Enso Scroll for Zen Practitioner

This scroll is completed in the Fukuro Hyougu style. It was ordered by a Zen practitioner in Canada. The fukuro hyougu style is an informal (Sou) style of scroll. It is characterized by the use of suji, thin strips of cloth that can go either horizontally or vertically onto the scroll. In this case the suji are placed horizontally.

The enso was drawn by Yoshimi Yamada Maples, and the calligraphy on the side is done in the Gyousho (Semi-Cursive) style. The enso is a good pairing to this phrase which reads “Form is Emptiness”. 色即是空（Shikisoku Zenkuu)

The customer wanted a black cloth (Kireji), which reminds me of the robes I saw the Buddhist priests in Japan wearing in their clergy work. The pattern I was trying to accomplish was light, dark, light. For that reason I used the white suji, the Ivory Plastic Jikusaki, and the takuboku kakehimo (White with blue and black speckle Hanging string). I think this scroll turned out quite nicely.  

Dimensions of the scrolls as follows:

Name in Kanji	Name in English	Size in Bun	Size in Inches
天	Ten	65	7.75
筋	Suji	1	0.12
天	Partition Bottom	40	4.77
紙本の幅さ	Artwork Width	111	13.24
紙本の長さ	Artwork Length	92	10.97
柱	Pillars	20	2.39
地	Chi First Partition	15	1.79
筋	Suji	2	0.24
地	Middle Partition	11	1.31
地	Bottom Partition	40	4.77
掛け軸の幅さ	Scroll Width	151	18.01
掛け軸の長さ	Scroll Length	266	31.73