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Master Kendo Kano
Richard Kirsten Daiensai's teacher, Mr. Kendo Kano, entered a temple at Koya San at the age of 17. This temple was located high on a mountain in Wakayama prefecture, the holy land of Saint Kobodaishi. After 14 years of study and purification with his teacher, Daien Sama, he mastered the traditional way of painting dragons and snakes with one stroke of a brush that had been dipped in sumi-e ink. Not an easy feat. From that time on until his passing, Mr. Kano spent his life as a wandering priest. He traveled in Japan's cities and remote countrysides painting single-stroke dragons like the one below. He traveled and painted in all seasons for countless numbers of people who wished to receive the blessings of the Buddha.
During Mr. Kano's lifetime, there were only a few men left in Japan who would wander about and paint the dragons and snakes in the traditional esoteric way. Priest Kano was a true master and passed the tradition purely to Richard Kirsten Daiensai, who passed the authentic instructions on to his son, Honshin Kirsten, and his grandson, Dorje Kirsten~Shinno. |
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Richard Kirsten Daiensai
During Mr. Kano's lifetime, there were only a few men left in Japan who would wander about and paint dragons and snakes in the traditional esoteric way. Kendo Kano passed the tradition to Richard Kirsten Daiensai, who was ordained a zen priest in 1967. He vowed to uphold the serpent painting tradition and ensure it's survival. On his recent trips to Japan, Daiensai has seen no evidence of any new serpent painting. It is quite possible that the Kirstens are the only ones left who know how to bring the serpent, with it's vivid scales, to appear from the void.
Richard Kirsten Daiensai is a Seattle-area artist, painter, printmaker, sculptor, and Zen Buddhist priest. Daiensai has spent several months each year for the past 49 years wandering through Japan and Korea. All his paintings and prints are done in the quiet and solitude of these retreats, thus creating art that reflects the divine energy that exists in all things. Often, the spiritual quality of his work is tempered with a sense of cosmic joy and warm humor. To view his art work and learn more about him, please visit kirstengallery.com.
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