Shen Jianjiang painted at home. Photo by Wei Yanran
Hangzhou, February 23 (China News Network) -- In the afternoon, when the crowds dispersed, the vegetable market returned to tranquility. A carp jumped out of the tank on the aquatic stall and "snapped" to the ground. A pair of large hands picked it up from the ground and threw it back into the water tank - Shen Jianjiang wiped his hands, turned around to find brushes, rice paper, newspapers and other items, and walked towards the deserted stall to start the day's "art moment".
Shen Jianjiang, 53, has been working as a water producer at the Yucai Farmers' Market in Hangzhou's Xiaoshan for 23 years. In addition to his status as a "fish boss", he is also a "senior" lover of Chinese painting. Ten years ago, he picked up his childhood dream of being a painter and re-wrote, always holding a pen and paper in his spare time, looking for an empty stall in the market to practice his penmanship.
The pen-holding posture of perennial painting leaves thick calluses on the index finger of Shen Jianjiang's right hand. After more than twenty years of water production, he also left the thumb of his left hand with the scar of being stabbed by fish and shrimp.
"I'm painting with my right hand and selling fish to feed my family with my left hand." Shen Jianjiang said.
Shen Jianjiang painted at home. Photo by Wei Yanran
Pick up the paintbrush again: Find your childhood dreams
In 1997, Shen Jianjiang became a water producer under the introduction of a friend, and married his wife, who was one year younger, the following year. Two years later, the water is gradually getting better, and the couple has ushered in a small life... Under the comfortable and happy life, Shen Jianjiang gradually scattered his mind.
During that time, he often made appointments with other stall owners in the market to play cards and drink. The wife was distressed that the money earned in the early and late return was squandered by her husband, so she shouted at him, "Even if you find something you like to do, it is better than playing cards and drinking all day!" ”
This shout really awakened a dream of Shen Jianjiang's childhood.
In the 1980s, at the age of 112, Shen Jianjiang bought his first book on landscape painting, "Ma Xiao Painting Treasure", and the seeds of Chinese painting were deeply cultivated in his heart. "When I was a child, I also enrolled in a ten-day painting class, and when I grew up, I slowly put the brush down." Shen Jianjiang recalled.
The road to regaining the brush was not smooth. Shen Jianjiang, who had not been exposed to painting for many years, tried to continue to deepen his "basic skills" according to the most traditional Chinese model of "learning from a teacher". However, his first visit to the teacher ended in being turned away.
Shen Jianjiang, who continued to drive the delivery, was not discouraged. When he happened to pass by the Xiaoshan Peasant Calligraphy and Painting Association, he plucked up the courage to knock on the door.
After seeing Shen Jianjiang's paintings, Wang Bogen, the president of the association, favored him and made an exception to help Shen Jianjiang enter the painting class, making him a "transfer student" who was halfway out of the family, and later officially became a member of the association.
Shen Jianjiang paints at a fish stall. Photo by Wei Yanran
Main attack on landscape: persistence is victory
Walking into Shen Jianjiang's home, I saw that every wall was covered with paintings. Babbling brooks, scorching peach blossoms... Although he sees fish and shrimp every day, his paintings focus on ink landscapes.
"Because I'm going to sell fish and paint at the same time. At that time, the teacher of the association suggested that I choose the same main attack among the types of flowers, birds, landscapes and other types of Chinese painting, which may be more successful. Shen Jianjiang said.
On paper, it finally feels shallow. In order to conceive a landscape painting that is "suitable for thick makeup and light wipes", Shen Jianjiang would go out to sketch and leave his wife alone to guard the stall. Time is limited, when sketching outside, Shen Jianjiang will carry two tools, one is a camera, and the other is an abandoned foam board.
"Sometimes it rains, the mountains are cloudy, the smoke and rain are hazy, so I use my camera to take pictures of such a scenery, and then I go home and carefully describe it." Shen Jianjiang said. But for landscape painting, copying is always not enough. At this moment, the foam board that others do not want has become the "drawing board" of sketching in his hand. "I use the most practical tools to paint my most satisfactory works." Shen Jianjiang said.
Day after day, Shen Jianjiang's family has accumulated more than 600 paintings, and one after another fine works have also been born. In November 2020, his work "Xishan Yaju" also participated in the fifth "Two Song Forum" calligraphy and painting joint exhibition. Today, the work hangs in the living room and occupies a third of the entire wall.
Shen Jianjiang and his wife take a group photo in front of a fish stall. Photo by Wei Yanran
Painting in the "Burrow": Ten years is like a day
While pursuing the dream of painting, life continues. Every day at four o'clock in the morning, Shen Jianjiang drove to buy goods. When I returned to the market and arranged all the fish and shrimp, I sold fish with my wife in the market. After a day's work, he plunged headlong into the studio. The so-called "studio" is a small cubicle of about 20 square meters, which contains a rectangular table with felt. Rice paper, paint, and ink are placed on the felt.
"The vessel used to hold the ink is the bowl used for eating, and the pen wash is the empty mineral water bottle." Shen Jianjiang introduced that the brush for painting is given by friends, and the rice paper is also bought online by himself, "As long as I start a pen on paper, I must paint and cannot waste a piece of paper." ”
In a box full of manuscripts, a dilapidated book caught the attention of reporters, the cover of which could not be named, and the pages were yellowed. Shen Jianjiang held the book in his hand and carefully displayed the book cover—it turned out that this was the "Ma Xiao Painting Treasure" he bought as a child.
Going around and around, the original intention has not changed. Shen Jianjiang frankly said that he can send love to "landscape" every day, which is inseparable from the support of his wife and children.
"Sometimes when my dad came back to cook, he would cook until he was halfway through the cooking and then run to paint, painting and forgetting that the fire was still on. So I often eat charred meals. Son Shen Xuyuan said that although he was helpless, "painting is his father's favorite thing", and he was very understanding and supportive.
Whenever Shen Jianjiang learns that his painting has won an award, the first person to share it is always his wife who stands in front of the fish stall, and his wife is always the first to appreciate the masterpiece. "I watched him progress day by day and I sincerely hoped he could keep going." The wife said.
In the evening, the market gradually becomes lively again. Shen Jianjiang looked back from the stall where he was practicing characters, and his wife was not far away to sort out the fish and shrimp on the stall. He looked down at his hands—the ideal in his right hand and life in his left. Half poetic, half fireworks, he seemed to have found the fullest state of life. (End)