It has an ink stick, an ink stone for grinding the ink in, a small ceramic cup and tiny spoon for adding water to the ink stone, a brush rest, two brushes (not pictured above because I have them hanging up), an uncarved Chinese seal (chop), and some red stamp ink for the seal. No instructions or anything were included in the set, so I had to look up what some of the stuff was. I also found some good advice on brush care and how to grind ink. One of the things it said about drying your asian brushes was to hang them from a brush stand. I had noticed that both of the brushes it came with had little loops on the end of them for hanging, and since brush stands can be pretty expensive, I started thinking about how I could make one. My brushes are currently hanging from a cork board next to my desk on a neat key hook that I haven't ever found a use for.
After figuring out how to use the ink stick and what not, I started experimenting and painting. I've only doodled a little with the set, but I really like the feel of it. I liked the simplicity and calming feeling I got when I painted this mandala today.
A couple of questions came to mind about my project while I was doodling:
- Should I make the mandala part or decide on the shape of the plush first?
- Should I sketch out the mandala or stitch it free form like when I draw?
- Do I want to sew the mandala with a machine, by hand, or a combination of both?
I'm planning on addressing these questions as I go and figuring out what works best for me. For now, I haven't actually sewn anything that has to do with this project, but I've been sketching and meditating on it pretty often.
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