CHINESE PAINTING

Sort of a miracle happened to me in 1978 when "somewhat" similar to an actress being discovered, I was discovered as a Chinese painter. The late Professor Richard Chi was my discoverer.

He was even very well qualified to make such a discovery. Professor Chi had degrees from both Cambridge and Oxford Universities and he was the former curator of art at the London Museum. He was also a Zen Buddhist monk --quite an interesting -- and quite an eccentric character!

He came to Indiana University as a professor in the East Asian Lanuage and Culture Department where he taught a Chinese History and Calligraphy class -- a class that combined much thinking and doing. It was in this class that I was "discovered."

Ever since then I've done a lot of painting and calligraphy, primarily imitating the works of the Chinese masters.

Along the way, I learned about and became fascinated with the "tools of traditional Chinese painting"

The tools I'm about to show you are the same tools as those used since well before even the birth of Christ.

I've been fortunate to obtain some very high quality tools.... which is the result of a very determined search during a visit to China town in NYC and some of my tools are also from friends who brought them back from China.

(MOVE TO THE TOOLS NOW.....)

What continually strikes me about these tools is that, they are in themselves, works of art, including the packaging.

I refer to these "tools" as STICKS and STONES...... together, these sticks and stones make the ink or paint.

• THE INK STICKS.... as you can see are very ornate and beautiful. From these colors I make all the colors I need for my paintings....

• THE INK STONE.... is one of my prize possessions and was a real find..... the best stones which this is, come from a river in China called ChingTa -- if you're a beer lover you might recognize this name because there is a well-known Chinese beer also by this name.... The stones are carved with a flat surface for grinding the ink stone to make the paint, and a well where you put water to use with the ink stick..... Like this..... Some of the really nice stones also have ornate carvings as this stone does -- of a dragon and clouds.....

• THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF PAPER TO CHOOSE FROM.... all depending on what type of effect you might wish to achieve.
  • A dry, thin paper can give you a very crisp and delicate look...
  • A soft, absorbant paper can you a very soft look and deep rich colors......

Once you learn how to control the elements though you can accomplish just about any look you want with just about any type of paper.....

BASICALLY, THE ELEMENTS ARE

• THE AMOUNT OF WATER USED IN PROPORTION TO THE AMOUNT OF INK -- Professor Chi told me to always think of INK as GOLD and that way I'd be sure to always use just exactly what was necessary and no more
• AND THE DEGREE OF PRESSURE AND SPEED WITH WHICH THE INK IS APPLIED WITH THE BRUSH

As you can see I have various types of BRUSHES -- all used to achieve different effects -- there are all kinds of animal hair represented here but I can't really tell you what is what....

The way I think of it is that I perform a dance of sorts on paper with these elements. With this type of painting it's very much "for the moment" just like dancing....

Some of the effects that are possible are represented by some SAMPLES I have to show you..... (show samples)......

AND WITH THIS I AM FINISHED (traditional respectful chinese bow)

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