ZEN SEEING, ZEN DRAWING Meditation in Action by Frederick Franck has been an ally in diminishing the voices that formerly told me 'you must learn to draw realistically'.
as a long lover of Haiku and Tanka and eastern sense, grasping the idea proported by the author was a comfort.
Some excerpts from Franck:
looking at one of his drawings, he began:
" 'Ah! But this is a haiku, a wordless haiku written in lines and dots!' Since in Japanese the same verb can mean to draw and to write, I was drawing haiku-legitimately....
In Japanese, haiku are...the rediscovery of seeing, of celebrating the sensitivity of the eye. It converts deadly looking-at into living seeing!
The poet Masaoka Shiki wrote:
'I had a flowering branch placed by my pillow. A I draw faithfully, I feel I am gradually coming to grasp the secrets of creation.'
Basho, the father of haiku, warned his students:
'Jot down your haiku before the heat of perception cools!' "
"An AUTHENTIC HAIKU must, in one breath,
GRASP THE JOY AS IT FLIES,
THE TEAR AS IT TRICKLES DOWN THE CHEEK.
In its seventeen syllables it must catch the unsayable, the mystery of being and non-being: timeless mini-satori in fleeting time:
this dewdrop universe
just a dewdrop
and yet,
and yet...
Issa
A haiku is:
a flash of illumination in which we enter into things...
a minimum of words that grasp a moment of grace,
joyous or heartrending...
an expression of inner feeling totally devoid of ego...
the eye-heart-hand reflex of seeing/drawing the intellect...Seeing and feeling condence themselves into the ink marks a hand jots down.
TO FORGET THE EGO IS TO BE ILLUMINATED BY ALL THINGS."
and above are my 'haiku marks':
*sitting alone at the rio grande's edge and letting my pencil move to the sound of the water you see in the photos,
*sumi ink markings,
*and a page from a book of tanka that i have been altering (tanka has 31 syllables in 5,7,5,7,7 pattern).
I just love coming here Neva. I am so happy we have met in blogland. Thank you for a great post. I learned something!
ReplyDeleteGreetings Neva,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this with us. As I read your quote by Basho, it is clear to see why he is a master of the Haiku.
I confess that I never thought of Haiku in terms of visual art and so I have something to contemplate this evening.
Thank you for sharing,
Egmont
Wow, I like that!
ReplyDelete"The dewdrop universe", this is so great!
(would be a great title for anything:
artwork
film
painting
book
blog...)
Enjoy your day, xo
Zen seeing, Zen drawing as Haiku, what a wonderful concept, I must give this a deal of thought. Thank you for this great post. Ian
ReplyDeletewriting in rhythm ..done in beauty here
ReplyDeleteGreat post. It makes many of us STOP and THINK which is always a good thing. :)Bea
ReplyDeleteSuch a good idea showing your drawings with the photos, Neva. I'm inspired by the thought of grasping the joy as it flies.
ReplyDeleteNeva, your drawings are fabulous, I urge you to continue and I adore Frederick Franck his books were such an inspiration to me and now it is something we share! love that!
ReplyDeletewhat a beautiful marriage, your photos and your drawings. loves it! xo
"It must catch the unsayable", pierced my thinking and feeling as well as "the mystery of being and nonbeing" they both easily apply to drawing and painting...thank you for this post on haiku and drawing.
ReplyDeleteNice to see these drawing translations of the photos. I don't know a lot about Haiuku but all going well I am going on a Haiuku walk tomorrow. There's rocks scattered along the walkway with Haiuku carved into them (or on plaques.) I will be your eyes!
ReplyDeleteit is so difficult it seems to break away from the realistic ...
ReplyDeleteOMG! What an amazing post this is!!! I just loved reading the quotes and seeing you interpret your photographs...just stunning!
ReplyDeleteI just came from Cat's blog... glad I did! I have drawing issues and the way you're creating, the eye heart hand reflex... amazing!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to let you know that I think you will enjoy my latest post, please visit:)
ReplyDeleteI love the line here, about how "an authentic Haiku must, in one breath, grasp the joy as it flies." This relates to so many areas in life. thanks for the great post, and I love you sketches and the scenes themselves. roxanne
ReplyDeleteThis is my third visit to this post. The first two were "rush visits" so I could check in on you - a quick wave on a drive by.
ReplyDeleteHave been thinking about the book you have been altering. Looking forward to seeing/reading more of your altered pages from the book.
XoxoX
Lovely post. Thank you. The children that you taught were so fortunate to have crossed paths with you.....
ReplyDelete'Jot down your haiku before the heat of perception cools!' As with most artistic endeavours, 'strike while the iron is hot', do while the opportunity, the idea, the perception, the response is fresh and forefront, making the most of the moment. A wonderful post Neva. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI am so pleased you enjoyed my Haiku post (and that I finally learnt how to spell it!! lol) I just knew you would and I appreciated your warm comments.
ReplyDeleteL :)
Ahhh...Neva, you have outdone yourself on this entry -- how absolutely marvelous! Thanks for introducing me to Franck, also. Your haiku markings are loose, easy, as if you truly did relinquish control and let flow!
ReplyDeleteI like it-- haiku marks -- grace and poetry with mark making-- so visual.
ReplyDeleteHere via Donna's blog. So glad she introduced me to you.
ReplyDeleteYour words resonate here with me today.
You've got some really neat shapes in those drawings and I'm crazy about that altered page. Love it!!
ReplyDeletenicely done Neva...I have been writing lots lately also...thanks for sharing this
ReplyDelete