china – Something to Ponder About

I find there to be profound wisdom in proverbs, sayings and quotes and I marvel at the way they are so succinct in communicating messages to the reader. Mostly anonymous, they come to us from past generations and from across cultures. They speak of the experiences of lives lived and lessons learned. Quotes, like proverbs, make us think more deeply about something.

Each Friday, I post a Proverb or Saying and a Quote that I find thought-provoking.

I hope you will too.

There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is still the same.

– Chinese proverb

This Chinese proverb is reassuring to those who sit outside the box, to those who don’t fit the mold, non-conformists who are so often cast aside from the mainstream, as being less valued.

We all, every single one of us, ends up in the very same place There is no immortal life on earth. Death is a leveling experience. The thought that we are racing headlong towards the end of life has slipped the mind of some, has run past many others, whilst a few appear hell bent on getting there before anyone else.

To paraphrase a song lyric: “The race is long, but in the end, it is only with yourself.”

“How abundantly do spiritual beings display the powers that belong to them! We look for them, but do not see them; we listen to, but do not hear them; yet they enter into all things, and there is nothing without them.”

― Confucius

Confucius has many profound things to say, and this strikes me as pertinent, both from a religious and secular angle. The human race is not convinced about the existence of supernatural beings or extra terrestrials, strange metaphysical happenings, ESP, intuition, citing the need for tangible evidence before any acknowledgement is publicly given, yet religion heavily relies on intangible belief and imagination from the flock.

Something to Ponder About this Friday

Around 1800, the Russian artisan brothers Kulikov, from the region of Gzhel, near Moscow in Russia, perfected a secret porcelain technique that was only previously used in China. It must have been difficult to keep that secret as it wasn’t too long before others from the area also began producing porcelain, and by 1917, one factory in Gzhel, produced 2/3 of all the porcelain in Russia and was the largest porcelain factory in Europe.

In Russia, the tradition of Gzhel porcelain continues today with a strikingly beautiful and traditional form of tableware and decorative porcelain, that is appreciated throughout the world.

Russian handicrafts: Gzhel porcelain factory near Moscow – In Russian!

The Gzhel Paint Technique

“Painting is made by special cobalt paints which is put on the raw un-glazed porcelain pieces. Then the painted products are burnt in the high-temperature ovens. As a result of burning the cobalt painting, almost black before burning, becomes bright and vivid blue. Then the products are coated with glaze and are burnt at second time. This technique allows to protect painting very well.”

Source: http://russian-crafts.com/crafts-history/gzhel-style-porcelain.html

The depth and variety in colour value in Gzhel painting is achieved only with the brush technique and the pressure of the bristles on the surface.

Tours of the Gzhel factory can be arranged for visitors. Paint your own masterpiece of Gzheli. As I won’t be in Moscow anytime soon, I decided to try out a little Gzhel on simple white cardstock. These motifs are quite easy to achieve for the beginner painter or folk artist. Pinterest has loads of inspirational photos.