Before China - 9 days to go!

ink on rice paper

I bought most of my materials in Brighton last Saturday (incredible sale in Cass art!) and have also stocked up on watercolour paper and drawing paper so that when I arrive, and until I can go in to Beijing to buy other materials, I will have something to make a brush mark on! Mostly I am taking acrylics and some ink but in Beijing I will buy huge canvases, calligraphic brushes, copious supplies of ink, large sheets of rice paper, and anything else that may be interesting to combine. I'm also thinking how I will display my work when I make my exhibition at the end (clips, etc) so there has been a lot of planning and list making!

ink on rice paper

Last year, when I was Beijing for the 6th Beijing International Art Biennale (as one of five artists representing the UK in a 96 country exhibition), I had the chance to buy rice paper and wonderful calligraphic brushes. These paintings are some of the works I made from memory of the visit to the Great Wall of China (as part of our tour, as invited artists), and I am really happy to get the chance to go back to that area to do a painting residency! This has come at exactly the right moment as I want a period of quiet to work all day on some ideas, and to explore further the life force of brush strokes.

acrylic on board

I feel that this month in China will really have a huge impact on my work. For some years I had prayed for a month's residency as the need for quiet and solitude became more and more pressing, and I applied for two in a remote area of Scotland but did not get them (they went, surprisingly, to photographers!) But then China came up. It relates very well to my ideas on many levels because as a child I used to copy Chinese paintings of animals and landscapes. I found a library book that was full of very simple ink paintings and I loved the way that a few brush strokes could hold the essence of a place or animal. But as well as wanting to catch this life spirit, I also want to explore the life inherent in brush strokes and see where this will lead. 

ink on rice paper

All of these paintings are poems about my trip into the mountains to see the Great Wall of China. Please follow my blog while I am in China! (August 1st to August 30th)