Bamboo - red postcard

Bamboo - red is a brush painting in traditional Chinese free style (Xie Yi) with ink and watercolor on Xuan rice paper. Bamboo has been an important and meaningful subject for painting during many periods in Chinese history. The Chinese often compare bamboo to gentleman for its unique character of being neither cringing nor arrogant. Furthermore, bamboo painting is symbolic of self-effacing, integrity and safety. For the tall and straight bamboo and its joints, people also present bamboo painting to express good wishes of being promoted to a higher position or rank successively. Gongshi also known as scholar's rocks, are naturally occurring or shaped rocks. Most of these rocks were made out of limestone. The twisting, unnatural stones are the result of natural water erosion or calcification. First emerged during the Tang Dynasty and were common in the studios of rulers and intellectuals throughout Chinese history. The scholar’s rock was viewed as a microcosm of the universe and appreciated for their ability to capture nature’s essence, especially qi, the universal energy of things. The value of those rocks was based on four essential qualities, thinness, openness and perforations and wrinkling. An arrangement consisting of a longevity stone and bamboo is a traditional birthday arrangement in Chinese art. The longevity stone representing eternity and the bamboo homophonous with the word "wish." The whole arrangement conveys the wish that may one's life as long as immortals.