Zhou Chengjie, Master of Arts and Crafts of Guangdong Province, Non-hereditary inheritor of Guangcai Municipality, winner of The May Day Labor Medal of Guangdong Province, and one of the founders of Yicai Studio. Under the tutelage of Zhai Huiling, a master of Chinese arts and crafts and a master of Chinese ceramic art, more than ten works have won national, provincial, municipal and other awards over the years, and she is an outstanding representative of the young generation of Guangcai people.
Zhou Chengjie Courtesy of the interviewee
Entering the Yicai Studio, you will be greeted by a variety of scales and colorful Guangcai porcelain. "The color pen is a needle, Danqing is a thread, the needle is interwoven vertically and horizontally, why should the brocade embroidery spring figure, and the spring flower flies on the silver porcelain surface." The previously unimaginable verses instantly became concrete when the reporter came into close contact with Zhou Chengjie's Guangcai works.
Pile gold weaving jade, stroke by stroke, Zhou Chengjie has been engaged in Guangcai creation work for more than 20 years. With outstanding skills, over the years, Zhou Chengjie has more than ten works won national, provincial, municipal and other awards, is an outstanding representative of the young generation of Guangcai people, and has been selected as "Guangdong Provincial Arts and Crafts Master".
Looking back on his career, Zhou Chengjie has never forgotten the original intention of "doing this thing well in a down-to-earth manner", such as cutting like a discussion, such as grinding, day after day of careful study, continuous improvement, and the ultimate in skills. At the same time, Zhou Chengjie is also committed to promoting and inheriting the culture of Guangcai, so that more people know Guangcai and understand Guangcai.
Getting started: Do it well
Zhou Chengjie loved to draw since he was a child, showing a high talent for art, and his parents have been training him to learn Chinese painting and calligraphy. After graduating from junior high school, Zhou Chengjie entered the school to study arts and crafts, specializing in guangcai.
In Zhou Chengjie's view, at that time, he was a "well-behaved, very honest person", did not have much ideas about the future, and graduated, interned, and entered the factory step by step. In 2001, Zhou Chengjie entered the Guangzhou Weaving Gold Color Porcelain Craft Factory for internship, and studied under Zhai Huiling, the "Guangcai Female Haojie", and started his "Guangcai Life".
When he first started in this business, his income was not high, and he also confused Zhou Chengjie, but out of love, he persevered. Fortunately, his parents only hoped that he could apply what he had learned, so that Zhou Chengjie could continue to improve his skills with the idea of "doing this well in a down-to-earth manner".
Zhou Chengjie's work "Eighteen Arhats". Courtesy of respondents
Under the guidance of teacher Zhai Huiling, Zhou Chengjie laid a solid foundation and grew up quickly, especially good at painting flowers, antique figures and modern figures. He studied Chinese painting since he was a child, and also integrated Chinese painting into Guangcai porcelain, making the subject matter more abundant. Subsequently, Zhou Chengjie repeatedly stood out in various competitions with his outstanding skills and became one of the youngest arts and crafts masters in the guangcai industry.
In 2009, Zhou Chengjie and his teacher Zhai Huiling co-founded Yicai Studio, focusing on researching, designing and producing Guangcai fine porcelain. The studio is not large, but it allows him to have a broader creative space, and he can create more colorful works with exquisite painters and a wide range of themes.
When talking about the members of the studio, Zhou Chengjie's tone was unconcealed pride. "There is a master in our studio, very powerful, who won the gold medal in the 'Yangcheng Craftsman Cup' last year!" Immediately, Zhou Chengjie introduced the master to the reporter, Chen Yanchan, and showed Chen Yanchan's award-winning works.
Chen Yanchan's award-winning work "A Ball of Harmony". Courtesy of respondents
Chen Yanchan won the gold medal of "Yangcheng Craftsman Cup". Courtesy of respondents
In Zhou Chengjie's view, Chen Yanchan and teacher Zhai Huiling both have admirable qualities, that is, to strive for excellence in each work and strive to be the best. At the same time, this is also What Zhou Chengjie requires of himself.
Perseverance: Learn more, learn more, absorb more
In the process of learning Guangcai skills, Zhou Chengjie has not encountered bottlenecks. Selection of porcelain tires, design drawings, line drawings, color filling painting, sealing gold bucket color, furnace baking, the production of Guangcai porcelain can be roughly divided into the above steps, and as the last step, if the oven fire temperature control is improper in the process, it is easy to fade or burn, and at this time, the previous efforts are in vain.
"It will be very sad to burn out, and after doing it for so long, I have lost all my previous achievements." Zhou Chengjie said in a regretful tone, "There is no way to remedy this." In order to avoid this situation from happening again, Zhou Chengjie can only continue to learn, repeatedly experiment, accumulate experience, and slowly grasp the essence of baking.
Maintaining the state of learning at all times is a habit that Zhou Chengjie has developed since the beginning of his career. In his spare time, Zhou Chengjie will continue to study the use of traditional crafts and modern art. To this end, he even spent time and "heavy money" to retrieve antique Guangcai porcelain from overseas, just to study the lost traditional Guangcai technique.
On the exhibition shelf of the studio, the reporter noticed that there was a porcelain plate with a wide color character pattern that was particularly eye-catching, with delicate brushstrokes and realistic characters, which was Zhou Chengjie's more satisfactory work - "Qingshou Tu".
Zhou Chengjie's work "Celebrating Life". Courtesy of respondents
"In the past, the long line character technique we learned was relatively simple, but in fact, during the Jiaqing and Daoguang years, the long line character technique was quite meticulous, and the lines, folds and patterns on the characters' clothes could be clearly seen." Therefore, before drawing the "Qingshou Map", Zhou Chengjie carefully studied a lot of antique Guangcai porcelain from the Jiaqing and Daoguang years, and then integrated the learned traditional techniques into the "Qingshou Map".
Zhou Chengjie believes that Guangcai has a history of more than 300 years, and there are many exquisite skills of predecessors that are worth excavating and learning, and it is far from enough to focus on the "little bit" in front of us, and if you want to reproduce the essence of Guangcai, you also need to devote yourself to historical research. As for the time and money cost paid here, Zhou Chengjie just smiled lightly: "Learn more, learn more, absorb more." ”
At the same time, Zhou Chengjie also continued to "test" new technologies and learn to use iPads to paint. Zhou Chengjie believes that with the appropriate use of the power of science and technology, new ways of expression are given to traditional culture, which can better show cultural charm. At present, Zhou Chengjie has created through the iPad and launched a series of cultural and creative products.
There is actually another reason for Zhou Chengjie to learn electronic painting. Guangcai products that usually need to be mass-produced will be handed over to the factory for production in the form of electronic design drawings, but if the original product is electronicized by the technicians of the factory, it is easy to be biased. "The other party may not be able to fully understand what I want to express, it may need to be modified many times, and in the end it may not achieve satisfactory results, so simply learn it yourself and draw it yourself."
Responsibility: In the future, I hope more people will know about Guangcai
Unlike when he first entered the industry, he "didn't have too many ideas about the future", and now Zhou Chengjie has a clear goal: to absorb more fresh blood and strive to promote Guangcai. In Zhou Chengjie's view, this is a responsibility for him as an inheritor.
To this end, Zhou Chengjie actively participated in the activities of intangible cultural heritage, from kindergartens to universities for the elderly, he has taught. Previously, he had also been hired by his alma mater and returned to teach, teaching his many years of creative techniques and experience. In recent years, he has also participated in many teacher training and experience courses, teaching Guangcai knowledge to art teachers in various districts of Guangzhou, so that they can spread it to more students.
Zhou Chengjie believes that in order to inherit this skill, we must first let more people understand it and become interested in it, so as to truly attract new blood. Speaking of this, Zhou Chengjie took his own children as an example, "I am now slowly beginning to cultivate my children's interest in art and Guangcai, and I will consider whether to enter this industry if I am interested." ”
In addition, the development and design of Guangcai cultural and creative products is also an important part of the innovation and inheritance of Guangcai. From teapots and cups, mobile phone cases to keychains, Zhou Chengjie integrates modern life elements into products, and then brings products to the market and into consumers' lives. And these products will also be placed in the "Yicai Intangible Cultural Heritage Guangcai Experience Hall" set up in the Yongqingfang Intangible Cultural Heritage Block, so that young people can have more ways to understand Guangcai and fall in love with Guangcai.
At the end, Zhou Chengjie also joked with reporters: "In fact, accepting interviews is also a way of publicity and promotion. As a native of Guangzhou, Zhou Chengjie prides himself on being "mandarin-like" and is not natural to face the camera, but in order to cooperate with Guangcai's publicity and promotion work, he will still actively accept media interviews and participate in TV shooting, program recording and other activities.
With the help of the strength of all parties, enhance the communication effect of Guangcai, expand its influence, and let more people know and understand Guangcai, Zhou Chengjie did his best to shoulder the "responsibility" of Guangcai's inheritance.
Producer: Liu Lijun
Planner: Xie Jiangtao, Zuo Zhihong, Gao Chunming
Coordinator: Lin Shaojuan Liu Jie
Written by: Aoyi News Reporter Lin Sisi Zhang Jieying
Design: Zheng Baiqi