so healing.

Wonderful and good that you have returned to a childhood passion. So much of our creativity is squashed out of us once we 'grow up'.
"Every child is an artist. The problem is to remain an artist once they grow up." Picasso

bows
Anne

~lahst~

I love that quote, thanks for sharing. Yes utilitarianism and economic calculations have killed creativity in adults. We don't have "time" for "useless" activities like painting or poetry. It's a shame that a lot of adults live like this. I wasn't able to connect deeply with my creativity again until I started practicing.

Thank you all for your sharing your work with us here. Mitka, I’m impressed by what you are doing. And I think the real beauty of art is that it is really not useful for anything directly, in other words, it is not a means for other ends, but function as an end in itself. In my book, it makes these processes more valuable than the things we do in order to achieve other ends.

I will present here a poem I've been working on since last spring (september-december in Southern Hemisphere). It is a seasonable poem in tanka format (Japanese morae 5-7-5-7-7). I made the poem in Portuguese, then translated it to Japanese and started to change the words until I reached the format. It take me some months in order to give its final form (of course I did not work on it every day). I intend to write it with ink on paper, but the kanji are very complicated for me to write in calligraphy form right now.

Here is the final version:

春の朝
小鳥の声を
ジャカランダが
道の横には
紫に咲く

English translation:

Spring’s morning
[I hear] the voice of a small bird
The jacaranda [tree]
In the side of the road
Blooms in purple

I love this tree, as is one of the more commons and appreciated trees in my family’s city, Porto Alegre. They bloom beautifully in purple and male the ground like a purple tapestry. I made this poem because I was surprised to see that they also exist and blooms here (center of Brazil), although there is no cold and no humidity like in the South. Of course, the trees here are very small compared to the southern ones, but the birds sing just like there.
In these lockdown autumn times, the remembrance of the spring is a good thing to do.
Here are some photos from google images of jacaranda blooming on Porto Alegre (they are the purple ones, the others are ypes):

https://www.google.com/search?q=jacarand%C3%A1s+florindo+porto+alegre&sxsrf=ALeKk03NyDUTbpg_KBpoSbnCGo_5xQ3xzA:1585857006549&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhu6jcwcroAhUiHbkGHeUKAVAQ_AUoAnoECAoQBA&biw=1366&bih=623

Gassho,
Mateus
Sat/LAH

Thanks for sharing your poem, Mateus. A beautiful snapshot of spring. There is so much beauty in those little moments like the one you describe, but we miss them all the time. How does your poem read phonetically in Japanese? Those jacarandas looks absolutely beautiful.

I too love spring for the flowering trees. Wish we had some jacarandas here in Ohio. There is a Bradford pear across the street in full bloom of white flowers. My father hates it because it's an "invasive species" but it's absolutely gorgeous in spring.

I'm currently taking an online sumi-e course from a teacher. Here is my first homework assignment "Orchids".

WIN_20200403_17_02_35_Pro.jpg

I added a poem as well. The poem reads:

ts’on ʃak tsuo tsak
ling hak jæɨmu tsak
lingts’on hæt jaim1 ǃa1
suong zuiq ʃuiq suongʘa1

The poem means:

The Buddha is the sun
The dharma is light
Bathe in that sunlight
Let your flower bloom

Those weird symbols designate certain sounds in the International Phonetic Alphabet. The number "1" that is placed at the end of some words denotes a "creaky voice" phonation. If you aren't familiar with that, you have heard it if you ever heard people like Britney Spears or Zoe Deschanel talk. It's also called "vocal fry".

I love how 1st grade my calligraphy looks.

Gassho,
Mitka
Sat

[Tai Do]

Thanks for sharing your poem, Mateus. A beautiful snapshot of spring. There is so much beauty in those little moments like the one you describe, but we miss them all the time. How does your poem read phonetically in Japanese? Those jacarandas looks absolutely beautiful.

Thanks Mitka.

The Japanese pronunciation should be:

春の朝 (Haru no asa)
小鳥の声を (kotori no koe o)
ジャカランダが (jakaranda ga)
道の横には (michi no yoko ni wa)
紫に咲く (murasaki ni saku)

I love your sumi-e panting. It is very impressive for a first homework. Thanks for sharing with us.

Gassho,
Mateus
Sat/LAH

[Nengei]

Beautiful, creative artworks, friends.

My art takes a certain amount of comfort from focus on technique and control. When someone talks about painting with abandon, or letting their feelings out on the canvas... I'm not entirely sure what that means. I see people do it. I think about it. And I think about representing the current global crises. I'm not sure what that will look like yet. In the meantime I breathe out, long and slow, while my brush moves across my canvas. I am preparing to turn my work from still live to figurative and portrait paintings. Lately, I am doing a lot of basic exercises to ensure that I do not lack any of the fundamental skills I need.

Stuff can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/josephalexanderstudio/ and I am building a website here: https://www.josephalexanderstudio.com.

Gassho,
Nengei
Sat today. LAH

[Cooperix]

春の朝
小鳥の声を
ジャカランダが
道の横には
紫に咲く

Mateus, I love the visual symmetry of this verse. And the translation too!

Such wonderful work here.

And Nengei, beautiful work. So serene and quiet. I look forward to seeing your portraits! The late artist Robert Peterson's paintings have a similar quietness as yours. He Was deaf, and you can see that in his work. Silent paintings. https://www.askart.com/artist/Robert..._Peterson.aspx

https://www.southwestart.com/articles-interviews/featured-artists/robert_peterson

Your curiosity about spontaneity in making art is shared and envied by me. Everything I make has to be carefully considered, measured, constructed etc. But that's what I do. Thanks for posting...

gassho

Anne

~st~

[Meitou]

So much fabulous work here, it's quite breathtaking. So much creativity in Treeleaf, please keep sharing and do contribute to the Art Circle.
Wonderful stuff,
Gassho
Meitou
Sattodaylah

[Meitou]

During the lockdown, I've been exploring our very small apartment as photo subject and a way of expressing our new lifestyle. Before lockdown, there were times when I looked out of the windows with a longing to be outside, but for one reason or another couldn't go out at that point. Since our lives changed, the outside has taken on a different shade - inside is now safe, whereas outside is a constant, ongoing threat and a source of an underlying thrumming anxiety. This first series of photographs, which some of you will already have seen on Instagram, are an attempt to reflect that unseen threat attempting to enter into my safe inside space. Now that the beautiful spring weather is with us, for my next sequence I'll be approaching the windows and gradually moving outside into our tiny yard.

view march 29.jpg

bedroom.jpg

view 2 studio.jpg


/...
Gassho
Meitou
sattodaylah