*lily nestled in rock.

i had a fabulous time with my
brush artist friends on tuesday night.
ate great food, then proceeded to paint.
our teacher had been encouraging us
to paint rocks (which can also turn into
mountains for landscape paintings) and
i finally tackled the subject.

the hardest component in this painting
for me was the rock. it’s definitely more
challenging as i love painting flowers
and using color. rocks, when done wrong,
turn into lumps of dough. i think what is
so essential about good chinese brush painting
isn’t so much as painting something that looks
exactly like the subject, but rather, catching
its spirit, its qi.

the most difficult parts when painting rock
are its shape and its shading. using black
and gradations of gray, it’s too easy
to over paint making a black lifeless blob instead.
what is the spirit of the rock?

the leaves are like orchid leaves. and oh, how
i’ve got the sweep of those down. they
are such a wonderful dance of the brush.
press–lift–press the brush down again.
i make my own green with yellow and
indigo–so you get the various shades for
the leaves.

as for the lily itself, i’d have to say that
orange is probably one of my favorite colors
to use in painting. i never wear orange, but
i’m an orange painter! to me, it is the essence
of joy, has such pop on the rice paper. i tipped
the brush in chinese red for the petals.

painting for me is very much like writing in
a way. in those rare moments when everything
comes together perfectly, i’m literally aglow with
the magic hours, even days after. there are more
ways to ruin a painting than you can know. ha! and
this one makes my heart sing because all the components
juxtaposed within the expanse of white is absolute
loveliness. <3 i’ll be showing this at our chinese brush
painting society’s show in march 2010! =DD

also, i’m auctioning off a signed copy
of Silver Phoenix along with three cards featuring
my brushpaintings at an auction for bridget zinn.
bridget is a fellow librarian and author who is battling
colon cancer and this is a fundraiser to help with
medical costs. there are many other items at auction
as well!

click on link, then enter “bridget” and “rules”
to view the auction!

don’t forget the 25 book give away
(many copies signed!) along with a $25 gc to
powell’s over at the enchanted inkpot! simply
answer a reading question to enter!

and last but not least, Silver Phoenix has made
the TAYSHAS 2010 list! these are books
recommended to teens chosen by texas
librarians. hoorah and thank you!!

currently reading :

a stranger to command by sherwood smith