Lisa Wang
I have been to Jinxi Ancient Town twice. Jinxi Ancient Town is located in the southwest of Kunshan City. The town is Zeguo and surrounded by water. I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Xu Deren, a local painter, when I was watching the paintings with the theme of water town near the main entrance of Lianchi Temple, which opened to the north.
Xu Deren, a native painter in Jinxi, is 69 years old. He may go to Nanjing, the provincial capital, only a handful of times, but his works have crossed the ocean and hung in the living rooms of Canadian and American families. This not only means economic income for Xu Deren, but also shows that some people like, appreciate and affirm his paintings, and it is this that strengthens his determination to paint.
Perhaps the graceful Jinxi planted the seeds of art in his life. Xu Deren likes music and painting since childhood. He can play erhu and write his own songs to praise his beautiful hometown. Xu Deren's painting was much later than music, and it didn't start until he was 38. At that time, the family did not support this move very much, because painting required learning, buying materials such as paper and pens, and spending a lot of money. However, life at home was not comfortable, but Xu Deren persisted. As soon as he had time, he went to this town, Zhouzhuang, Luzhi and other water towns to sketch, and made many friends who painted, so he learned a lot.
Xu Deren used to paint landscape paintings. Until more than ten years ago, reporters from Wen Wei Po came to Jinxi. After seeing his paintings, I suggest that he create a water town painting with his hometown as the theme, and show the world the ancient water town in the south of the Yangtze River. Lao Xu felt very reasonable after listening to it, so he devoted himself to creating works with the theme of water town. His representative works include Tang Ling Bay, Water Country Zeguo and Spring in Nantang. Its 8-meter-long scroll "Eight Scenes of Jinxi" and 10-meter-long scroll "Thirty-six Top Bridges of Jinxi" depict the four seasons scenery of hometown Jinxi, and these two masterpieces are also online!
Xu Deren opened a "Deren Studio" in Jinxi Town. He thinks it doesn't matter whether his paintings can be sold or not, and he doesn't make a living from it. I have a retirement salary. It is important to publicize my hometown and show the charming beauty of the water town with my own pen.
The cheerful Xu Deren feels that he is still young and can do many things. In "Deren Studio", the author saw a calligraphy work presented by a friend: "It is still raining at dusk in black dragon, and the old tree is more bloom in spring". I deeply feel that it writes the spirit of Lao Xu.
Overseas Edition of People's Daily (7th Edition, 2002, 65438+February 2nd)