In the Garden (園日涉、以成趣)

To thank the Lou family for being gracious hosts on a recent trip, their good friend Mrs. Kung gifted them a painting of her memory of Mr. Lou’s daily observation walks through his vegetable garden.  In appreciation of her talents, Mr. Lou painted the following Chinese calligraphy saying, along with an introduction of the artist, to accompany Mrs. Kung’s painting.

The saying is: “園日涉、以成趣,”  means “Amusingly walking through the garden during leisure time.”  The introduction reads: “Mrs. Kung is a housewife by day, but shows her talents as an amateur painter in her spare time.  Knowing she is not a professional, this painting is admired and appreciated by us, and will be in good care.”

Mr. Lou painted two copies of his calligraphy, keeping one for himself and gifting the second to Mrs. Kung.

Style: 行書 | Dimensions: 58 x 29 cm

Longevity (百夀圖)

The character 壽 means Longevity.   In the painting below, Mr. Lou wrote the same Longevity character a hundred different ways.  Artistically, the challenge was to recreate the same character multiple times and still be visually interesting.  Moreover, having a hundred versions of the same character is also symbolic of the character’s literal and artistic meaning. 

Style: 小篆  |  Dimensions: 115 x 68 cm