I was interested, but also a bit skeptical when I saw “Zen drawing – a new way to become an artist”, written by the Dutch Michelle Dujardin (Rockpoint publishers, 2014), in a bookstore in Den Bosch (Netherlands). We were in this city during an inspirational museum trip a couple of weeks ago (food for another blog). My interest was bigger than my skepticism so I bought the book immediately.

Back in our hotel I was pleasantly surprised; It’s a good read. The book has valuable insights into the creative process,  which are not only applicable to realistic drawing or painting practices. The technique described is not new, even for ceramics.

Zen ceramics; designing and making of ceramics with “body intelligence” is described by the American auteur/potter Kenneth R. Beittel in “Zen and the Art of Pottery” (Publisher Weatherhill, 1989). He emphasizes that ceramics should be designed from the mind and then carried out with the body (yourself or someone else). According to Beittel, (hand thrown) ceramics must be designed and implemented with “unity of being”.

Zen

There is a lot of sense and non-zen .. euh I mean ..  nonsense written about zen. It is not a defined learning, there is no established manual or zen certification. In IT language, we would say zen is “open source”, it is free to build on the existing one and to give it its own meaning. In the west the term is used to describe a “state of being” and is used appropriate and inappropriate.

“Say, do you feel a little zen today?”

It is impossible to find an unambiguous definition of what is contemporary zen, but its origin is clear; the zen movement originated within Buddhism in China, grown during the Tang dynasty in the 7th century.

This movement spread through Vietnam, Korea and Japan. Zen Buddhism has flourished in Japan, and this may explain the interest of zen ceramics in the US since the 1970’s. It has resulted in, among other things, the American version of Japanese raku ceramics, with the accompanying (zen) tea ceremony.

Working with the right side of the brain

The zen drawing book deals with concentration, focus, attention and experience of inner peace through zen drawing. Dujardin does this in a clear and rational way. She explains in her book how our brain sides function while drawing.  She shows how the left-side and right-side brain half’s are interfering with each other (also described in “Drawing on the right side of the brain“, Dr. Betty Edwards).

Left side brain (among others)

• Rational,
• Analytical
• Verbal
• Abstract

Right side brain (among others)

• Irrational
• Spatial,
• Holistic
• Creative

Dujardin describes how some drawing lessons are approached from the left side (rational drawing from ground shapes) and others from the right (draw what you see by focusing on negative space).

I immediately recognized this from my own drawing lessons that I followed, the totally different approaches have always puzzled me. Dujardin gives exercises in her book that stimulate the drawing from the right, inter peace by inner silence and concentration.

Right side brain Zen ceramics

The drawing techniques of Dujardin are also useful for making ceramics. Although I recognized many of the described “body-mind” working methods of Beittel when throwing pots, I found Dujardin’s description more accessible. Despite the fact that Dujardin uses the technique of drawing, I think many ceramic artists will recognize her description of the use of the right side brain during the creative process.

Zen ceramics is not a particular style for me, but a way of working. Hand-crafted ceramics must be made with attention, focus and concentration. With a “quiet head” (in Dujardin’s words) the only way to make ceramics with “inner peace” …

Interested in the techniques of drawing? Here is a nice blog post of Jen Reviews “How to Draw Better”

About Post Author

Daniel Bende

Designs and creates under the trade name DFB-ceramics hand-thrown stoneware figurative ceramics.

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