Earth Boar banners

Each year I create banners for Sky Lake Meditation Center

for Tibetan New Year / Losar / Shambhala Day.
This year the celebration was on February 5th.
 

I begin by going on the internet to gather ideas
for the animal and element of the year.
Then I start to sketch out designs and play with the banner form.

 This year, 2019, is the Earth Boar / Earth Pig / Earth Sow year .

The banners measured 22" x 6' and were painted on an earthy red fabric.

The paint was sumi ink and white acrylic. 

I started with ancient Chinese pictograms.
There is something so distilled and essential about these shapes.

I combined the pictogram for Earth and Pig 

so that they shared a common line in the center.

Next I let the letters stack and interact 

using a contemporary form of the Medieval Uncial alphabet
that seemed to fit with the shape of pigs.

The boar head became a decorative touch.

Then a lively italic script took charge 

and the boar became mask-like and mysterious. 

Here the numerals dominated

and created spaces and edges to play within.

Then some pigs showed up - 

floating and connected by a thread of vertical letters.

And Earth Mountains appeared 

with the boar and numerals becoming a kind of seal chop at the bottom. 

And finally - leaping and running pigs.

May this year bring us all some enlivening wisdom
and steady perseverance !