California Women profile of Dancing Brush® Artist
Rosemary KimBal
by Emilie Winthrop

Courage (6'x26') and Confidence (4'x24')

Scripps Memorial Hospital Lobby, Encinitas, CA.

"It takes courage to come to the hospital. It takes courage and confidence to work here. It takes courage to decide to heal" Cardiff By the Sea artist Rosemary KimBal told the audience at the recent dedication of her murals in Scripps Memorial Hospital- Encinitas. " and yes, it did take courage to face 26 feet of canvas to make that first stroke."

The murals, suitably named "Courage" and "Confidence" are remarkable, not only for their beauty, but for the translation of the delicate "Sumi-e" style of oriental ink and brush painting, usually found on rice paper or silk, to bright acrylic pigments on canvas. Because of their size, 6 by 26 feet and 4 by 24 feet respectively, and the fact that the actual application of paint took only a few minutes, those who understand the technique realize that KimBal has broken an artistic barrier.

Confidence, Faith and Determination
Scripps Memorial Hospital 2 North

"It has expanded my art. I am no longer limited by size or the need to preserve the work under glass. Acrylic colors are brighter than the natural colors in traditional pigments and they are not subject to fading, " says KimBal.

But the key to wielding what philosopher and Zen exponent Alan Watts referred to as the "spontaneous brush" is in the years it takes to make it spontaneous. To achieve that moment when the essence of the object or emotion becomes one with artist, the brush and the viewer. Known also as Contemporary Zen Painting, the technique grows out of philosophy of life as well as endless practice with the tools of the genre.

Unknowingly KimBal's artistic career began when she and her then husband studied Zen and attended meditation sessions at the Tassajara Zen Center in northern California. Although she had tried painting in many other mediums, it was twenty four years ago that KimBal began to take classes from Jean Chua Shen in San Diego.

"I knew from the first lesson I had found "IT", that place of personal tranquillity." KimBal says. KimBal, who also teaches classes in her Dancing Brush Studio, always begins with Tai Chi exercises.

"When the body becomes aware, the mind follows." KimBal asserts, "The goal is to discover the quiet moment within and is achieved by joining the body and mind together harmoniously, in the creative process."

Watching her demonstrate, one realizes that the preparation of the artist's materials is a slow, mindful process: a form of meditation. She drops water into the depression at the base of an inkstone. She takes up an inkstick, itself a work of art with embossed scenes and gold embellishment, and grinds it rhythmically, methodically, against the black slate surface until the liquid thickens and reveals the stone beneath. The aroma of the ink rises in the process. Carefully she unrolls rice paper onto a felt covered table and anchors it with scroll weights, some of jade, some metal, some porcelain, all of pleasing shape.

She selects the correct brush for the image in mind, dips into the ink and in flashing strokes, the subject blooms upon the surface. Three strokes of varying value, from dark at the base to light, carry within their form the very essence of bamboo. Quick, fine lines flick on where the first three strokes almost intersect. The side of her hand blots the shining liquid into the paper against the felt. Now, she strokes on shapes that reflect the silhouette of the brush onto these lines. Leaves seem to move in an invisible breeze. Eight strokes. Her "dancing brush" has caught the essence of all bamboo in this swift exercise.