Michael Hofmann recently moved to Sonoma County from Kyoto, Japan, where he lived for more than 30 years as an artist and a disciple of the master Nanga painter and Zen priest, Jikihara Gyokusei. Jikihara Sensei, who died in 2005 at age 101, was famous for his series of ox-herding pictures and the sliding doors he painted in temples throughout Japan.
Michael has had solo exhibitions of his work in galleries and museums throughout Japan. He has illustrated various Buddhist classics, including
The Hojoki and
The Sayings of Layman P'ang, as well as Liza Dalby's novel
Hidden Buddhas. He painted the sliding doors of
Sowing the Moon teahouse at Green Gulch. Michael offers classes at various cultural centers including the San Francisco Asian Art Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum.