By Emily Rust
“I’m going to tell you the story of the rooster,” Jean Seelig says.
“The emperor invited the master to paint a rooster for him. The master said ‘I will be glad to do that and I will be back in 10 years.’
“He came back to the emperor in 10 years and before the emperor in the morning, he painted for him a rooster. The emperor said ‘Well wait a minute, I am paying you all this money and you painted it this morning.’ And the master said ‘Well yes, but you haven’t seen the 10,000 roosters in my studio.’”
Sumi-e art is not an easy feat. As the master in the story demonstrates, it’s is something that takes years to perfect.
Characterized by a one-brush, one-stroke technique, Seeling has been studying the traditional Asian art form since 2004.
“If you’re creating an animal, you spread the bristles of the brush to make the mane, curl it to make the nose or the eye,” Seely explains.
Stemming from Chinese calligraphy, Sumi-e (meaning ink in Japanese) is the Japanese interpretation of the Chinese art form and according to Seelig, “the cornerstone of all Asian art.”
Seelig has created dozens of Sumi-e paintings. Although the art form has four general categories; birds and flowers, landscapes, calligraphy and portraits or people; she mainly focuses on birds and flowers.
Her favorite piece, “Killing Fields,” came to her during a trip to Cambodia where she found beauty among the destruction from the 1970s genocide.
“I remember looking out and seeing the Cambodia killing field, this very fabulous lotus rising out of the mud,” Seelig says. “Because of the meaning of it, rising again, that has very special meaning to me.”
On July 12, Seelig will lead a workshop for children at the Center for the Arts in Manassas. As the children create Sumi-e style art on T-shirts, Seelig will remind them that “you can create something with very minimal work and effort.”
“Regardless of what they do, I want them to feel successful in their endeavor,” Seelig says of the workshop participants.
Seeling serves as the president of the local Sumi-e chapter in the Greater Washington Area. In September, the Sumi-e Society of America will host its National Exhibition in Rockville, Maryland.
Asian Brush Wearable Art Workshop for Kids
Center for the Arts at the Candy Factory
9419 Battle St., Manassas
July 12, 1-4 p.m.
$33-36
