This is my 385th
Chinese Xieyi Painting and
my 709 painting since 2003, the 101st assignment in Chinese National Academy of Arts.
After I moved into my new office on the 6th floor in 2000, I noticed a big and tall kapok flower tree out of the windows.
Every spring, it blossoms for a long time, its right red flowers cover whole of the tree, as a huge umbrella, covers a so big place, and its top seems like touch the windows of the third floor.
Very often, I was attractive by its so bright red color and the beautiful figure of the tree, so that I stopped my steps, to pick up the flowers that had dropped on the ground and ordered them on the floor in my office, to take photos for them since the tree was too high to take a photo for the flowers, enjoyed its beauty for a long time. Very often, I went by the windows to look over the big tree from my office, to enjoy it and to think what I should learn from it? Maybe its strong vitality? its tall and straight? Or maybe just the flowers' bright red?
The interesting thing is that there are another 3 or 4 kapok flower trees out of the windows of my home, too. They are smaller than the tree out of my office and there are only few flowers on the trees. But, every year they are there to blossom their red flowers in the almost all green in the garden. So that I did find this kind of trees are growing very slow, 14 years have passed since I bought the domicile in 1997, they have not much changed yet, but, they just keep blossoming every year at the same time.
Then, I realized that the big tree by my office, maybe had lived there for 20 or 30 years already? During the long long time, it has experienced the so many the winds, rains and typhoons, then it can blossom its thousands and thousands flowers with the bright red color, to offer human being and this world a piece of shadow and the enjoyment of the beauty?
As a common student, when I am studying, thinking and making exploration on my comprehensive art project, what I should learn from the kapok flower tree, maybe just to prepare to work for a long time, for another 10 years, 20 years or for whole of my rest of life, then I can perhaps create something really pretty and to offer the others and this world a little beautiful “ view “ as the kapok flower trees offers to the human being?
So, instead of working with a worrying or in a hurry, what I should do, is to keep a peaceful heart, prepare to work hard for a long time.
I guess, people usually enjoy the beauty of the flowers, and do not care for how it grow up. So, when we are working on something new and creative, we must prepare to work hard alone, then to enjoy the successful happiness with the others.
With this idea, I painted this painting.
I do not satisfy it. I will re-paint it soon.
How do you think of my idea and the new painting?
Do you enjoy it?
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, welcome to write to shirley@ebridge.cn or shirleyz004@yahoo.com ,you can also publish your opinions on Message Board . :-)
--Shirley ZhangJune 17, 2012
