Painter Tian Xuesen has devoted his artistic efforts to painting the majestic Huashan mountains of China. The Shanghai Daily reports in an article titled “Tapping a muse in the solitude of mountains.”
Sometimes when Tian Xuesen sits in city traffic, waiting for a red light to turn green, he feels said he feels dislocated.
Small wonder that urban noise and crowds make him uncomfortable. More that half his year is spent deep in the silent mountains of Shaanxi Province, where he paints.
“With no one to talk to, I am surrounded by silence for weeks in the mountain,” says the 41-year-old oil painter, referring to his refuge in Huashan (Mount Hua), about 120 kilometers east of Xi’an, the capital city, and the westernmost peak of the “Five Great Mountains of China.”
“The mountain is and will be the sole subject of the rest of my life,” he says.
” … Years of living alone in the mountain have taught me what to choose and what to give up,” Tian says. “I have chosen to give up city conveniences and embrace solitude and art.
The article describes Tian’s life and routines in the mountains, his earliest years acquainting himself with the surroundings, how he came to settle on his artistic themes, and the significance of the mountain and solitude.
URL: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/feature/ideal/Tapping-a-muse-in-the-solitude-of-mountains/shdaily.shtml
