Chinanews.com, Lu Liang, August 26th, title: Straw painting artist's persistence: "lighting grass for gold" rejuvenates ancient art
Author Gao Ruifeng
After the wheat was harvested, the discarded wheat stalks turned into lifelike paintings in his hands.
Bai Wenping, 52, is obsessed with straw painting in Shilou County, Shanxi Province.
On the 26th, Bai Wenping showed the reporter his "Yellow River Strange Bay" straw painting. This one-meter-long painting took more than half a month to create.
He said, "I want to use wheat stalk paintings to show this well-known scenic spot in my hometown."
Straw painting is one of the unique handicrafts in China. It is a pure folk handicraft technique. It originated in the ancient Central Plains and has spread through generations to become a perfect art form.
His works make full use of the natural luster and material of natural wheat stalks, with orderly light and dark, antique in appearance, with translucent gloss, good decorative effects, and strong artistic appeal.
"There is a tradition of making wheat stalk paintings in my hometown. I saw old people making them when I was young, but there are very few people who master this skill, and most of the works are relatively single, such as the Chinese zodiac." Bai Wenping said, after finishing high school, I was shocked when I saw a high-level wheat stalk painting on TV by chance, so I started to ponder and learn how to make wheat stalk paintings by myself.
Straw painting is one of the unique handicrafts in China, which originated in the ancient Central Plains region.
The picture shows the wheat straw paintings created by Bai Wenping.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Conceive, draw drawings, cut wheat stalks...Bai Wenping devotes himself to the craftsmanship of wheat stalk painting.
In the beginning, the family didn't understand and felt that they couldn't do this life, and didn't want him to do it.
"If I like it, I am doing it happily, so I use my free time to study." Bai Wenping insisted on studying wheat stalk painting.
"The production of wheat stalk painting requires more than a dozen processes such as steaming, boiling, dipping, cutting, scraping, grinding, pasting, cutting, blanching, pasting, and combination. Every step of pattern conception and wheat stalk cutting and cutting must not be sloppy." Wen Ping said.
After years of painstaking research, Bai Wenping’s skills have become more mature. He who likes to paint at a young age integrates traditional Chinese painting, paper-cutting, pyrography, sculpture and other artistic expression techniques in his creation. The picture is full of images, and the colors are bright and dark. His works are gradually going to the market. .
In the eyes of the family, "fiddle" and "toss" have become the art of "pointing grass for gold".
“The materials used for wheat stalk painting are environmentally friendly, and they can be maintained for a long time without aging and fading. What the calligraphy and painting can show can be displayed in the form of wheat stalk paintings.” Bai Wenping introduced, wheat stalk paintings are divided into word screens and painting screens, except for collections. , Mostly used as interior decorations in homes, shops, meeting rooms and other places.
At present, his works mainly accept customization, and the price ranges from several thousand yuan to tens of thousands of yuan.
"The creator's personal artistic literacy and craftsmanship determine the quality of the wheat stalk painting. Unsatisfactory or unqualified materials will destroy the overall effect of the picture, and the quality of the work directly determines the craft value of the wheat stalk painting." Bai Wen Ping said that a good-quality straw painting is bright and natural in color, smooth in pasting, smooth in texture, harmonious in composition, and full of artistic beauty.
Works created by Bai Wenping, a wheat stalk artist, in Shilou County, Shanxi Province.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
“The creation of wheat stalk painting is difficult and difficult. It is not difficult or difficult to say. The value is persistence.” In addition to creating, Bai Wenping, Zhang Luozhu trained wheat stalk painting enthusiasts. At present, more than 30 wheat stalk painting enthusiasts have been trained in two sessions. Stalk painting lovers.
He hopes to attract more young people with a foundation in art to join the straw painting creation.
"Turning discarded wheat stalks into'treasures' is not only an income-increasing skill, but also rejuvenating this ancient art," he said.
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