How are you? Have you had a good week? I really hope that you have; and enjoy your weekend.

This week, except sharing the 5 paintings that I have learned to paint and some Chinese language topic that I have edited for you, I would like to tell you something changing in both of my heart and mind. :-)

In fact, I have been feeling the change on my eyes since I came back to Beijing. :-)

-- When I look at the same and bare trees as I saw in the same city last year, I do find that they have changed so beautiful. Compare with the trees that I have seen in the South of China and in Australia, the trees in Beijing have not had any leaves yet. But, I have really found that this kind of trees are showing us their beautiful figures naturally, when the spring breeze comes to them, their branches are shaking and dancing as many graceful girls...

-- When I observe anyone of them, I can see some relationship of Ying and Yang, the dark side and the light side, the different lines on the trunk and the places of the branches extending and many things that I have learned from the books and the lessons in CAFA.

The same trees have had some more sentiments, meanings and reasons in my eyes right now. :- )

Since the surgeries missed my lessons for 10 weeks, include the Chinese ink landscape painting for 4 weeks. Therefore, except the normal lesson, as soon as I can, I try to catch the lessons that I have missed last term.

-- When I read the same art books on the Chinese ink landscape paintings that I had read before I came to CAFC, I suddenly feel that the pretty and the meaning of them have been brought something more, it seems like every painting is talking something with their own and special language, makes me want to learn, study and feel with the feelings of a modern person...

-- When I am learning to paint the landscape from Mr. Gong Xian, instead of feeling the bore as some of my classmates had told me, what I have found is the specially peaceful, cooling and refreshing feeling. So, after completing the three paintings that the tutor required the students to do, I would really like to continue to learn to paint from Mr. Gong and the other Chinese Ink Landscape Paintings as my daily education, since the Chinese ink landscape painting has been considered as the orthodox of Chinese literati painting. So, I wonder why and what the spirit and tradition of the Chinese cultures in this kind of art heritage is?

A funny thing is when I said that I was attracted by the single Chinese ink landscape painting from the colored Chinese Mugu painting, some classmates made a joke that I was bad for I was "Hua Xin" -- be fond of the new and tired of the old. :-)

Then in the new portrait lesson by Professor Bi Jianxun who is also the chief of the teaching and research section of portrait painting of the Chinese Painting School of CAFA on Wednesday, I had a strong feeling that if we covered the head part of the model on the paper, then, I could see something wonderful as landscape paintings here or there. :-) With this feeling, in the lesson on Thursday, I asked Professor Bi Jian Xun: "What is the relationship among the Chinese paintings of landscape, portrait and flower and bird? How do they affect each other?"

The answer from the professor and my own reading is:

-- The true great artists are in fact quite comprehensive. They do not only work in one field, but also, they can work in another fields at the same time. For example, Mr. Shi Tao or Mr. Ren Bonian, they all painted landscape, portrait, flower and bird and made the high achievement in all of the Chinese painting fields, because, the spirit of the Chinese paintings are same or similar.

-- All of the paintings have been affecting each other; the painting of flowers and birds has been affecting the landscape painting’s tradition in the South of China; and all of the three kinds of Chinese paintings have been affected by the Chinese calligraphy. A good Chinese painting should be "Written Out" by the Chinese calligraphy style.

-- Those great artists usually have experienced three steps: to learn the traditional art; to create something new from the traditional learning or to combine something new from the other arts or cultures; to create something Personalized and Unique, to be beyond the nature and the realistic world, to reach the sublime and the highest level.

With these ideas, base on the dream to learn art of painting, music, language and management for whole of my rest life, to work on my exploration of combining of the multi-arts together via my little web site www.ebridge.cn and in the true world, I have made a new art study plan for myself.

-- I am going to learn another 1 or 2 years in CAFA or the other art college after the first phase is finished in CAFA, to learn on the basic lessons for another 1 year, then to focus myself in one or two painting fields.

-- During the time, to found some labs in two Western countries, to help the people who are interested in Chinese language and culture.

-- To learn music somewhere, and to learn Western art in a foreign country.

Therefore, now, I do feel that my life is full of the sunshine, happiness and meaning. So, every morning, when I open my eyes, instead of worrying about the edema on my hands and feet, the first thing I do is to recall the new English words that I had learned from the Bible before I went to sleep, then to get up quickly to reduce the edema via the daily shower of the hot water while to listen to the News in English - even though I cannot watch CNN, BBC and the other English channels in Beijing as I did in Shenzhen, I have opened the cable TV and the English Channel of CCTV is my favourite channel; then to go to the classroom with a dream and a big smile... : -)

The good news is that this week, I do have found the edema on my hands has gone for a few hours several times, so that I have been recalling what I had eaten and what I had done before the good situation happened to me.

I am sure that I am going on a quite meaningful road to help the world and more people. So, I am confident that the God will certainly help me to overcome all of the sickness and the difficulties. Tomorrow will not be easy, but, it will be beautiful much more with some new and positive change.

How about you? Have you found any thing meaningful and helpful with the positive change in your life?

I am just a student on Art of Painting, Music, English and Management, to work on the web site in my free time. I would really like to do a few things with what I have learned to make this little web site to be an Electronic Bridge of Inter-Art & Cross - Culture Exchange, Chinese Language Learning & Friendship Making. To help the others while to improve myself.

I would like to appreciate you for your understanding, directions, supports and help.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, you are welcome to write to shirley@ebridge.cn or leave your message on Message Board.

Shirley Yiping Zhang
March 27, 2011