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Hi,Dear Friends
 How are you?
After a 5 - day travel, I came back to Shenzhen in the night Jan 26, 2012.
Quickly, I have involved myself in art study. Worked with a peaceful heart for 4 days, I have completed a new integrated art work with a new painting, new translation, new singing, new comment and new recording for a Chinese classical poem ? Bie Dong Da.
Once more, I felt the extremely difficult to complete an ideal work:
-- If there was one word wrong in my translation, a painting that I have worked for a long time would be destroyed.
-- If I played any note or sang any English word or Chinese Character wrong, it would lead me to work on it once more.
-- If I did not translate the poem and wrote it on the painting, a non-Chinese speaker would not understand the meaning of the Chinese poem on the painting.
-- If I wrote the translation on my painting in English, it would be thought “neither fish nor fowl” or "heterodoxy" -- My tutor in China Central Academy of Fine Arts, did not allow me to exhibit my own combined art works in our graduated exhibition so that I had to take it down even though I had put it in my own place on the wall of the art gallery of CAFA; and my tutor in Chinese National Academy of Arts reminded me twice that I should not write my name in English on the paintings and thought that was “ destructive signature ”. :-)
Plus the pressure from the other sides, sometimes, I have to ask myself why I still keep doing this job with so many difficulties together? Why I do not follow most of the traditional Chinese painting students' road to go?
-- If I went on a general road for most of Chinese art students, then I need not translate the poems into English, I need not create any music to match it, I need not write any comments in English, I need not go abroad and I need not pay a so high cost for all of the studies, explorations, creations, travels and I need not push the jobs forward, then I will no any pressure and to live a comfortable matter life.
Why I am asking for troubles for myself? For a dream that can help more non-Chinese speakers, to help my own motherland and to help this world more beautiful, meanwhile, to improve myself for enjoying spirit life on a higher level.
Since on theory and my little practice in USA, I am sure, my study and exploring is helpful to the non-Chinese speakers to learn Chinese culture via touching and learning Chinese arts. After all, painting and music is something easiest to understand. As the sister arts, it should certainly be able to help people to understand the " bored " language and some complex culture phenomena.
With a firm confidence, I kept working as soon as I was alone in Wuxi, at the airports and on the airplanes in my travel.
The funny thing is that I devoted myself into my work too much so that I forgot to take my big size paintings in my hands after the security checked in, until I was on the airplane. Maybe for the God always looks after me, so that I got it back before the airplane took off.
Then, on the airplane, I sat next to a foreign friend who spoke English, so, when I did not know how to use a preposition, I asked him and I got a good help. The interesting thing was that until I left from the airplane, I just knew that the friend was from France, so that I just spoke one French “Bonjour" to him as my farewell word. :-)
The good news is that according to this friend's opinion, people who a non Chinese speaker would like to see the translation in English to be written on the painting. Also, I remember that many American friends who wanted to get a painting from me, instead of having the painting with my signature in Chinese, they wanted to have a painting with my signature in English.
So, I am thinking, why do artists create paintings? for enjoying our own eyes, or for being welcomed in the art circle? I think, if we worked on art just for enjoying ourselves and the artists themselves, that is ok. If we also think of our target users, then, we have to think of their need. Since my target users are non-Chinese speakers, anything I do should be able to be accepted by them and to offer the most convenience for them. From this meaning, I am going to keep pursuing my own dream and to create something unique with my own style.
After all, the life of art is creation and innovation.
How do you think of my idea? Do you agree with me? If you were me, will you keep a dream that may be something unorthodox?
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