One August evening I was sitting with three painters, an art museum curator and a journalist of local TV in a teahouse. This place is only a two-minute walk from my apartment, decorated with plants, exquisite tea sets and nice furniture. 

“This place was chosen especially for you!” when I came in the curator said with a smile. She is something of a smooth operator. Most of the time, I have to admire her ability for balancing everything.

We greeted each other and sit for tea. One of the artists mentioned about “Class” while we were talking about some painters and their paintings. I felt it was a very mean thing to divide painters with so called “class”. I knew what he meant and I also knew if I hadn’t done a translation of his painting album, I wouldn’t be invited to tea tonight though we were classmates of a painting training course back to our childhood. We went to different school later, and all these years everyone has made his own success except me. 

Then, they said emphatically to me: “you are the one who have experienced more ups and downs in life than any of us, you probably have seen more than us, which is a treasure and it’s time for you to start painting again.” 

“What am I good at?” I asked with a sigh. I might be able to distinguish a painting but have no gut to collect. I might have learnt some painting techniques but lack of practicing and famous artists as mentors. I am now just a mother of an eleven –year old daughter; I am not somebody with good artist family background or a patron of art. In a word, if I were to make any comments of some artists, or even if I did draw something, who cares?

The next morning, I saw a serial of “Birdmen” created by the journalist, Mr.Zhao Lile on my Wechat moment, in which he recorded his thoughts and impressions. It’s like a kind of journal, one day the birdman was standing among the lotus flowers, the next day he appeared in another scene riding a balanced bike. It gave me a sense of release, a breaking through and a new perspective on traditional Chinese ink painting. Isn’t that I was trying to draw but never done? Keep the tradition and add new elements to the picture.  

“I have no class”, Mr.Zhao Lile said on the phone. “I did it just for self- entertainment.” 

“That’s indeed important of a painting.” I said. “When you have least desire for fame or money, you pass the freedom into the picture and make it different from others. “

Lotus flowers and birds have long inspired artists in history. the point was nobody’s lotus picture has ever made me laugh at the first sight. And when I looked at it again, there was a little humor and there were also painting techniques, that’s good enough. What’s more, when you turn a bird to a man, your painting was full of meditation, imagination and dreams. Although people had always believed that they could fly with wings. It can only be realized in myths, legends, dreams, movies and novels. So, why not make it true in a painting as well?

As students of the art all know arrangement and configuration are important and I believed viewers can see from his pictures, the usage of the pen and ink, the density, the black and white and other factors influenced each other. The arrangement and brushworks was skilled professional, and the fundamental visual logic was clear. The descriptive elements required for a traditional Chinese ink painting, the calligraphy, poem, and seals were in the right position.