Rebecca Cragg trains with Master Hiroshi Tamaki in Wakayama City, Japan where she took lessons twice weekly from 1998 – 2005, accumulating 4,000 hours of private instruction. Upon returning to Canada, she returns to see Tamaki-Sensei on alternating years to continue her training with him. She enjoys painting in the ‘Sansui-ga‘ or ‘landscape‘ style of art but of course teaches everything from the Four Noble Ones (see her Colouring Book of the Four Noble Ones on Amazon) as well as flowers and feathered creatures and more.
Rebecca offered private and occasional workshops in the traditional art of Japanese brush painting known as Sumi-e, Suibokuga as well as Nihonga and Ee-tegami from 2005 – 2020.
“My philosophy on traditional brush painting is to serve and as best as we can, extract the essence that nature offers us, while remaining in service to the viewers who observe our work. By creating works of beauty and elegance, as aspiring artists, we surrender: to tradition, to the materials, but most of all, to the assumptions about what we ‘see’, or what we ‘think’ we see is ‘there’. Through painting, we free ourselves from the chaos of abstraction; we rest in the gilded cage of what is True, Natural, and Beautiful. Add beauty to the world.” ~R. Cragg
Suibokuga is an artform which requires considerable gentleness and patience, and those who flourish with Suibokuga are those unafraid of practice, discipline and who enjoy the repetition of getting something ‘just right’.
For those in a rush, wanting a ‘quick fix’, Suibokuga or brush painting is not the artform for you…
“Over the years I have been teaching Suibokuga, I have had a number of students come and go – those who enjoy and stay to evolve in their personal development I think find that the challenging materials become easier to dance with as time goes on.” ~R. Cragg
There are the difficult first stages of mastering the loading of brush, water and ink. Then, adjusting to pressure and paper (this can take some time, months, years..). Then there is the exploration and layering of subjects: from 63 types of leaves, to dozens of mountain lines, temples, people and then on to the Four Noble Ones (bamboo, orchid, chrysanthemum and plum), brush painting has a vocabulary much like studying a musical instrument. There are ‘studies’ (we employ tracing and analysis, mapping to get the proportions aligned), ‘etudes’ where the student ‘copies’ a masterpiece. And eventually, the in-depth study of particular subjects.
Like music, many who ‘play’ do not ‘compose’: they play the works of classical masters or well-known pieces. In Suibokuga training, study is much the same. After mastery of form and technique, where the essential elements of the subject can be brought forth to delight and awe the viewer, original compositions can begin.
Commissioned Artwork
Rebecca Cragg’s artwork has appeared in over a dozen Haiku and Tanka poetry books as well as online website Journals. She is happy to discuss custom work with you. Prices for a consultation and drafts begin and $100. Finished pieces on rice paper (unframed) begin at $100 CAD.
FAQ
I would like to take brush painting lessons, do you offer classes?
At this time I am not taking new students nor offering a waiting list. Please do an internet search to find a teacher in your area.
I am located ___; do you recommend online classes? Do you offer online classes?
I do not recommend online brush painting classes for beginners who have never used these materials at all. Students face considerable frustrations gaining access to *good* quality materials (without which learning is very, very challenging) and camera angles etc make it very challenging to convey to beginners how little force is required or how to manage brush loading effectively. A teacher who can guide your hand and easily see the situation can make this much easier. Added to online challenges is lighting; the contrast between black ink tones on white paper often washes out with poor video quality.
Please try to find a teacher in-person who can guide you. Camellia Teas does not offer referrals.