In the tao capital Yixing, there are many children who were raised under the purple sand culture, they followed the footsteps of their ancestors, and in the ears and eyes of the children, they became acquainted with the purple sand and embarked on the career path of a potter. The same is true for Chen Yan, the son of the famous pot maker Li Bifang.
"All Hands Pear Pot"
Chen Yan, born in 1965, has been immersed in purple sand art since childhood, and aesthetic enlightenment is the work of famous artists, and under the subtlety, he has developed a good aesthetic accomplishment. At the age of 15, he entered the purple sand craft factory and systematically learned the cultural history of purple sand, mud materials, utensils, pot making tools, decorative techniques and other knowledge, laying a solid theoretical foundation.
In 1981, he officially began his internship and successively studied pottery carving skills with the old artist Tan Yaokun and the national master Tan Quanhai. Two years later, he studied purple sand modeling design and production with the provincial master Xu Chengquan and his mother Li Bifang. Under the personal teaching of one master after another, Chen Yan's skills have become more and more refined, gradually comprehensive, round utensils, square utensils, flower utensils, and ribbed vessels have all been learned, constantly trying, constantly improving, no distractions, and moving forward.
"Full Hand Wen Dan (Tooth Bead Button , Depiction of Gold)"
In 1988, Chen Yan went to the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts in Beijing for further study, from theory to practice, integrating techniques such as drawing, white painting, color, and decoration.
In order to further his skills, he studied with the master Lu Yaochen as his teacher, learned his unique grinding technique, and combined the grinding technology with the traditional purple sand vessel type to make the work more artistically beautiful.
After decades of experience, Chen Yan, who gathered the strengths of the family, gradually formed his own creative style on the basis of inheriting the traditional handicraft techniques of the Ming and Qing dynasties. His works are novel in conception, pursue the artistic presentation in the modeling design, inherit the essence of his mother's skills, and create many exquisite works praised by collectors through the way of "writing gods in shape", and have been published in many monographs, which have been recognized by the industry.
《Spring Bamboo》
"Spring Bamboo", which is full of meaning, is the creation of her mother Li Bifang in the 90s of the last century, Chen Yan imitates the ancient classics, using smooth lines to outline the whole pot or square or round, or fat or thin, or heavy or relaxed, the relationship between the whole and the part, rigid and soft and light, handled extremely well, shaping the intriguing harmonious beauty.
The color of alcohol and elegance is moist like jade after soaking. The bamboo leaves of the pot face are delicate and elegant, and the decal techniques and pot making techniques are in line with the mother, infiltrating the eternity of art and emotion.
The pot made by Chen Yan is diverse, or traditional, or innovative, not rigid, not rigid, elegant and elegant, but also practical.
"Full Hand Wen Dan (Turquoise Button)"
For him, the innovation of the purple sand pot can never be separated from tradition, and while creating a sense of art, we cannot ignore the importance of practicality. Nowadays, the series of practical sketch pots he has made have also won the favor of the majority of pot friends.
Adhering to a pure and indifferent heart, Chen Yan has persistently created more ingenious and exquisite works, expressing his understanding of purple sand from the spiritual level. For him, making a purple sand pot is not a career, it is the inheritance of culture, the innovation of art, the bond of emotion, and the indispensable and precious wealth in life.