22.10.13

Tian Zi Fang

Using an old canvas from a piece that didn't work out but which gives a green-tinged colorful underlayer perfect for my red theme, I created this piece in one sitting as everything just seemed to come together perfectly. 

Tian Zi Fang is an arts and crafts enclave in the French Concession area of Shanghai, China.  It is also my favourite place there, with a burgeoning arts and crafts enclave developed from a renovated residential area of traditional Shanghainese Shikumen (石库门) style buildings that is still teeming with everyday neighbourhood life, along with many small crafts shops, fancy eateries, trendy art studios, wires, pipes, lanterns sticking everywhere, but still amazingly coming together to give a unique eclectic buzz to the place. I love it !  As I painted away,  combining quirky elements here and there from the bits and pieces of snapshots that I had taken including the black cat, it was like a re-living of my exploration of the narrow alleyways and quaint corners of Tian Zi Fang all over again.  

The composition is not of an actual street but is a jigsaw puzzle of sorts, of my fond memories of the whimsical atmosphere of Tian Zi Fang.  If you do visit as I did, you may spot an item or two of my painting there. Have fun exploring as I did :)


Title: Tian Zi Fang 田子坊 (O89)
Description: A colourful whimsical painting inspired by the lively streets of Tian Zi Fang, an arts and craft enclave developed from a residential area in the French Concession area of Shanghai. China 2013.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas with sides painted magenta.
Dimensions: 76 x 76 x 4cm.

Purchase at: yen.artfire.com

No comments:

Post a Comment