What happens when, for a few days, we step out of the usual rhythm of everyday life?
When we slow down, follow our breath, take up the brush and give our full attention to what is happening here and now?
It is a time to leave behind constant stimulation and doing, and rediscover another way of being.
More than a painting workshop
Sumi-e is the traditional Japanese art of ink painting, brought to Japan by Zen monks centuries ago.
Its apparent simplicity conceals a profound practice.
The brush touches the paper only once. There is no correction, no going back. Little by little, we learn not simply to master a technique, but to trust the gesture, develop concentration and allow a more spontaneous and authentic expression to appear.
We explore what unfolds when stillness and creativity come together.
“You think you’re simply signing up for a Sumi-e course, but then a world of infinite possibilities opens up. Days are spent practicing seriously and intensely immersed in the Dutch countryside. All the while enjoying the company of pleasant and admirable people who have chosen to commit themselves to creating a better ‘film’ script for their lives.
Thank you to Zen Master Beppe Mokuza. He is someone of whom you can only say: he couldn’t have done anything else with his life, and he couldn’t have done it any better. He is the type of Zen Master I thought only existed in books set in Japan. What a fortune to have met him in this lifetime.” 🙏
Silvio, Italy, Sumi-e Worshop Allardsoog 2026
“Thank you for an impressive week in Allardsoog. I am completely inspired by both zen and painting again! And through contacts with all those nice people who organized it and with each other!”
Anneke, the Netherlands, Sumi-e Workshop Allardsoog 2026
“I look back on the inspiring week with great pleasure! I feel I like doing more sumi-e again and also will do meditation more often.”
Tineke, the Netherlands, Sumi-e Workshop Allardsoog 2026
Painting · Meditation · Silence · Samu · Shared Meals
Meet the Master
For more than 35 years, Beppe Mokuza Signoritti has devoted himself to Sumi-e and Zen practice.
A Zen Master in the Sōtō tradition, he has been teaching workshops in the Netherlands since 2011, welcoming both people discovering Sumi-e for the first time and participants who return year after year.
His teaching invites us to go beyond technique. Under his guidance, every brushstroke can become an opportunity to develop concentration, freedom of expression and inner calm.
The workshop is open to both complete beginners and experienced practitioners, with personal guidance allowing everyone to progress at their own pace.
Since 2011, a growing community of painters and practitioners has returned to this workshop year after year —
some for the painting, some for the silence, many for both.
A beautiful new setting for 2027
900 hectares of nature · peaceful woodlands · streams · space · tranquillity
This year, our workshop moves to Landgoed Leudal, in Central Limburg.
Surrounded by a magnificent 900-hectare nature reserve, with peaceful woodlands and meandering streams, the estate offers us something particularly valuable: space, tranquillity and time together.
The comfortable rooms have private en-suite bathrooms, and the larger venue allows us to welcome a broader international group while preserving the quiet and personal atmosphere that has always characterised these workshops.
Located in the south of the Netherlands, it is also well placed for participants travelling from Belgium, Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
Five days to sit, breathe, paint and simply be
The painting programme will focus particularly on bamboo, the first and foundational subject of Sumi-e, while other traditional themes may also be explored.
The programme remains flexible and can be adapted to the needs and experience of the participants.
Everything is included
From €178 per day — fully inclusive: accommodation, meals, materials and teaching.
(Shared twin room, €890 total for the five workshop days, Wednesday to Sunday — plus Tuesday evening’s welcome dinner, included at no extra cost)
The participation fee includes:
*accommodation
*full board
*the complete Sumi-e programme
*all painting materials
*Zen meditation and ceremonies
*bed linen and towels
Once you arrive, everything is there.
You only need to bring yourself.
A workshop that also supports something larger
By joining the workshop, you are also contributing to a non-profit project.
The proceeds support the development of the international Zen Temple Gyogenji in Italy and its cultural, educational and humanitarian activities.
To learn, to create, and at the same time to contribute to something meaningful.
Learn · Create · Contribute
Five days.
A brush, ink, silence — and the space to see differently.
What begins on paper may stay with you long after the last brushstroke.
Only 35 places left available.
Still deciding? Request the free booklet!
Information & registration
Sonja Jodo Nijon
sonja@sumi-e.nl
+31 (0)6 22391136
We very much look forward to sharing these five days with you.