Matthew is a pretty constant visitor here at the studio this week.  He is in writing mode, and so he has been working here on his computer while I paint.  Snoopy comes along with him, for a welcome break from the city.

Snoopy enjoys the excursions out to Feijiacun.

Entrance to the Yashow Market

Four huge floors lined with vendors, all anxious to get your attention.

Looking for just the right shirt.

There are tailor shops there too, ready to make on-the-spot alterations

The Red Gate Gallery had an opening on Sunday for a new exhibition of work by Chen Jiaye and Zhang Zheyi:  Highly Prized Flowers.  I’d met both these artists last year, and was very impressed by their work.  Chen Jiaye incorporaes traditional images and technique in his work, while Zhang Zheyi is more contemporary, in the meticulous imnagery against a solid color field.  A year ago I visited Zheyi’s studio and a number of his friend’s studios in Song Zhuang Village – a high point of that China visit.

Chen Jiaye puts classical Chinese themes in stunning modern settings

Zhang Zheyi works in a more typical style for contemporary Chinese

More of Zhang Zheyk’s work

Here Zheyi continues his series of mechanical birds

The series of contrails is a direction I hadn’t seen before

Enlarge the image (by clicking on it) to appreciate the fine detail

After the Exhibition, Brian Wallace, owner of the Red Gate, invited the Residents to join about 60 others for a banquet at a large restaurant near the Worker’s Stadium.

A huge banquet with all the trimmings followed the Red Gate Reception.

I renewed my acquaintance with Zhang Zheyi and Lili at the banquet.

The restaurant was not far from Matt’s apartment and the Sanlitun area, so it was easy to walk over to join him at the Bookworm, where he was in the middle of a jam session with friends.

Matt and friends in an impromptu jam session at the Bookworm

The backdrop for all this is the Open Studio that we Residents are planning for Saturday, the 29^th to show our work.  Suzanna and Petra have been working to prepare the walls of the huge studio we will be using, and thinking about how to arrange the artwork so it all shows well.  Looks like I will have four paintings for the show.  More on that another time.

A Bing is the fluffy egg sandwich you can get from a street vendor. There are eight of us, so Ba-Da-Bing translates roughly as Eight Big Egg Sandwiches.

Finally:  I keep hearing about the cold temperatures and snow on the east coast.  Here we have shirt-sleeve weather, the grass and bushes are greener every day, and buds on the trees are ready to burst open.

On the other hand, we are back into successive gray days, and I am wearing a mask when I go outdoors for a walk or a bike ride.

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