Huo Xiaohui
In the rainy season, in front of the “Bamboo House” of Mr. Li Fangyu’s Nanshan residence, the water of the Yufu River was flowing happily. Under the nourishment of rain and sunlight, the plants are flourishing, looking around, full of green.
I can’t help but think of Du Fu’s poem “Guest Arrival”: “There is spring water in the south and the north, but I see the gulls coming every day. The flower path has never been swept away by guests, and the Pengmen is now open for you…” Although there were no gulls in sight, birds chirped around the house, leading me through the green-walled grape trellis and the flower path of coreopsis blooming. On the west side of the door, there is a huge banana with green leaves shining brightly, and a pomegranate tree on the east side, full of fruits. “Come on, come on.” Mr. Li Fangyu went out to greet him with a smile, happily accompany me to appreciate his beautiful space. To the east is the territory of lotus, morning glory and various flowers and trees, and to the west is the territory of eggplant, taro and other fruits and vegetables. The gourd vines climb the south wall and spread freely. “In a few days, the gourd will grow up.” Mr. Li Fangyu was satisfied Say.
In such a small courtyard surrounded by mountains and rivers, Mr. Li Fangyu ploughed the grass and dyed the green leaves in peace. Fireworks and poetry are integrated, this state is grounded and closer to art. I thought that the original intention of opening up the “About Painting” column was to explore the source of the truth, goodness and beauty of the artistic soul by intuitively feeling and recording the lives and creative states of the painters? All creations are born from the heart, and the subject matter and style are all derived from the daily life.
Walking around the studio, I saw a picture of bamboo and stone hanging on the wall, just waiting for the inscription. This Bamboo in the Wind and Snow expresses Zheng Banqiao’s poetic sentiment of “assisting that the green hills will not relax, and the roots are in the broken rocks”. Mr. Li Fangyu said that only when the bamboo roots are strong can they stand on the cliffs, and only when people have a foundation can they stand in the world. Bamboo is not afraid of wind, snow, rain and frost, just as people are not afraid of hardships, their roots are their positions and beliefs. Therefore, in the painting, the old bamboo roots he painted are particularly prominent, reflecting the powerful force. Mr. Li Fangyu said that there are many people who have painted bamboo throughout the ages, but few who have painted bamboo roots. Many years ago, when I went to the south, I saw the sturdy bamboos on the banks of the mountain streams. The bamboo roots were bare. There was a special beauty of form and strength, which was often reflected in the paintings from then on. When painting Bamboo with Wind and Snow, the old bamboo root is an indispensable imposing manner.
Agreed that the green hills will not relax, the roots are in the broken rock, Li Fangyu painted Zheng Banqiao poetic
The bamboo leaves are dense , Painting bamboo is often scattered and finely broken, and painting bamboo with wind and snow is more likely to be “messy in the wind”, how to solve it? Mr. Li Fangyu said that chaos is not terrible, it is good to be disorderly and orderly, and it is better to seek beauty in chaos. The key lies in a “order”. The so-called sequence is a kind of rhythm of brush and ink, large and dense, small and small, randomly changing and constantly adjusting. The reason is simple, but it requires cultivation and skill to use.
Mr. Li Fangyu specially mentioned that painting bamboo requires profound calligraphy training. “Shitao in the Qing Dynasty once said: use painting methods when writing, use calligraphy when painting… There are seasons and relationships between raw and cooked. Painting should be done with the method of cursive script. No matter if you are a veteran or a new learner, you should first use the breath. Sheng… His words have a deep influence on me, I often read and think about them, and I often talk about them to my students.” During the exchange interval, the inscription was completed, and the fonts were mixed with seal, clerical, regular, cursive, etc. A variety of calligraphy styles, combined with the pen and the circle, the body is gentle, the size is staggered, and the simplicity is full of dexterity.
I was flipping through the manuscripts of Mr. Li Fangyu’s “Bamboo Wind” and “Flower Rain” two upcoming new collections, and he continued to carefully adjust the pictures. Mrs. Li’s wife, Auntie Guiying, has been busy in the kitchen, making dumplings stuffed with almond cabbage (a wild vegetable). When the hot dumplings were served on the table, Mr. Li Fangyu put down his brush, and we ate while chatting. In the 1970s, when he was working in the Shandong Museum, he had the opportunity to visit famous artists all over the country, such as Li Keran, Ye Qianyu, Guan Liang, Liu Haisu, Li Kuchan, Cui Zifan, Chen Dayu, Lu Guangguang, etc. Scholars ask them for advice and ask them the same question: ‘How to understand the difference between the like and the dissimilar? How to improve the style of the painting?’ Although the specific expressions are different, their general meaning is the same, that is: the distance from the real object Go farther and seek its gods by its shape.”
A corner of Mr. Li Fangyu’s studio “Bamboo House”
“Painting is, in the final analysis, borrowing things to express feelings. I have done this all these years: carefully observe, take the object to be painted as a reference, and integrate my subjective consciousness and true feelings. I write my heart by hand.”
When it comes to lines, Mr. Li Fangyu said that the lines in Chinese painting are actually “emotional lines”, which are long and short, shades of dryness and wetness, and are not mysterious, but they are related to the skill of each stroke, and the love bit by bit. , a lifetime of cultivation.
When taking pictures, Mr. Li Fangyu specially put on a red shirt. His smile was gentle and calm, but you could feel the tenacity in his character, like an old bamboo root. Relax, root in life and seek the source. He put life into the pen and ink, and also lived his life like an Andante of songs.
Li Fangyu, born in 1945. Member of China Artists Association, national first-class artist, professional painter of Shandong Art Museum, librarian of Shandong Provincial Institute of Literature and History, honorary president of Shandong Contemporary Flower and Bird Painting Institute.
One-dot painting