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 (continued)
Magnanimous by Name
Wan Shih-fen has long admired the tree peony
for its resplendent beauty, aura of lushness, and exalted position among
the favorite blooms of Chinese painting.
She began studying guohua through her church. After visiting one of Bao
Rong’s exhibitions about a year ago, Ms. Wan
bought an album of the artist’s peonies and used it as her new
textbook. After several months of
self-study, Ms. Wan convinced Bao Rong to take her as a student. “We weren’t sure if Bao
Rong would be willing given my mother’s age, but
she was very welcoming,” explained Ms. Wan’s
daughter. “She is a wonderful
teacher—very kind. My mother loves
studying with her and now she paints every day at home.” Ms. Wan exclusively paints peonies and is
honored to have placed fourth at a recent exhibition. She is eighty-three.
Wan Shih-fen is one of the more recent
additions to Bao Rong’s
Monday morning class. Some of the
other students have been studying with her for twenty years or longer. Hong Jing-chiu,
like several of these older students, made Bao Rong’s acquaintance while she was studying at the Da-an Night School (Da’an Yexiao),
a middle school for adults. “Because
of the war, they didn’t have a chance to study,” Bao
Rong explains.
Ms. Hong fondly recalls her time at the school where she was able
supplement a standard middle school curriculum with a painting course. Du Min, a
classmate at Bao Rong’s
studio and fellow graduate of the Da-an Night School, couldn’t have imagined where here study
with Bao Rong would
take her back then. “After
[graduation] I was enchanted by the world of black ink. It gives me a bit of carefree enjoyment
and satisfaction amid hectic daily life.”
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