How are you? Have you had a good weekend? I do hope you have.

When I am writing this letter to you, I cannot help smiling.

Do you know why?

I misremembered the deadline that I should hand in my long scroll ( I would like to take part in an activity that will be lasted for 5 months in Beijing, with my first group sample of “Vocal and Bilingual Poetry and Painting Series”, try to look for the understanding, help and support from the government, originations or individuals and push my cross-culture, comprehensive art project that I have studied, thought and worked on it for 12 years forward ), so that I did not think the time would be enough for me to complete the foreword of the long scroll and to correct some of the paintings on it if I attended the lessons of painting from the nature in Taihand Mountains (even though the school had bought the tickets for me and I had painted two paintings for the lesson already) .

So, instead of writing a weekly letter to you as usual, since last Saturday, Oct 20, I worked for over 12 hours each day in the classroom alone, and I wrote the foreword of the long scroll with a Chinese brush for about 60 hours…

However, when my schoolfellows came back the school at Oct 25, I just found that deadline in my mind was wrong -- I would have time for another 1 week.

Oh, my God! What a funny mistake I had made! With a big smile, I suddenly felt that my low back would be “ broken ”, and there was a big stone on my chest, an extremely tiredness came to me so that I felt that I would be able to sleepy on the floor at once…

Anyway, since still I have about 1 week, I wanted to correct some pity in my paintings. So, now, I am trying to re-paint some paintings there are pities on them, in fact, all of the paintings in my series have been painted at least twice, most of them have been painted three times, some of them have been painted 5 times. But, since I have time, I would like to do my best, for both of my readers and myself.

Then, do you know? Now, when I paint, instead of painting only 1 painting, I attach 3 piece of paper on the wall and to paint them at the same time. Even though it is quite tire to work this way, but, I do feel it has given me some good opportunity to correct the pity in the first painting, via painting the second or third painting since a Chinese Xieyi Painting cannot be corrected; while it can help me remember the structure and the details via painting more times, to train my ability to paint with Chinese brush directly -- I mean to leave from the drafts.

On surface, it is much slow right now, in fact, it will improve my speed in the future. The slow work in the school is for the fast work after I go out of the school. Do you think so?

When I was working on the foreword of my long scroll, I could not help saying to myself: What a huge progress of human being has made! I would finish my long scroll within 2 hours if I typed it on my computer, but, I wrote it with a Chinese brush and Chinese ink for about 60 hours.

One hand, I appreciate how our ancestors created the human civilianization with the so simple tools, the other hand, I have been thinking how I should use the advanced Internet Technology to help my project go forward.

Just like I have felt days ago -- when I carried my computer on my shoulder to go to school, it was quite heavy and the road was so long; when I bought a little luggage barrow and drew it, I felt so easy. When I work hard on my project alone, I felt so tired, in case I get some help from some outside force via someway, I should be able to work on the same project easily and with a high efficiency... Then, what is the best suitable outside force? How I should get it and to make it work with me continuously? This is something I am thinking now, and I wish to resolve it partly via taking part in the activity with my long scroll.

“路漫漫其修远兮，吾将上下求索 -- Lu Manman Qi Xiu Yan Xi, Wu Jiang Shang Xia Qiu Suo” -- I see no ending, yet high and low I’ll search with my will unbending. I am not sure what will happen in the future, I am trying to do my best.

What would you do if you were me? Do you have anything special to share in the past several days?


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
Oct 28, 2012(Beijing Time)