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Interview with Mr. Beiyuan Zhang
Mr. Beiyuan Zhang is the youngest member of the Nine Eccentrics Of Huangxi, with the confident style of an artist, he is currently severing at Yuanlin Elementary School. We were glad to see him here that afternoon. |
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Looking Back
Mr. Beiyuan thought that he is not good enough to be called a “guru”, he remembered his first practice with the teacher in Raoming Elementary School, the teacher said: “good job”, and it really encouraged him a lot. So he was determined to start to learn the art of calligraphy when he grew up.
The Three Teachers Inspired Him
In the process of learning calligraphy, To practice calligraphy by imitating model works is a very important thing, Following the teacher's instructions and demonstration makes it easier to improve. Learning calligraphy for the past two decades, he fortunately met three teachers and they gave him great inspirations. Early on, he asked one of his teachers, Mr.Rongqing Ren, for advice on calligraphy, each of his students’ style of calligraphy’s character is twenty centimeters wide, they all feel a sense of accomplishment to write this kind of calligraphy, writing large characters changed Mr. Zhang ‘s impression toward calligraphy.
Mr. Dexing Lou is a master of seal carving ,this teacher had taught him about the word order and space, he used to have the habit of writing large characters, and was amazed by the smooth lines printed on the surface of the small seals, he did really enjoy the learning of seal carving.
The third teacher, Mr. Yuzhou Li, deeply influenced him ,Mr. Li has strong art theory foundation, his rigorous teaching and meticulously effected his students. During the period studying with him, Mr. Beiyuan invested more time and energy to re-recognize the ancient collections of calligraphy, he often drove two hours to the Tainan National University of the Arts by car, in order to spend a whole day reading the information, he once saw books that had burned, also saw the stories on copybooks that had not been detailed, the copybooks eliminated a lot of his confusion in the past and also taught him more knowledge . He said: Fortunately, I did not give up. This course made me more respectful toward seal carving.
Breakthroughs
In the initial study, the hardest thing is to practice calligraphy from a model, such as the stroke "vertical hook", it always looked wrong, always feel like it was missing something! Now, he does not need to practice from a model, he threw away his old way, created a personal new style, this is more difficult than "practicing from a model”. The teacher said “To achieve a breakthrough requires not copying from others, and create your own style.”
He Won Many Competitions
The most impressive of the competitions he entered was the first one he was involved in. he got increased popularity after the award, and also began to have a feeling of responsibility. He mainly participates in Changhua County government-sponsored art exhibition, because the rules of these kind of competitions is to send pictures of your project for selection, so he gets more time to prepare. Therefore, he won many competitions.
Mr. Zhang Is a Genius
He doesn’t like to make drafts, instead he would organize his ideas in his mind. Today, Mr. Zhang brought a work of his, it combined many different types of characters, like regular and clerical scripts. He told us he like to write these kind of weird characters, they look impressive.
Making a Cup of Gaoshan tea
It usually takes twenty to thirty minutes to create a piece of calligraphy, however it can take more than three days to prepare the project. Making a cup of Gaoshan tea, sniffing its elegant aroma, tasting the sweet aftertaste, and ponder upon the idea, these are all good ways for him to concentrate on this project.
Trying Different Styles
Art includes many different emotions, and as you grow older, these emotions settle down. So, it is best to try different styles when you’re young.
I Like This Piece
His wife is a quiet person, sometimes she would comment ”I like this piece” or “This part is a bit weird”. These short advices are what encourage Mr. Zhang .
Communicating With Other Members
The reason he joined Nine Eccentrics of Huangxi is because of an invitation from Mr. Zongsong Zhao, Mr. Zhao specialized in calligraphy and oil painting, so he would like to invite more members with the same interest, and communicate with them.
Too Tired to Work
This is the most impressive activity at Yuanlin High School, he remembered that all of the members worked together to challenge writing “The Red Cliff” on a parapet, the nine guys took turns to work with brushes and paint, this is a totally different experience from usual writing. It combined environment art and different materials, he thought: it was amazing.
The New Challenge
Their first exhibition was hosted in Yuanlin Performance Hall, because it was their first show, everyone designed a 12-character couplet together, and wrote 2-3 words each, the finished couplets was over 700 cm long. Everyone wanted to hang these couplets from the second floor exhibition hall down to the first floor. Mr. Zhang was the youngest member of the group, although he had acrophobia, he climbed up a four meter tall ladder to hang it, this moment was unforgettable.
Learning to Appreciate Art From the Beginning
He believes that it is necessary for elementary school students to learn calligraphy, to read and also understand Su Shi's poems would be a great thing. Learning to appreciate art is an important part of life. We may widen our vision by these unique art collections. Mr. Zhang share that he like to teach his students calligraphy in creative ways, the students felt the beauty of calligraphy from the changes of the shades’ thickness and the lines of the ink. He suggested that we could try to write characters in calligraphy, he said: "Go ahead and write big characters , you will find that it is a very fun, and amazing thing."
Blossoming Garden
He said “Look closely, you can discover beautiful art everywhere.” And told us, he hopes his works can become a unique collection after a hundred years. After the interviews with Nine Eccentrics of Huangxi, we believe their works will be like a blossoming garden.
Mr. Beiyuan thought that he is not good enough to be called a “guru”, he remembered his first practice with the teacher in Raoming Elementary School, the teacher said: “good job”, and it really encouraged him a lot. So he was determined to start to learn the art of calligraphy when he grew up.
The Three Teachers Inspired Him
In the process of learning calligraphy, To practice calligraphy by imitating model works is a very important thing, Following the teacher's instructions and demonstration makes it easier to improve. Learning calligraphy for the past two decades, he fortunately met three teachers and they gave him great inspirations. Early on, he asked one of his teachers, Mr.Rongqing Ren, for advice on calligraphy, each of his students’ style of calligraphy’s character is twenty centimeters wide, they all feel a sense of accomplishment to write this kind of calligraphy, writing large characters changed Mr. Zhang ‘s impression toward calligraphy.
Mr. Dexing Lou is a master of seal carving ,this teacher had taught him about the word order and space, he used to have the habit of writing large characters, and was amazed by the smooth lines printed on the surface of the small seals, he did really enjoy the learning of seal carving.
The third teacher, Mr. Yuzhou Li, deeply influenced him ,Mr. Li has strong art theory foundation, his rigorous teaching and meticulously effected his students. During the period studying with him, Mr. Beiyuan invested more time and energy to re-recognize the ancient collections of calligraphy, he often drove two hours to the Tainan National University of the Arts by car, in order to spend a whole day reading the information, he once saw books that had burned, also saw the stories on copybooks that had not been detailed, the copybooks eliminated a lot of his confusion in the past and also taught him more knowledge . He said: Fortunately, I did not give up. This course made me more respectful toward seal carving.
Breakthroughs
In the initial study, the hardest thing is to practice calligraphy from a model, such as the stroke "vertical hook", it always looked wrong, always feel like it was missing something! Now, he does not need to practice from a model, he threw away his old way, created a personal new style, this is more difficult than "practicing from a model”. The teacher said “To achieve a breakthrough requires not copying from others, and create your own style.”
He Won Many Competitions
The most impressive of the competitions he entered was the first one he was involved in. he got increased popularity after the award, and also began to have a feeling of responsibility. He mainly participates in Changhua County government-sponsored art exhibition, because the rules of these kind of competitions is to send pictures of your project for selection, so he gets more time to prepare. Therefore, he won many competitions.
Mr. Zhang Is a Genius
He doesn’t like to make drafts, instead he would organize his ideas in his mind. Today, Mr. Zhang brought a work of his, it combined many different types of characters, like regular and clerical scripts. He told us he like to write these kind of weird characters, they look impressive.
Making a Cup of Gaoshan tea
It usually takes twenty to thirty minutes to create a piece of calligraphy, however it can take more than three days to prepare the project. Making a cup of Gaoshan tea, sniffing its elegant aroma, tasting the sweet aftertaste, and ponder upon the idea, these are all good ways for him to concentrate on this project.
Trying Different Styles
Art includes many different emotions, and as you grow older, these emotions settle down. So, it is best to try different styles when you’re young.
I Like This Piece
His wife is a quiet person, sometimes she would comment ”I like this piece” or “This part is a bit weird”. These short advices are what encourage Mr. Zhang .
Communicating With Other Members
The reason he joined Nine Eccentrics of Huangxi is because of an invitation from Mr. Zongsong Zhao, Mr. Zhao specialized in calligraphy and oil painting, so he would like to invite more members with the same interest, and communicate with them.
Too Tired to Work
This is the most impressive activity at Yuanlin High School, he remembered that all of the members worked together to challenge writing “The Red Cliff” on a parapet, the nine guys took turns to work with brushes and paint, this is a totally different experience from usual writing. It combined environment art and different materials, he thought: it was amazing.
The New Challenge
Their first exhibition was hosted in Yuanlin Performance Hall, because it was their first show, everyone designed a 12-character couplet together, and wrote 2-3 words each, the finished couplets was over 700 cm long. Everyone wanted to hang these couplets from the second floor exhibition hall down to the first floor. Mr. Zhang was the youngest member of the group, although he had acrophobia, he climbed up a four meter tall ladder to hang it, this moment was unforgettable.
Learning to Appreciate Art From the Beginning
He believes that it is necessary for elementary school students to learn calligraphy, to read and also understand Su Shi's poems would be a great thing. Learning to appreciate art is an important part of life. We may widen our vision by these unique art collections. Mr. Zhang share that he like to teach his students calligraphy in creative ways, the students felt the beauty of calligraphy from the changes of the shades’ thickness and the lines of the ink. He suggested that we could try to write characters in calligraphy, he said: "Go ahead and write big characters , you will find that it is a very fun, and amazing thing."
Blossoming Garden
He said “Look closely, you can discover beautiful art everywhere.” And told us, he hopes his works can become a unique collection after a hundred years. After the interviews with Nine Eccentrics of Huangxi, we believe their works will be like a blossoming garden.