Christine Brassington

This year I’ve returned to my oriental muse, using traditional brush, ink, paint, and
handmade paper to create works in the genres of Flowers and Animals. The style is
mostly “xie yi” (which is very loose and literally means “to write a meaning”) with a touch
of “gong bi” (“meticulous brush”) for the butterflies. “Hope” features the plum blossom -
one of the Four Gentlemen of traditional subject matter, each of whom represents a
virtue. The plum blossom represents hope and endurance. “Happy Wanderer” and “At
the Water’s Edge” were inspired by the butterflies, dragonflies, and frogs that reside in
or visit my garden. What might happen “at the Water’s Edge”? Is that a hungry glint in
the eye of the frog, and an anxious look in the dragonfly’s eyes? Each painting has a
square or rectangular signature seal, and a special meaning seal. The large square
signature seal was carved by Master Seal Carver Kong Lixiang, who was born without
arms and carves with his feet. Of the special meaning seals, the small round seal
means “good luck”; the small oval seal “respect”; and the large oval seal “happy is he
who is content”.
www.christinebrassington.com