China News Service, Hangzhou, February 23 (Zhang Yuhuan and Wei Yanran) In the afternoon, when the crowd dissipated, the vegetable market returned to tranquility.

A carp jumped out of the water tank on the seafood stall and landed on the ground.

A pair of big hands picked it up from the ground and threw it back into the water tank—Shen Jianjiang wiped his hands, turned around to find brushes, rice paper, newspapers and other items, and walked towards the unmanned booth, opening an "art moment" of the day.

　　53-year-old Shen Jianjiang has been in the aquatic business for 23 years at the Xiaoshan Yucai Farmers Market in Hangzhou.

In addition to being a "fish boss", he is also a "senior" Chinese painting enthusiast.

Ten years ago, he picked up his childhood dream of being a painter and started writing again. In his spare time, he always took pen and paper and found an empty stall in the vegetable market to practice his brushwork.

　　The pen-holding posture of painting all the year round left thick calluses on Shen Jianjiang's right index finger.

Having been engaged in the aquatic business for more than 20 years, he also left a scar on his left thumb which was stabbed by fish and shrimp.

　　"I am painting with my right hand and selling fish to support my family with my left." Shen Jianjiang said.

Shen Jianjiang paints at home.

Photo by Wei Yanran

Rediscovering the Brush: Rediscovering Childhood Dreams

　　In 1997, Shen Jianjiang started a aquatic business under the introduction of a friend, and married his wife one year younger the following year.

Two years later, the aquatic business is getting better and better, and the couple also ushered in a small life... With a comfortable and happy life, Shen Jianjiang gradually became distracted.

　　During that time, he often met with other stall owners in the vegetable market to play cards and drink.

The wife felt distressed that the money earned by leaving early and returning late was squandered by her husband, so she shouted at him, "Even if you find something you like to do, it is better than playing cards and drinking all day!"

　　This shout really awakened Shen Jianjiang's childhood dream.

　　In the 1980s, at the age of eleven or twelve, Shen Jianjiang bought the first book about landscape painting - "Ma Qi Painting Treasures", and the seeds of Chinese painting were deeply cultivated in his heart.

"I signed up for a ten-day painting class when I was a child, and when I grew up, I slowly put down my brushes." Shen Jianjiang recalled.

　　The road to regaining the brush has not been smooth.

Shen Jianjiang, who has not been exposed to painting for many years, tries to continue to deepen his "basic skills" according to the most traditional mode of "learning from a teacher" in China.

However, his first apprenticeship ended in rejection.

　　Shen Jianjiang, who continued to drive delivery, was not discouraged.

When passing by the Xiaoshan District Peasant Painting and Calligraphy Association by chance, he mustered up the courage to knock on the door.

　　After seeing Shen Jianjiang's paintings, Wang Bogen, the president of the association, favored him, and made an exception to help Shen Jianjiang enter the painting class, making him a "transfer student" who became a half-way monk, and later officially became a member of the association.

Shen Jianjiang paints beside the fish stall.

Photo by Wei Yanran

The main attack on landscape: persistence is victory

　　Walking into Shen Jianjiang's house, he saw that every wall was covered with paintings.

Gurgling streams, scorching peach blossoms... Although he sees fish and shrimp every day, his paintings focus on ink landscapes.

　　"Because I want to sell fish and paint at the same time. At that time, the teacher of the association suggested that I should choose one of the main types of Chinese painting, such as flowers and birds, landscapes, etc., which may be more successful." Shen Jianjiang said.

　　It's shallow on paper.

In order to come up with a landscape painting that is "suitable for heavy makeup and light makeup", Shen Jianjiang would go out to sketch, leaving his wife alone to guard the booth.

Time is limited. When sketching outside, Shen Jianjiang will bring two tools, one is a camera, and the other is a discarded foam board.

　　"Sometimes it rains, the mountains are shrouded in clouds and mist, and the misty rain is hazy. I will use a camera to take pictures of such scenes, and then I will describe them in detail when I get home." Shen Jianjiang said.

But for landscape painting, copying is always not enough.

At this moment, the foam board that others don't want becomes the "drawing board" in his hand for sketching.

"I use the most realistic tools to paint the works I am most satisfied with." Shen Jianjiang said.

　　Day after day, Shen Jianjiang's family has accumulated more than 600 paintings, and a series of fine works have also been born.

In November 2020, his work "Xishan Yaju" also participated in the 5th "Two Songs Forum" painting and calligraphy exhibition.

Now the work hangs in the living room, occupying a third of the entire wall.

Shen Jianjiang and his wife took a group photo in front of the fish stall.

Photo by Wei Yanran

"Shabby Room" Painting: Ten Years as One Day

　　While chasing the dream of painting, life goes on.

Every day at four in the morning, Shen Jianjiang drove his car to buy goods.

After returning to the vegetable market to arrange all the fish and shrimp, he and his wife sold fish in the vegetable market together.

After a day's work, he plunged into the studio.

The so-called "studio" is a small cubicle of about 20 square meters, and there is a rectangular table covered with felt.

On the felt are rice paper, paint, and ink.

　　"The utensils used to hold the ink are the bowls you usually eat, and the brush wash is the empty mineral water bottle." Shen Jianjiang introduced that the brushes used for painting were given by friends, and the rice paper was also bought online. "As long as you start the pen on the paper, I must make a painting and not waste a piece of paper."

　　In a box full of manuscripts, a dilapidated book caught the reporter's attention. The name of the book cover could not be seen, and the pages had turned yellow.

Shen Jianjiang held the book in his hands and carefully displayed the cover of the book—it turned out that this was the "Ma Qi Painting Treasure" he bought as a child.

　　Going around in circles, the original intention has not changed.

Shen Jianjiang said frankly that he can express his love for "landscape" every day without the support of his wife and children.

　　"Sometimes when my dad came back to cook, he would go to paint halfway through cooking, forgetting that the fire was still on while he was painting. That's why I often eat scorched rice." said his son Shen Xuyuan. Helpless, but "painting is my father's favorite thing", he understands and supports it very much.

　　Whenever Shen Jianjiang learns that his painting has won an award, the first person to share it is always his wife who is in front of the fish stall, and his wife is always the first appreciator of the masterpieces.

"I watched his progress day by day, and I really hope he can keep going," said his wife.

　　In the evening, the vegetable market gradually became lively again.

Shen Jianjiang looked back at the booth where he practiced calligraphy, and his wife was sorting fish and shrimp on the booth not far away.

He looked down at his hands - "ideal" in his right hand and "life" in his left.

Half poetic, half pyrotechnic, he seems to have found the most complete state of life.

(over)