Grandpa Freddie in the Golden Years

I had been in the fields of pingba for a whole afternoon, head pounding. The entire morning was spent looking and driving, seeking the right place to stop and paint. We found a beautiful place, and after a meager lunch, set up to paint under an overcast sky. I cant find the photo of that day’s painting, unfortunately…sooner or later.

Concentrating on the scene before me, i felt there should be colors that were not there (as often is the case on overcast, misty oriental days). I trusted the intuition, mixed the color, and applied it. To my great satisfaction, the sun came out half an hour later, and illuminated the precise spot that i had imagined.

The sun continued that day, and burnt me pretty well. I finished the painting 2 hours later, by which time i had already gathered quite an assorted crowd of folks. The kids here were coming out of class and walking the long road home for dinner. After about 15 autographs, we packed up and were escorted to our car.

Wangfei is an artist from Hebei that we met in Guizhou in 2006 when he was studying at the art school in Guiyang. After graduating, he moved to Gansu province in the northwest, and continues there …and is quite prolific. These are some of his meditations on a new landscape and new season of life.