Gourd, the harmonic sound "Fulu", in the folk since ancient times, there has been a beautiful meaning of the town house to ward off evil spirits, attract wealth and treasure. In Wangwa Village, Jinkou Town, Jimo District, there is such a folk craftsman who suddenly wants to paint with his own gourd, but unexpectedly won the attention of the public.
Walking into Wang Kehe's farm courtyard, I saw a room full of gourds, the ground was piled with unprocessed, and the wooden cabinet was placed with finished handicrafts, including female figures, flower and bird pictures, landscape paintings, Fulu Shouxi, Lian Nian Youyu, etc. The exquisite patterns made people fall in love with them. The Spring Festival is approaching, at this time, the 72-year-old Wang Kehe is concentrating on painting, the cilia brush on the gourd hook, draw, point, dye, wipe, and in a short while, he paints a flying new year painting doll.
To talk about Wang Kehe and this craft, we have to go back 56 years. At that time, when he was in junior high school, he was attracted by a fine art class and was fascinated by the ingenious brush strokes, and then he plunged into the painting pile.
At first, Wang Kehe specialized in New Year painting, and in addition to class, he also pestered the teacher to open a "small stove" and practiced day after day. After the infiltration of time, Wang Kehe gradually formed his own style, and now, his gourds are sold all over the world, outlining long lines, so that more people understand and recognize this skill.
It can be said that there are those who can understand the "gourd", but not much, and Wang Kehe is counted as one. "The gourd is not casually drawn, I have to create according to the shape of the gourd before painting, take this gourd for example, it is oval, it is very suitable for painting shou peach, for the old man who does shou is the best." Wang Kehe told us that gourd paintings must be good at selecting topics according to their materials and creating according to the shape of the gourds, so as to better reflect the "truth and goodness" in the painting.
The formation of a work takes time to polish. The gourd painting is to be scraped and dried after the gourd is ripe and picked, about 2 weeks, the dried gourd is like a piece of perfectly made porcelain, delicate and lubricated, and the gloss is good. Then, Wang Kehe had to draw, fill, outline, and oil on the dried gourd, and complete these steps to complete the process. A gourd craft takes two or three days from drawing to completion.
The villagers of Wang Wa Village said: "Without Wang Kehe, this gourd would just be quietly held there, without showing the mountains and dew, and 'facing the sky'." ”
What breaks into the mind of the viewer must come from the earthly world, from past experiences, and if there is no shell of spiritual content, even if it is gorgeous and after arduous and long-term labor, it is difficult to become a work of art. Wang Kehe, it is precisely with his 72 years of experience and 56 years of polishing that he has achieved this inner work that moves the viewer.
"The heart is home, and the hometown he alone is in Chang'an." I believe that a great painter must have his unique and extraordinary skill and insightful eyes, able to paint more difficult paintings, and more works that arouse people to think with him.
Good works are not afraid of "deep alleys". Nowadays, Wang Kehe's gourd has also appeared on the short video platform with the trend of the times, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu... People from all over the world know and recognize this craft. In the next step, he also plans to apply for intangible cultural heritage and continue to pass on this craft better. (Yang Xiaotong)