Seek Happiness in Life - Live in a Tea Pot

Close up view of the artwork mounted to this silk brocade wall scroll

This piece depicts "The Man in the Tea Pot".

It's a famous tale of Chinese folklore about a man who loved tea so much that he decided to live in a tea pot.

The deeper meaning is to do what you enjoy in life. If there is something that makes you happy, then make that thing the focus of your life. Life is too short to be stuck in some job or some thing that you don't like.

The Materials...

Painted with watercolor and special Chinese ink on handmade xuan paper (rice paper) with gold flecks/flakes. The paper itself is handmade in a process that takes more than a year to complete.

We've been doing some experiments with mounting some of these philosophy art paintings to wall scrolls. I don't know if this will become a regular item or not. This one is mounted with an antique-style two-tone silk cloth combination. This is very much the style you would see in China hundreds of years ago - a very classic style. See: How we make our wall scrolls.

About This Collection of Chinese Philosophy Art

This painting is from the San Yang Collection, a great series of paintings that depict various folklore, stories, and philosophies of Chinese culture.

I have translated the stories of these paintings into English with the personal help of the artist.

The artist and I meet in her home for Chinese tea
and discussions of Western and Easter Philosophy

This work was done in Beijing, China by Zhang Xiuzhen whose pen name is "San Yang".

She is a rather famous artist in northern China and has been painting since 1958.
Her work has been seen in many international exhibitions around the world over the last decade.

This is known as "free-hand style" painting.
This style of painting is done quickly with broad and powerful strokes. But often with a half-dry brush. This is a very specific technique that this artist has mastered, and many try to copy.