chinese inspirations

 Two weeks in China

 I was overwhelmed with the amount of ornamentation, colour, and decoration.  Too much is never too much!

Walkway, rich in colour.

Bright silk hangings, all hand embroidered, yards and yards long.

Ceiling paintings imbedded amongst the patterned tiling, each painting was a different animal, based on a Chinese fable.

Children are clearly cherished, and are also very embellished

We saw many babes in arms with bare bums, not clear what the toilet training techniques are in China. Fascinating!

Koi fish tiling embedded in the pathway of a bonzai park

Ornate doesn't begin to describe it

 Silk painting

Jade carving

Silk thread painting

 

Cloisonnee

Our journey to China inspired me to consider new attitudes towards embellishment and ornamentation.  The Chinese craftperson clearly has a tremendous ability to attend to detail and develop technique to a remarkable degree.  But, I do wonder about individuality and personal statements.  It seemed to me that the people we met still worry about what the 'right' thing is to say.  Face saving is very important.  I marvel at my freedom in Canada, to do, say, and create anything that I want.