Date & Time: Every Saturday 1:00 pm to 2:15pm
Class Fee: $20 for Adult / $15 for Student
All materials (ex. Brush, Ink, Calligraphy Paper, etc.) are provided to beginners.
All levels of experience are welcome. Most of our students start from the basic – how to hold a brush.
What is Sumie?
“If we study Japanese art, we see a man who is undoubtedly wise, philosophic and intelligent, who spends his time doing what? …
He studies a single blade of grass.” -Vincent van Gogh
Sumi-e, also called Suiboku-ga, is the art of ink wash-painting. Characteristically, it is an East Asian art, and has been practiced there for well over a thousand years. Sumi-e depicts the spirit or essence of an object or scene rather than its outward appearance — and does so in the fewest possible strokes. Because of this simplicity, the painter’s character and personality come through in his/her work. In both viewing and creating, Sumi-e is a very contemplative form of painting.
About the Instructor
Ayakoh Furukawa has practiced calligraphy through Nihonshogei-in since she was seven years old, receiving many awards. She also studied under Zen monk calligrapher and painter Sougyu Kashimoto in Osaka, Japan. In New York, she studied Japanese and Chinese Art History at Hunter College, the City University of New York where she received the Master of Fine Art. Her paintings and drawings have been exhibited internationally at numerous art institutions such as Japan Society, Jersey City Museum and the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art.
