Kokoro Scroll - Buddhist Calligraphy Brushwork

This scroll was a very interesting project. A Buddhist temple/retreat in the mid-southern United States wanted to honor a patron. The top reverend in the Temple brushed this version of Kokoro, and wanted it made in a scroll to be presented to this patron.

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They wanted a Japanese cloth but wanted a more subtle pattern and design in the cloth. In the end this goldenrod cloth with a small ivy唐草 karakusa pattern was selected. They also wanted a lighter ichimonji, so the gold on white with a very similar arabesque was decided upon for the scroll. The greatest concern to the artist was the trimming of the artwork. The work was on a square of about 230 by 230 bun. The artwork could have been trimmed into a Yokojiku because there was a significant amount of white space on the top. However, there was also a little extra space on the right hand side of the work. We decided to keep the length longer than the width, which was a result of good advice and consultation help from my 表装Hyousou Sensei in Japan.

The obvious features of the scroll are the narrow Hashira. This was done as necessity due to the large width of the writing. I did not feel like jointing the cloth as done in the previous Peony scroll at an earlier post. So this was cut from one section of cloth. The second most beautiful feature is the紫檀軸先 rosewood jikusaki. I think this is a beautiful complement to the goldenrod color of the cloth.

Dimensions of the scroll are as follows:

Name in Kanji Name in English Size in Bun (Estimate Size in Inches)

天 Ten 135 (16.10)

上一文字 Ue Ichimonji 11 (1.31)

紙本の幅さ Artwork Width 210 (25.05)

紙本の長さ Artwork Length 224 (26.72)

柱 Pillars 5 (0.60)

下一文字 Shita Ichimonji 6 (0.72)

地 Chi 105 (12.53)

掛け軸の幅さ Scroll Width 220 (26.24)

掛け軸の長さ Scroll Length 481 (57.38)