One brush stroke Ink on Paper, 16x20" -Janice Mason Steeves 2013 Two days before I taught my Abstract Painting workshop at MISSA on Vancouver Island, I took a 2-day class called Brush Explorations. The workshop was taught by Lorne Loomer, a long-time teacher of brush painting who was deeply influenced by the West Coast artist/mystic, Jack Wise. It was so enjoyable being a student for a change and experimenting with painting/calligraphy. Our first task was to make our own brush. Lorne provided us with red cedar bark that had washed up on a Vancouver Island beach. We were to take the bark outside with us as we searched for a stone that spoke to us. With that stone, we were to beat the red cedar bark into a brush, loosening all the fibres until we had a very spindly, feathery-looking object that we were to use as a brush. My bark split into several pieces so I ended up with four brushes of various sizes. Back inside, we ...