I continue to try to paint landscapes and continue not to be satisfied. I am not in a hurry and in time will achieve what I want.
Following a recent trip to Japan, I read some haiku of Issa, as translated by Lucien Stryk. I have always enjoyed Japanese literature, though less so the painting, which too frequently seems refined to the point of being slick. For example, I like the Japanese concept of avoiding perfection in art, of leaving some element in its unrefined form so as to make the viewer aware of the medium and the working of the artist. But all too often, I sense that the unfinished area or the “error” is itself too perfectly done. I don’t mean that the unfinished area should be just any arbitrarily chosen area, or that it look like a result of laziness or ineptness. But if it looks too refined, it destroys its purpose. Anyway, I love Issa’s haiku (and that of Basho and others).
Everyone who loves meihua has to enjoy Issa’s:
“Plum in bloom–
the Gates of Hell
stay shut.”
While in Japan I arranged to have Enmanji opened so as to see its Fu Yiyao’s paintings. (It was easy to arrange — I don’t think anyone else had ever made such a request.) We saw the huge paintings in the main temple area and also those smaller works in the rooms in back, upstairs. They are all beautiful. She seems to paint at a steady pace, judging by her lines, but occasionally paints a tree or other object with a twirling line that just skips happily across some space of the painting. It makes for a well placed change of rhythm. Very unfortunately, the paintings at Enman Temple have been kept very poorly. The larger works are deeply yellowed by sunlight that still continues to shine on them. Several works have water stains that came from some leak above them. We gave a small donation to the temple. I wish I knew it would be applied to shading the large paintings. I doubt it will.
Other than the humid, 93 degree Fahrenheit (34 degree Celsius) weather, it’s good to be back in Hong Kong. We have three wonderful seasons here, and then we have summer.
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