Purity, Resiliency and Transformation

As I am continuing my doodling, I couldn't help but be reminded of the tidbits of trivia relating to Lotus. 

Lotus plant has many uses, besides its beauty.  Lotus root (actually the rhizome) is often sliced and used in stir fry dishes in Chinese restaurants.  Sometimes the whole rhizome is stuffed with rice and other goodies and steamed and then sliced up before serving. The dried rhizome can be milled to flour and used like corn starch, which can be cooked as a sweet broth with Longan and red prunes, a popular dessert drink.  The nodes of the rhizome when mashed is used to treat nosebleed. 

The lotus seed, or Lianzi (蓮子) is a homonym for the Chinese phrase which means "a succession of sons" (連子) thus is often used as an auspicious garnish in weddings.  The lotus seed heart (germ) is very bitter and is used as a tea or tonic for its "fire lowering" property; in other words, less Yang.

The leaves of the lotus plant are used as wrappings for food preparation.  The popular dim sum dish of Lo Mai Gai or Lotus Leaf Rice is one such example.  Another famous dish, the Begger's Chicken uses the leaves to wrap the whole chicken before encasing it in clay and baked.  The leaves impart a fragrance to the food inside.  

Culturally speaking, Lotus is the national flower of India and Vietnam.  The Guanyin bodhisattva is portrayed as standing or sitting on a lotus bed holding a lotus flower in her hand.  The famous Big Buddha sculpture in Hong Kong shows the Buddha resting on a bed of lotus blossoms.  

Lotus represents the virtues of purity, resiliency and transformation.  It's self-explanatory when such beauty emerges from a muddy bog.  I personally think that any painting of lotus should bear those thoughts in mind.  Whimsical versions of lotus paintings trivialize the reverence of this flower, regardless of how artistic or innovative they might be.  This is just my own cultural bias. 

I suppose one way to adhere to the traditional ways of interpreting the flower is to recall all the rote learning notes from yesteryears.  Don't re-invent the wheel. 

Lines are used to depict petals, with the tip of the petals darkened to emphasize pointed tips.

Side tip brushstrokes are used in this version to describe the petals.  The brush is loaded with white and crimson at the tip of the brush to facilitate the natural transition of the hues.  

Trying out different brushstroke speeds to try to show various personalities.  The brush does not lie. It most definitely will reveal if one is gingerly and methodically laying down a brushstroke or doing it with aplomb and a free spirit. 

In the end I am rewarded with something that when cropped perhaps is worth a spot on my walls.

I have 2 choices,

or 

I settled for the portrait format, although I do like the landscape format too.  It has an interesting perspective of the leaves. 

I have a shadow box which I had intended for displaying my carved calligraphy on spaghetti squash (my blog titled Playtime), but it is too shallow.  I am going to use it for my lotus painting. 

My doodling housed in a shadow box,
 

Playtime-Second Half

My spaghetti squash with calligraphy has been drying under a slight weight to prevent the shell from curling up too much.  It is time to commence the second half of the game.

I intend to etch out the calligraphy by following the brushstrokes with a cutting tool.  My plan is to have the writings appear to be hollowed out fonts.  My Dremel is summoned for the job.  I am going to use an Rotozip bit, assuming that is the correct tool for my fun game.

I am getting a quick lesson in humility.  My assumption is not quite correct.  The Rotozip bit is too harsh for the brittle thin skin of the dried squash and takes out a whole chunk of the shell before I can cuss.  I believe my bit was designed for drywalls. 

The alternative is a burring bit.  I should have used that in the first place.  The project takes longer since the burring bit does not remove as much material as readily as the cut out bit.  The hollowed out lines are much better defined though.  I suppose there's always a trade off.  So am I a dentist now?

I have a piece of red craft paper handy so I used that as an underlayment to the hollowed out writings.

I like what I am seeing.  I am going ahead with more pieces of the squash.

I am also curious to see what the cut outs look like when light passes through the openings,

I think the light show is much more captivating than the carving itself.

This is fun.

Someone asks me why I do this.  Is there a purpose in all this?

"I do it just because I can"