A1-2
Click on above image for an explanatory story and, in
it:
One
yao t'iao shu nu
______________
J1-6
Click on above image for Chinese
aesthetic.
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The woodcarving painting and its
background:
Positioned to combine woodcarving with top
Chinese paintings in history, the woodcarving painting is another way of
expressing the ancient Chinese art. It composes more of painting than of
woodcarving, for it holds on to a core thought of an ancient Chinese
artist that reflects on the natural world at one moment. One shall know
that such a Chinese artist was essentially some spiritual hermit - in
his studio in particular - and was particularly Taoist, emphasizing on a
natural and simple way of life. When he waved his magic stick, his
Chinese brush for the art, he was indeed dancing with his imagination in
his meditation, freely, imaginatively, and figuratively; that each such
stroke of the brush speaks his sentiments of his spiritual odyssey; much
like a saint in spirit, and as a poet in the aesthetics. One cannot
really understand it with throwing a glance at it; one shall bury in
thought on it, and the longer time the more it will reveal to him.
Li Jihhua (1565-1635) described the
spiritual baptism of a great painter (translated by Lin Yutang):
"Huang Tzuchiu often sits the whole
day in the company of bamboos, trees, brush-wood and piles of rocks in
the wild mountains, and seems to have lost himself in his
surroundings, in a manner puzzling to others. Sometimes he goes to the
place where the river joins the sea to look at the currents and the
waves, and he remains there, oblivious of wind and rain and the
howling water-spirits. This is the work of the Great Absent-Minded
[name of the painter], and that is why it is surcharged with moods and
feelings, ever-changing and wonderful like nature
itself."
Ni Yunlin (1301-1374), a great Yuan painter
most distinguished for the quality of the freedom in his works said:
My bamboo paintings are intended merely to
paint the fugitive spirit in my breast. What do I care whether they
are exact or not, whether the leaves are thick or thin, or whether the
branches are straight or crooked?" Again, he said:" What I call
painting is only a few swiftly-made strokes of the romantic brush, not
intended to copy reality, but merely to please
myself." |
The prototype of the carvingwork and
application:
To prototype, and to carve it out: one shall
have a solid understanding of the top Chinese paintings, and to put this
understanding into some drawings that are some segments of the
prototypes of the woodcarving. In the carving process, one shall be
determined and meticulous in carrying out the understanding to each last
detail of the carving. Afterwards a certain characteristic would take
shape out of the carving, which shall pose a style the same as that of
the painting.
Air-dried quality wood is required and chosen. The
beautiful wood grain and its original color help work out a unique
surface of the woodcarving painting, which has been well preserved with
fine treatment. The surface is thus silky. In the whole process, there
is no stored force inside, no absorption of moisture. So such paintings
will remain stable and will not warp and crack.
These paintings can be framed
individually, or grouped in any manner you might desire by special
order. These works also show themselves very well when incorporated into
meditation walls of cut stone and wooden plank, and into some fine
cabinet furniture as well. The various works can be produced in any size
you might find appropriate, as long as the proportions stay the
same.
For more information related, please go to
the FAQs page above.
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