ISABEL HOWLETT
[email protected]
  • Paintings
  • Home
  • About
  • Shop
  • Showreel
  • read
  • Cart

WHAT IS WABI-SABI?

19/8/2012

0 Comments

 
It is something that is hard to define, like metaphysics. That's why it is so interesting to explore as an artist. You can never quite grasp it but it motivates you to create to try to capture that essence. I often see flashes of wabi sabi within the mundane and think that I must paint that and show it to people. It's incredibly satisfying to feel you have trapped that mysterious unknown quantity in a piece of artwork and that quality gives it life. I never get bored of looking at a piece that holds that balance of energy. 



The Japanese view of life embraced a simple aesthetic
that grew stronger as inessentials were eliminated
and trimmed away.


Wabi stems from the root wa, which refers to harmony, peace, tranquillity, and balance. Generally speaking, wabi had the original meaning of sad, desolate, and lonely, but poetically it has come to mean simple, unmaterialistic, humble by choice, and in tune with nature. Someone who is perfectly herself and never craves to be anything else would be described as wabi. Sixteenth-century tea master Jo-o described a wabi tea man as someone who feels no dissatisfaction even though he owns no Chinese utensils with which to conduct tea. A common phrase used in conjunction with wabi is "the joy of the little monk in his wind-torn robe." A wabi person epitomizes Zen, which is to say, he or she is content with very little; free from greed, indolence, and anger; and understands the wisdom of rocks and grasshoppers.

Taken from http://nobleharbor.com/tea/chado/WhatIsWabi-Sabi.htm

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Lover of pattern and colour. I create my own designs, products and paintings.

    Archives

    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2018
    December 2016
    November 2016
    March 2016
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    December 2013
    June 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    showreel

    Categories

    All
    Artist
    Bauhaus
    Brockley Mess
    Cueb Gallery
    Eastbourne
    Ecat
    Eversley Court
    Interview
    Kitty Ferreira
    Loneliness
    Poetography
    Robert Hughes
    Ron. L. Zheng
    Shock Of The New
    Solitary

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.