Surprise!

Yes, certainly it was a big surprise to come to the calligraphy lecture yesterday evening. We where three swedish people there and I was the only chinese student! I do not understand. Where were for example all the other beginners? Two hundreds?  Only 0,5% was there! There where also about ten to fifteen chinese persons.
Fantastic for us who where there, I must say. The calligrapher, Zhang Shan, did not speak english, pity, but a young man did his best to translate.
He talked about the deeper meaning of the characters, about the four elements etc. I am not capable to express what he said. But yes, I remember what he said about Stockholm in connection that it is important to reverence nature; a city that has all the elements near by, a nature city, not a city with high high buildings. Well, something like that.

But then, he is going to demonstrate how he paints, wow! So interesting to see how he is the master of the brush. Different results with small small changes and variations. Well, one has to see it. It is not possible for me to explain, especially not in english.

And then ... for each of us he paints special characters and our name, interpreted to chinese on a beautiful paper. And then ... smiling ... when I tell that I´m also a painter who just has started to study chinese, he makes a painting of a pine tree which is a tree that symbolizes "strength" in China and gives it to me, suggesting that I could come and exhibit my art in his country. Just being polite of course but still it makes me laugh when I now sit here at my kitchen table, surrounded by books and papers and pencils.
Not brushes and tint yet. It is far to early for that.

Now I remember that one of the "paintings" or what you call it, had a proverb saying that one has to work very hard in order to archive what you want. I will put my pine tree on the wall in order to remember that, even if I for sure many times will doubt there is enough capacity to manage to learn this Mandarine language. Thank you Zhang Shan!