The temperature outside today is a balmy -17°F. ( -27° C.). I spent much of yesterday plowing snow. So, today seemed like a good day to put some music on, grind some ink on a suzuri, lay some gasen paper on felt, take fude (brush) in hand and paint some sumi-e.

This 'Occidental Daruma' is one of the sumi-e that I painted today.

The Indian sage, Bodhidharma, known as Daruma in Japan, is considered the father of Zen Buddhism. In many Japanese renderings he appears rather fierce and cranky (Hey if you spent nine years staring at a cave wall, you might end up a tad belligerent too!).

OK I punned a bit with the title, I suspect that Daruma/Bodhidharma, in 5th century India. had no clear intention of founding Zen Buddhism, hence an accidental, not intended result of his actions. None the less a sect in Japan, the Tendai sect, claimed that Daruma traveled from the west (the occident) to Japan meeting with Prince Shoutoku Taishi, an early patron on Buddhism.

Meanwhile; Sumi-e on shuji gami paper, 18 by 18 inches