Tuesday, September 18, 2007

balancing the brush

I realized while talking to a friend of mine today online that I've accidentally given my blog a rather negative tone so far. This entry is an attempt to balance the mood in my little corner of cyberspace.

This weekend was very positive on the whole. On Friday afternoon I went to the second session of my traditional Chinese Painting Studio class, where we tried our hand at painting Chinese orchids. I can't say that my fledgling attempts were high art, but some of them were attractive in an amateurish way, which pleased me greatly. Well, I should clarify--my attempts at the orchid leaves turned out okay. The strokes involved in making the flower itself still mystify me to a great extent, but my roommate has done Chinese painting before, so I am optimistic that with a practice and a little tutoring I'll improve.

After class, I was pretty much exhausted and felt slightly discouraged by my status as the only round-eye in the class (since the professor's mode of operation so far has been to give me a brief translation after speaking to everyone else in Cantonese). Despite this, I can definitely say that I am learning something new every time I attend that class.

EDIT: I talked to the prof. this last week, and he was really nice about using more English, thankfully. Now I just have to figure out how I'll turn in a passable orchid painting next class... scary!!

3 comments:

CarolinaPblessings said...

So "balancing the brush" has a lot to do with the outcome of your art. That is true about life as well-the art is keeping everything in balance.

It sounds like you are working and learning to do that. Keep it up!

With the combination of Chinese Art and your "Hip-Hop" dance class, you are truly getting a liberal "arts" education. Ha ha. I hope you can stick with both and improve in both.
Love,
JKCW

Paulina said...

Painting sounds like so much fun. And hey, don't feel discouraged... you know I couldn't draw a flower to save my life, let alone something as beautiful and complex as an orchid. And "amateurishly attractive" is always better than "...what in the world is that supposed to be??" I'm sure that with your dedication and your love of pretty things you'll improve soon. And I'll be expecting to be able to hang a pretty painting by my leannlove in my room next semester. ;-)

Good luck with continuing to learn the language, and remember not to feel too discouraged. You can do anything you set your mind to - I belieeeeeeeve in you! ♥

Sarsoura said...

Haha =)You'll figure it out I promise.. there is so much art in you...let it speak out..............