Page 51 - BSAM 2015 Q4

10
Manual of Painting. Such drawings can easily be seen to inspire penjing. ere is an abstract structural relationship to the penjing depicted in Figure 4. e deeply personal dimension of the present book is one of its strengths. Examining some of Brook’s thoughts on this personal connection is revealing.
e author, William Gibson, asserted that who we are, who we become, and what we produce, is in large part the combinatorial product of the people and ideas with which we surround ourselves. Brook would certainly include poetry and art within the embrace of Gibson’s thoughts. Brook’s father was al- ways extremely fond of penjing, and other Chinese traditional arts such as poetry, painting, and calligra-
phy. Brook’s mentor, Mr. Xu Xiaobai, was well-versed in classic Chinese arts and culture as well as penjing. He freely acknowledges that both of his mentors had a profound impact on him. Brook learned to appreci- ate penjing at the same time he was developing pref- erences in other artistic domains. He recalls that his rst encounter with the literati style forty or more years ago was in a book illustration of the monk SuRen. He was intrigued by the ultra-simplicity of that rendering, which suggested an underlying rich- ness. Brook reports that he has always pursued sim- plicity in literati and in other styles of penjing.
For example, Brook reports a particular fondness for the calligraphy of Huai Su—a wonderful example
Figure 10, “Companionship” Five needle pine. Designed by Zhao Qingquan.
Some years
ago, Brook was asked in an Art of Bonsai Project interview: “When creating literati, what must the artist consider and if you could only teach one thing about literati, what would
it be?” Brook Responded: “One’s own feeling.”
October/November/December 2015 | BCI | 49