HAIKU KAI REPORT
FEBRUARY 6, 2016
WINTER MEETING

Attending

Jane Benson, Barbara Campitelli, Danielle Draper, Mary Fuchs, Mary Joyce, David Keim, Elaine Mannon, Sarah Paris, Anne Rees, Janet Schroder, and Mark Werlin.

In a break from our usual routine, we met in the Manzanita Room, where David Keim led a session on haiga. David's presentation began with background on this poetic/artistic form (excerpt follows):

Haiga (俳画, haikai drawing) is a style of Japanese painting that incorporates the aesthetics of haikai. Haiga are typically painted by haiku poets (haijin), and often accompanied by a haiku poem. Like the poetic form it accompanied, haiga was based on simple, yet often profound, observations of the everyday world… The goal of ink and wash painting is not simply to reproduce the appearance of the subject, but to capture its spirit.

David generously supplied brushes, black ink and rice paper. We set our hands to the task and drew ensō (circle formed by a single brushstroke, a zen symbol of enlightenment), or hand-illustrated our haiku. Haiga is a mindful, tactile and engaging practice. Bows of gratitude to David for preparing this unique session!

Learn More About Haiga

The Spring 2007 issue of the journal Simply Haiku contains illustrative articles about traditional Japanese and contemporary English-language haiga: http://simplyhaiku.com/SHv5n1/index-issue.html.

Upcoming Meetings

Spring: May 7, 2016 (Theme: "whispers and traces") | Summer: Aug 20, 2016

Winter Haiku

Some haiku shared at the February meeting: