Simple Life and Art

By Zhuang Yuejiang

Simple Life and Art

By Zhuang Yuejiang

從左至右：《荷》《魚》《青藤碧翠繞金黃》 Three paintings by Bao Meizhen

Bao Meizhen came to see me in March in Quzhou. We met at the garden of the Confucius' Residence. She said she was going to hold a solo art exhibition at Quzhou Cultural Center in the second half of 2016. It was sponsored by the Artists' Association. While we were chatting， I received a text message from Zhu Binheng， an artist of Longyou. Naturally， our chat turned to Zhu， who works at the Education Department of the Longyou Government.

Bao said she owed her art career to Zhu Binheng. Bao graduated from Quzhou Teachers College in 1988 and came to teach mathematics in Longyou. Zhu spotted her artistic talent and urged her to teach art and spend more time on art. “Because of Zhu's appreciation and encouragement， I have traveled so far on the road to art，” she emphasized. I appreciate Bao's honesty and gratitude. She never hesitates to state where she came from.

On July 2， she phoned me saying that she was to sketch in Yantai with some artist friends from Beijing. She said she would try to paint in large sizes. She is a Gongbi-style artist. That means she usually spends daysand even a month completing a painting，for the style requires elaborate brushwork and attention to fnest details. To Bao， the summer vacation is always the best time to do big works. Usually she begins to paint in the early morning and will not stop until dusk descends. Working for about 10 hours is exhausting but she feels happy.

上：《荷風》，下：《詠梅》Two calligraphic works by Bao Meizhen

《一曲春風》 Song of Spring Breeze

Bao Meizhen has successfully established herself as an artist and calligrapher. She is now a member of Zhejiang Artists Association and Zhejiang Calligraphers Association. She has won awards at art exhibitions in Zhejiang and beyond. Zhang Weimin coaches her in the Gongbi style. Zhang emphasizes the importance of calligraphy for a Gongbi artist: Calligraphy is a must for the Gongbi style and one can see at a glance whether a Gongbi artist has practiced calligraphy.

I know all this， but I tend to believe that her success as an artist can be attributed to her math talent. In the frst ten years of her teacher's career， she taught math and doubled as an art teacher. She soon became a star math teacher in the county. Then she left the primary school and became an art teacher at a middle school. As an art teacher， she became better known. She founded an all-women artist society in Longyou. Her math talent plays an important part in her art: one needs all the dedication and accuracy to painting details slowly and painstakingly.

Bao Meizhen has had many teachers who have helped her launch her art career and mature as an artist. She studied sketching under the tutelage of Zhu Jianhua at Quanzhou Teachers College. She improved solidly in an after-class artist group supervised by Zhou Yiyun and Mei Gumin at the college. Zhu Binheng advised her to dedicate to art education and helped her launch the all-women artist society. Zhang Weimin taught her the Gongbi essentials. And she received tips from Liu Wenxuan， Wu Delong and Fu Yongda， professors with China Academy of Art. Du Manhua， a successful Gongbi artist， also helps her a lot. These teachers she mentions frequently.

In the summer of 2015， she sent a painting of lotus fowers to Cultural Dialogue. The editor loved the painting but thought the subject was too common. The editor phoned her and asked if she had any painting that features the towel gourd and towel gourd flowers. Of course she had. As a matter of fact， the towel gourd she painted at the beginning of her artist career was so good that one of her towel gourd paintings was picked for a painting manual by a Shanghai publisher. The editor explained the cultural connotations of the common vegetable. In the traditional society over the past millennium before the 20th century， most Chinese people lived in rural areas and they farmed and prepared for imperial examinations. The towel gourd used to be a favorite symbolism for summer for these farmer scholars. The vines， the leaves and the fowers signify a lifestyle that is long gone. She found the mini lecture over the phone very enlightening. She painted a towel gourd and sent it to Cultural Dialogue. It was used for the back cover of the August 2015 issue. Since then she has created some new paintings that feature the towel gourd.

Bao pursues a simple life and dedicates herself to painting. She finds great fun in art. The Gongbi style calls for greatest attention to fnest details. She just loves sitting down for hours and focusing on her art，without minding how time fies.