Chinese Brush Art - American Style: 10,000 brush strokes in search of that 1 "perfect brush stroke": January 2014

Monday, January 27, 2014

Cherry Blossoms

This past Saturday in Hsi-Mei's class we worked on cherry blossoms. Soon our beautiful Washington DC Cherry Blossom festival will be upon us and we will forget all of this cold weather.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Today I did my homework for Joan Lok's class. What do you think of these swallows? I love painting the wisteria. I am trying to bring on an early spring. In the Chinese culture the swallow and wisteria are seen in the springtime.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Joan Lok's class

I had the pleasure of taking a class with Joan Lok this past week. She studied the Lingnam School of Art in China. We worked on wisteria and swallows and koi. I learned so many great brush strokes and other tips to improve my understanding of Chinese Brush Art. Thank you Joan !!

Monday, January 13, 2014

Baby Blue Jay

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Birds

I am still working on birds. I will be taking a class this coming week with Joan Lok and I am quite nervous. So, I decided to practice my birds. Her style of art is called Lingnan Art.

"Lingnan' or 'South of the Ranges' refers to that part of China to the south of the 'Five Ranges' which are Tayu, Qitian, Dupang, Mengzhu, Yuecheng. These ranges separate the river basin of Changjiang, or the Yangzi River, in the central part of China fr'om that of Zhujiang or the Pearl River, in the south. In the Tang dynasty (618-906) Lingnan was the official name for the area covering the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi as well as Annan. The region covered by the name Lingnan has changed with time. Today, 'Ling"'nan' aod 'Guangdong' can almost be treated as synonyms."

From the The Art of Lingnan School website HERE.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Blue Jay

The cold weather has trapped me in my studio and as I stare out the window, a Jay settled on a pine tree branch. It wasn't snowing at the time but it seemed to fit (artistic license, you know). It was a great excuse to work on birds.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Happy New Year !

Artist Statement

I have been a ‘learning artist’ since 2011. I believe what Malcolm Gladwell said about mastery of any subject – with a twist. He said it takes about 10,000 hours to master a skill. I believe it takes 10,000 strokes to truly master a Chinese brush stroke. And, with that philosophy in mind, I practice Chinese brush strokes every day, looking for that perfect stroke. I hope to produce paintings with at least one perfect brush stroke in each. The idea of perfection is elusive and I hope to be a ‘learning artist’ for the rest of my life. Stop learning – stop living.

Artist Biography

Lynn Lambert was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin. At 18, she began traveling the world. Her first stop was Misawa, Japan where she began her fascination with the Far Eastern cultures.

She was educated at Southern Illinois University, where she majored in Horticulture and minored in Art. She returned to Atsugi, Japan in the early 80s and renewed her love affair with the Asian culture studying Ikebana in Tokyo and was a florist upon returning to the United States. Her return to Asia in the late 90s found her teaching English at Sakamoto and Iriyamazu Junior High Schools in Yokosuka-shi, Japan.

In 2011, the love of the Asian culture finally manifested itself fully when Lynn took her first Sumi-e brush art class through the NOVA educational system with artist Arlita Kadar. She moved from there to art classes at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia.

Additionally, she studied with these fine artists: Darlene Kaplan – 2012; Charlene Fuhrman-Schulz – 2012; Hsi-mei Yates – 2013; Henry Wo Yue-Kee – 2013 and Joan Lok – 2014. She has also done self-study online with these artists: Henry Li – 2013; Ning Yeh – 2011; and Danny Chen – 2012.

She sold her first painting “Koi – Following the leader” to the President of the National Arboretum Bonzai Association at the National Arboretum’s 2011 Annual Bonzai Art Festival.

Her work "Kohaku and Sanke” (Kohaku-koi with red patches and Sanke-koi with red and black patches) was sold by Tiara Galleries and Gifts in Rockville, Maryland to support Fisher House – in honor of our Nation’s heroes who have been wounded in combat in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Her work has been displayed at The Smithsonian Institution and National Museum of Natural History in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of National Asian Pacific American Arts and Crafts Day in 2011.

Her artist philosophy is based on Malcolm Gladwell’s perspective on the mastery of any subject – with a twist. Gladwell said it takes about 10,000 hours to master a skill. Lynn believes it takes 10,000 practice strokes to truly master a Chinese brush stroke. With that philosophy in mind, she practices Chinese brush strokes every day, looking for that perfect stroke. She hopes to produce paintings with at least one perfect brush stroke in each. The idea of perfection is elusive and she hopes to be a ‘learning artist’ for the rest of her life.

Stop learning – stop living.

Chinese Brush Art - American Style: 10,000 brush strokes in search of that 1 "perfect brush stroke"

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