Page 8 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2015Q3

The Shanghai Bonsai Association enlisted Gong to make a limited
edition of 200 pots to celebrate 2000, the new millennium. At that
time, he carefully selected some of the finest sand in Yixing, the
famous center for the production of fine pots in China. This clay,
after firing, develops a shiny surface on the pot. Over a period of
six months of testing and experimenting, he developed a marvelous
piece “Millennium Dragon-Phoenix Flower Pot” measuring 22 cm
in diameter. The pot is decorated with two abstract phoenix patterns
that imply happiness.
His commissions have included tea pots as well as bonsai and
flower pots. In 2001, he worked with ceramics master Shen Juechu
from Shanghai to make two red porcelain tea pots. Gong designed
the pots while Shen painted and carved them. These tea pots were
presented to a visiting Japanese tea master who performed a tea
ceremony in Shanghai.
Gong’s skills and abilities have been recognized repeatedly over the
last decade that has resulted in many awards for his excellent pots. In
2008, his piece titled “Nest” won the award Best of the Best in China’s
Arts and Crafts in the Tenth Exhibition for China’s Arts and Crafts.
The following year, 2009, his ceramic art named “Ping Gai Po” was
also awarded the Best of the Best during the Eleventh Exhibition for
China’s Arts and Crafts Festival. Three years later, Mr. Gong once
again was award the Best of the Best award for his piece “Catnap” in
the fourteenth arts and crafts exhibition.
More recently, Gong Linmin conducted demonstrations of his
ceramic artistry at major bonsai conventions. He was displaying his
pot making skills at the Asian Pacific Bonsai and Suiseki Convention
(ASPAC) in Takamatsu, Japan in 2011. In 2013, Gong fashioned
beautiful bonsai pots at the Bonsai Clubs international (BCI)
convention in Yangzhou, China. This was done in an outdoor setting
next to several of the world’s leading bonsai and opening artists. Later
that year, Gong conducted another excellent demonstration at the
World Bonsai Friendship Federation convention in Jintan, China.
His creativity in the ceramic arts was on full display at the later 2014
BCI convention in the Gold Coast, Australia. BCI members will have
an opportunity to see Gong in action and meet with him at our 2015

Examples of Gong Linmin’s
painting style on pots.

6 | BCI | July/August/September 2015