Okyoo (Prayer 108)

A lot of beautiful art was on display at the Sweetcake Ensō exhibit (see Sweetcake Ensō). The piece shown in the video, Okyoo (Prayer 108), is by the Japanese-Russian artist, Miya Ando. The entire scroll is 188 inches long.  

If you look closely, the Lotus Sutra has been etched into the graphite in the middle of the scroll (image below). [NOTE: Miya Ando, who frequently works with metal, is a descendant of the Bizen sword maker Ando Yoshiro Masakatsu, and was raised in a Buddhist temple among swordsmiths turned priests in Okayama, Japan].

New Header

After two years, I have changed the header image for this site. The new image weaves together numerous strands. I am standing in front of a series of ensōs painted by Dairyu Michael Wenger (see Sumi-e and his charming blog Inklings ) on display at the Empty Hand Zen Center as part of the Sweetcake Enzō show (see Sweetcake Ensō). The photo was taken by Jeff Schlanger (thx, Jeff), who had just finished one of his Music Witness pieces at the BackStreet Gallery next door. [NOTE: The last ensō in Michael Wenger's painting, Turtle Island, is shown above].

Where Are Those Transects II?

Another look at the location of those 960 rattan transects (see Field Books) using Google Earth and a video screengrab program. Different marker colors are used for different Nature Reserves. A total of 192 hectares of forest was sampled in this unprecedented resource survey.