"Swamp Buddha Sumi-e - Old Friends New Brush Strokes" opens at Jefferson Arts Gallery Saturday September 5.

For more than three decades the Swamp Buddhas have met on Saturday mornings focused on the ancient art of sumi-e, a Japanese word that means “ink painting.” Their tools are brushes with bristles made from animal hair, water, and ink to begin. Later, color may be added to their creations. In earlier stages, students practice bamboo, wild orchid, chrysanthemum, and plum blossom. This meditative art asks the artist to breathe and focus, much like Buddha sitting under the fig tree or an anhinga in the swamp drying its wings. The artist wets the brush, adds ink, and paints strokes on paper that bleeds. What appears to be a simple production is actually challenging.