Inspire

L. inspirare > to breathe
1. orig . To breathe or to infuse life 2. to draw life in; to inhale 3. to animate, influence or impel; esp . to stimulate or give life to creative effort 4. to cause, guide, communicate 5. to affect with a specific feeling 6. to influence 7. to put life or spirit into, give life or courage, exhilarate or make flourish

Sumi-e is a spirit art transmitted across 110 generations: from teacher to student, priest to disciple and artist to artist.

The oldest inkstone was discovered in the tomb of China 's first emperor, the founder of the Qin Dynasty (221 - 202 BC). We see ancient traces of Japanese sumi-e in red and black ideograms inked onto turtle shells and animal bones used for prophesy.

We use the same tools as the ancients: sumi, suzuri, kami and fude. We copy the work of masters to unlock their secrets. We learn from our teachers in rooms of fifty, or five other students. Sometimes we learn from a single teacher, hand to hand, and spirit to spirit. Sometimes we move forward alone. We paint millions of bamboo leaves, pine needles, petals and kanji, in frustration, in submission to, in pursuit of technique. We fill mountains of phone books and months of newspapers. We destroy and discard tons of work. We keep very few.

What are we doing? Like sumi-e painters before us, we are on a quest. We will discover the essence of sumi-e is not the painting we make. It is the spirit we transmit through painting: the joy, the anger, the strength and courage, the passion, the fear, the fire, the tranquility and serenity and balance.

We are inspired by the world around us; our lives and beliefs and ideas; the spirit of people we learn from and love. Inspiration fuels our painting. We paint to inspire others. We need inspiration like we need oxygen.

We are bound together by our desire to discover sources of inspiration, and to inspire one another.

We are a community that preserves and promotes the spirit of sumi-e, so that it may flourish.

Text by Margo Magid