In Dali, Yunnan, on the shore of the Erhai Sea, the beautiful scenery of the town of Shuanglang, there is a Bai grandmother, 78 years old only the first contact with paint, brushes, zero basic learning to paint. She has been painting for 10 years and is now a well-known local painter.
In a warm winter afternoon, in a green-tiled white-walled house in Shuanglang Town, Dali City, 88-year-old Wang Bingxiu is painting. With the gentle waving of the brush, the distant mountains are like Dai, the cattle and sheep are flocked, the flowers are blooming, the magpies are climbing the branches, the Qingtang tile house, the ploughing field fishing... The production and life scenes of the Bai people jumped on the paper. Her paintings are not exquisite, the lines are simple and rough, the colors are bold and distinct, but they are permeated with strong national customs and show the beauty of simple art.
"As soon as you pick up the paintbrush, the whole person has spirit. Although I am old, I can't stay idle, and I have to paint every day to be satisfied. Wang Bingxiu, who was writing on the side, was radiant.
10 years ago, Wang Bingxiu was an ordinary grandmother. When she was young, she and her husband raised their children by farming, fishing, and embroidery, and when they were old, they couldn't move, but their hearts were not idle, and they always had to do something every day to be comfortable. By chance, Grandma Wang met Shen Jianhua, an artist who settled in Shuanglang, and told him about her troubles.
"Old grandmother, you can follow me to paint, not only to pass the time, but also to sell paintings can also increase income."
"Teacher Shen, what you said is a good thing. However, I have never painted. ”
"Don't be afraid. Do you embroider? I can embroider, I can draw. ”
Wang Bingxiu recalled that soon after meeting Shen Jianhua for the first time, he began to learn to paint under his encouragement and guidance.
There is no systematic and complete painting learning, do not understand the basic principles of painting such as light and shadow, perspective, tone, etc., only simple canvas, pen and acrylic paint, Wang Bingxiu takes his life as the starting point for creation, supported by decades of embroidery experience, often where the excitement and the pen go.
Cangshan Erhai has given Wang Bingxiu endless inspiration, and the long and unique culture of the Bai people is an inexhaustible source of material. She is particularly good at painting the historical stories of the double corridors, telling ancient legends with paintings and showing the moving scenes of the pastoral fishing songs of the double corridors.
Wang Bingxiu's painting style is simple and pure, and all the elements are tiled on the canvas, just like Bai embroidery, painting the whole canvas full and lively. Her paintings are brightly colored and simple, and the abstract colors and Bai embroidery styles collide on the canvas, inspiring a different style.
"At the beginning, I didn't even know the cool and warm colors, so I drew and colored according to my previous experience in embroidery, painted whatever I thought, and painted where the canvas was empty. My favorite colors are red, blue, etc., which are the most common color collocations of our Bai family. While painting, I asked Teacher Shen if it was really okay to draw like this? Wang Bingxiu did not expect that his paintings unexpectedly won the favor of collectors, and the first painting sold for more than 2,000 yuan.
"I believe that painting can really make money. That way, you're more motivated. Wang Bingxiu said beautifully. In the heart of this simple grandmother, it is really a happy thing that the ancient rare years can still use their own hands to make money and create value. She said: "What I paint is the life of the people around me, that is, the scenery I usually see. Dali is so beautiful, I am very happy to draw it out for everyone to see and let everyone like. ”
After the first painting was successfully sold, Wang Bingxiu became more and more energetic in painting, and created works that were deeply loved by people one after another. She had never read a book, and because of her painting, she learned to write her own name. After each painting, she would carefully write the three words "Wang Bingxiu" on the lower right side of the painting. In her pen, the Cangshan Mountains stretch verdantly and stretch, and the cattle and sheep under the mountains are flocked; the Erhai Sea is rippling with blue waves, the fish and ducks in the water are fattened; the Bai people work diligently, the fields are full of crops, and the birds and flowers are everywhere... Dali's beautiful scenery and charming Bai style are all in Wang Bingxiu's paintings.
Many of Wang Bingxiu's works are collected by local homestays and art lovers, and on the recommendation of Shen Jianhua, she also took her works to Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and other places to participate in art exhibitions. One of the large-scale works once set a record of 15,000 yuan. Wang Bingxiu thus became a local celebrity, and many villagers and artists living in shuanglang praised the "grandma painter". They affectionately called her "old grandmother" and said that in her paintings they could see nostalgia and remind people of their hometown.
"Her paintings are rarely imitated. Even if it is a house, the elderly can draw their own personality. Especially the shape of the characters inside, a few strokes outlined, especially simple. Shen Jianhua commented.
In fact, in Shuanglang Town, there are many "grandma painters" like Wang Bingxiu. In recent years, Shuanglang Town, Dali City, has focused on strengthening the construction of art towns, promoting the increase of income of the masses, the industry has been transformed and upgraded from simple sightseeing tourism to the integrated development of cultural tourism, relying on Yang Liping, Shen Jianhua and other landing artists, driving a group of local people to become local artists, creating works of art with local characteristics and generating economic benefits. In 2012, Shen Jianhua established the Shuanglang Bai Peasant Painting Society in The Village of Shuanglang Town, which has absorbed 15 or 6 grandmothers, whose average age when they joined the club was more than 65 years old, all of whom were local farmers in Shuanglang, and Wang Bingxiu was the oldest. Painting not only injects fresh vitality into the lives of these elderly people, but also helps them open up new channels to increase income, so that they can enjoy and gain from old age.
It is said that "poetry and wine take advantage of the years", but Wang Bingxiu's wonderful life continues in the ancient rare years. Today, she draws a few strokes every day whenever she has time, and she can paint eight or nine paintings a year. She said from the bottom of her heart: "Painting has changed my old age life, and I really hope to be a few years younger, live more than such a good life, and paint more Dali paintings." ”
(Photo courtesy of Wang Bingxiu and his paintings, courtesy of the author)
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Source: China Nationalities Daily
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Producer 丨Na Mengyue Editor 丨 Wang Yifan, Wang Bo