Page 51 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2015Q4

Some years

ago, Brook was

asked in an Art

of Bonsai Project

interview:

“When creating

literati, what

must the artist

consider and if

you could only

teach one thing

about literati,

what would

it be?” Brook

Responded:

“One’s own

feeling.”

10
Manual of Painting. Such drawings can easily be seen phy. Brook’s mentor, Mr. Xu Xiaobai, was well-versed Figure 10, “Companionship”
to inspire penjing. There is an abstract structural in classic Chinese arts and culture as well as penjing. Five needle pine. Designed by
relationship to the penjing depicted in Figure 4. The He freely acknowledges that both of his mentors had Zhao Qingquan.
deeply personal dimension of the present book is one a profound impact on him. Brook learned to appreci-
of its strengths. Examining some of Brook’s thoughts ate penjing at the same time he was developing pref-
on this personal connection is revealing. erences in other artistic domains. He recalls that his
The author, William Gibson, asserted that who first encounter with the literati style forty or more
we are, who we become, and what we produce, is in years ago was in a book illustration of the monk
large part the combinatorial product of the people SuRen. He was intrigued by the ultra-simplicity of
and ideas with which we surround ourselves. Brook that rendering, which suggested an underlying rich-
would certainly include poetry and art within the ness. Brook reports that he has always pursued sim-
embrace of Gibson’s thoughts. Brook’s father was al- plicity in literati and in other styles of penjing.
ways extremely fond of penjing, and other Chinese For example, Brook reports a particular fondness
traditional arts such as poetry, painting, and calligra- for the calligraphy of Huai Su—a wonderful example

October/November/December 2015 | BCI | 49