The Unfeeling Beings: Trees, Rocks, Mountains, Lakes ...

Buddhism views the world in two broad categories: the sentient beings, capable of feeling, and the unfeeling beings. Both need further clarifications lest we miscontrue.

Sentient Beings are all lifeforms on earth, including the small critters and inhabitors of the insect world, which are our equals in the eyes of the Buddha. The unfeeling beings are all other inanimate objects that comprise our land, the seas, the atmosphere right down to household items.

This week's arts lesson is on the "mountain and water" genre, in an attempt to capture the beauty, the harmony, and the serenity, of natural scenery. Like all efforts, we start from the basic units, the individual trees and rocks that in combination result in a breathless scene, though obviously my drawings do not do enough justice. But just let your imagination fill in the vision gaps, the scent, etc.

The individual tree elements.

The different rocks of varying shapes and sizes.

Still more rocks, in clusters.

And viola, a scenary, with with my Chinese calligraphy to boot.
And with the human presence (implied).

Resumption of Arts: Class and Painting

After a two week's hiatus, my Arts teacher resumed her class this week, this time of two since one other classmate has found work and could not join the scheduled class. But the fervor, ours in learning and the teacher in imparting her experience, in no way diminished. Here is a smorgasbord of my efforts for the week, some completed earlier in the week as a prelude to the class, one of which is a summary work of sort combining the various things that I have learned.

Scabiosa (Pincushion flower) (from A Book of Cut Flowers, Sheila Okun, 1988).

Chrysanthemum (from A Book of Cut Flowers, Sheila Okun, 1988). It makes for a nice tea too.

Bamboo, slightly truncated at the top as I drew too close to the top edge of the page, losing the margin required by the scanner.

The Mudan (peony), the blooming flower of wealth and elegance.

The roses, overwhelming the thorns (from A Book of Cut Flowers, Sheila Okun, 1988).

The synthesis, combining the bamboo, the Lan (Orchid), the Chrysanthemum, and the Mudan. Can you spot the odd one out? It's the Mudan, the other three being part of the ensemble termed "The Four Gentlemen" in chinese arts. The missing one is the Mei.

Now here's the real synthesis, the so-called putting it all together, the Four Gentlement, the Mudan, encircling the Goddess of Flower, drawn in the pose of a traditional Chinese Lady, signifying the garden of all seasons, and earning the praise of the teacher. (This is a photo shoot since it is too wide to be scanned.)

Clearing BackLog

This week is another off week for my Arts lesson, the Thanksgiving holidays being the reason. But the show must go on as they say. So I have collected some previously done drawings but which have yet to grace this space for all to enjoy (and to get rid of my backlog too!).

Guan Yin Pusa.

The Mei.

The Chrysanthemum.


Another Mei.

Photo Frame Comparison

As promised, here's the two drawings of trios individually slotted into the triple photo frames bought from Dollar Mart at one buck a piece.

The frames are vertically stacked, but the photographic effect does leave much to be desired. Perhaps one with a orange decor might help (see below).

This is on loan from my teacher: photographs of her home-grown flowers in single photo frames, hence bigger in slot by slot comparison, that cost the same.

The Fruits of my Practice

My Arts teacher is out of town this week. So I took the opportunity to do some drawing and painting on my own, practicing the techniques that I've learned in the past weeks. It's kind of a bit of everything: bamboo, flowers, and Chinese lady in traditional dress. Those on white background are drawn on the translucent paper roll that I bought from Michaels Arts and Crafts last week. The price may seem high ($16 per roll) here in comparison with that in Taiwan, but it's more than offset by its immediate availability.

Rippling bamboo ...

There is a reason for this trio. I bought a pair of plastic photo frames. It's curved in plan and has three slots. I intend to cut out the above drawing into three parts (the division is self evident) and put them in the slots. I will show the complete photo frame in a later blog.

The fluttering bamboo leaves. Guess you know where the wind is blowing from ...

These would go onto the second triple frame. Watch this space.

The distracted lady, from reading that is.

And yes, the birds and the bees, and the butterflies too, all drawn in by the fragrance in the air.

Mudan and Mei: Elegance in Contrast

It's Friday again, last day of the working week, and the eve of weekends. Temperatures during the week have dipped considerably, heralding the impending winter months, times that we people from the tropics are much less enthused about.

My new brush pens arrived today, courtesy of a friend who brought them back with her from Taiwan. However, none turned out to be the exquisitely fine-tipped "red bean" brush that my teacher has raved about. Guess I'll have to look elsewhere.

The subject of today's arts lesson is the peony, aka Mudan in Chinese. It's one of the two floral symbols of China, the other being the plum blossoms (Mei), also featured here but are from my works of Oct 23, according to the dates at the back of the drawings.

The peony is a popular floral painting hung in chinese homes, as attested here (Lin's home, the backdrop to the second image from top).

Here they are, the Mudan and the Mei alternating.

The Mudan in pair.

The Mei in two clusters.


The trio of Mudan.
The Mei in discrete locations.

Another trio of Mudan.

Bamboo, Orchids, and Crysanthemum

It's Friday. Hence this update. A mixture of Orchids, Crysanthemum, and bamboo, both in color and in black and white.

Bamboo trees, truncated at the top and at the bottom.

Orchids, next to a rocky slope (the idea crystallized from a botch of accidental ink thereon).

The colored counterpart, the barely noticeable length-wise ripples giving it the illusion of a reflection on the water surface.

The wavy background, resembling a watery curtain, is unintentional. Somehow the scanner roller jammed up the paper progress momentarily.

Another Orchids cluster.


The Crysanthemum as the ending piece.