"A Day of Zen" — a creative exploration of East Asian Calligraphy & Life Drawing with poses from Qi Gong.

☯ Date: Saturday 25th July
☯ Time: 10.30-2pm
☯ Venue: St Werburghs Community Centre
☯ Location: Horley Road, St Werburghs, Bristol, BS2 9TJ

This is an exploration of different forms of Zen practices through the interplay of different forms of mindful creative expression— calligraphy, drawing and movement. Our aim is to explore connections between calligraphy and figure drawing: movement, rhythm, balance, concentration, breath, and the expressive quality of the line. Some may wish to apply calligraphic principles to drawing with pencil or charcoal, while others may choose to experiment with brush and ink.

☯ In the first part of the workshop we will discover the timeless Zen art of East Asian Calligraphy. Led by Matthew James of the Yōsetsu (養拙) cultural network we will be introduced to Chinese and Japanese brush calligraphy techniques and learn about its history, context and the various styles. We will gradually move on to a practice of writing Chinese characters on traditional calligraphy paper and using specially designed calligraphy boards. Every brush stroke clears our stagnation while regaining our presence and focus, we find our rhythm, allowing our flow to emerge.

☯ The second part of the workshop will begin with a demonstration of Qigong -pronounced ‘chi gung- by Qigong practitioner Louise Emerson of Qi Roots. We will then will proceed to the life drawing session of Qi Gong forms and poses demonstrated by Louise, where we will apply the calligraphy techniques we learned in the first part onto the medium of drawing. The session will facilitated by Charilaos from Life Drawing Extraordinaire with poses ranging from one minute to a maximum of 20 minutes.

The workshop should be especially appealing to people with an interest in East Asian arts, martial arts, Qigong, yoga, calligraphy, drawing, Chinese or Japanese language and culture, or creative practice more broadly. No specialist experience is required: the session is intended to be accessible, enjoyable, and creatively stimulating. All materials for both calligraphy and life drawing will be provided with the calligraphy boards to be taken home as a memento of the experience.

The workshop is suitable to everyone 14+ with all adolescents accompanied by an adult at a 1:1 ratio. Tickers are tiered and the pricing aimed in making the event financially viable and accessible to everyone.

We invite you to join us on a day of mindfulness, creative exploration and Zen.

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Yōsetsu (養拙) is an online resource for people in the English-speaking world to learn about and get Chinese and Japanese calligraphy
Qigong is a practice derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine and similar to Tai Chi. It involves gentle, low-impact movements coordinated with deep breathing and mindfulness
Life Drawing Extraordinaire is a Bristol based art collective which organises extraordinary creative and participatory events. For more information please visit https://www.instagram.com/lifedrawing_extraordinaire/