I like the way you look, move, or take a posture that betrays how you feel.
The more carefully I look the more interesting the story you tell becomes to me.
What has shaped your appearance? What brings it in or out of balance?

 

INSPIRATION

In the morning, on my bike from my home to my studio, I see one interesting story after another. So much happens if you look closely. The feeling that touches me the most at that moment, I take with me and subject it to closer research on the work table. Often it is a feeling that I recognize or a quality that I would like to have. Sometimes I see an expression of joy. At different times I see an example of guts. By example the guts that I would like to feel when it comes to my work.

 

RESEARCH

I look for examples and images that show guts to me. I watch dancers in a performance or athletes before they take a leap. I try to reduce these postures to the essence. Which lines are essential to create a gesture of this feeling? I try out a posture and feel where the strength comes from and where relaxation is needed to stretch this far. How can I play with the balance in between these two opposites, so that a certain tension arises. When I start to understand the pose I will draw it until I know the route by heart and can draw it without hesitation. Now I can focus on the feeling itself. And to feel that showing guts is more than waving my brush bravely. It takes a constant balance between control and letting go. If I try to control too much, my drawing becomes boring if I let go of too much, it feels overdone like a caricature. Than I find out that guts also requires some form of control.

 

METHOD AND MATERIAL:

I fell in love with ink and brushes by seeing the work made by my great example Fabienne Verdier. while I studied under the guidance of my other great examples Kaz Tanahashi. I saw how, much attention and love towards your work, can resonates when you look at it.

 

 

When I pick up my brush I start with a smile as I learned from Kaz. Then I take time to prepare my materials.  I Allow the brush to gently suck up ink and then stroke it 10 times along the edge of the ink cup. Rituals in which you can find peace. Consider your intention towards the drawing. Take a break after the brush hits the paper, take a slow breath and continue the movement until you let go of that movement in the direction in which it continues or has started.

I still try to work the way I learned in Kaz’s calligraphy classes, only the characters have turned into human forms that I feel more connected to, perhaps through years of Hatha yoga practice. For me, calligraphy is a kind of yoga in which you expand your body with a brush. The combination of intention, attention and a relaxed face form the basis.

 

INTENTION

By working so intensively with different emotions, I notice that by concentrating purely on the emotion itself you can also experience this feeling. So I don’t have to jump off a mountain to experience the feeling of guts. There is no need to buy a lot of expensive stuff to feel rich.  Just start feeling rich.