Shen Huicai, a peasant woman in Gaoyi: engraving "scenery" on the gourd

A generation of emperor Liu Xiu is powerful and domineering, one by one birds are lifelike, Zhong Kui catches ghosts alive, and Maitreya Buddha smiles often. In the "Shencai" gourd pyrography studio in Garden Village, Gaoyi County, Shen Huicai, surrounded by large and small "gourd babies", meticulously created her own gourd pyrography.

Occasional gourd branding painting

Walking into Shen Huicai's home, it is like coming to the gourd kingdom. Gourds of different sizes, colors and postures can be seen everywhere. These gourds have been given a new meaning by her painting in accordance with their aptitude.

Gourd homophonic "Fu Lu", it has many seeds, representing the meaning of many children, therefore, the beautiful shape, simple and elegant gourd has become a symbol of Chinese auspicious culture. According to records, gourd painting technology, also known as hot painting, fire pen painting, is the use of soldering iron ironed on the gourd painting, has a long history, recorded in the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty Lanzhou "carved gourd" and "fan system gourd" once reached a very high artistic level and became a tribute to the court.

Shen Huicai said that although the gourd painting has such a high artistic value, she had not even heard of it a few years ago. It was only because of an accidental opportunity that she formed an inextricable bond with the gourd painting.

Shen Huicai, who is in her early 50s, is an out-and-out peasant woman. she has liked to draw since she was a child. she usually looks at the pictures in textbooks or comic books, copies them on the ground with branches, and draws on the back of the book with a pencil in her spare time. Although she has not received formal art training, Shen Huicai has never left behind painting. After getting married, she used this specialty in her life. "the flowers embroidered on the children's clothes are all embroidered by myself, which is on a par with those sold in the market."

By chance, when Shen Huicai's husband, Guo Zhike, was delivering furniture to his clients, he saw a painting gourd and talked about the painted gourd when he got home and chatted. Shen Huicai was moved, so he tried to draw on the gourd. When she saw the gourd branding for the first time later, Shen Huicai was deeply attracted. She, who loved painting since childhood, decided to try it herself. From then on, she began her life of branding.

Obsessed with the first taste of success

"Flying Prosperity", "Kirin send son", "Meilan Bamboo Chrysanthemum" …... One by one with an auspicious meaning of gourd pyrography works lifelike, lovable. "but the process of making them is not easy." Shen Huicai said that from the planting of the gourd to the selection, from the surface polishing to the careful conception, from the pen-lifting operation to the pen-writing, each work embodies her painstaking efforts and sweat.

At the beginning, because the hand and soldering iron were always difficult to master, I couldn't find the feeling when I painted on the gourd, so Shen Huicai tried it over and over again. Wrong, wipe it with water and continue with the painting; the main points in the pyrography are in place, and she can't remember how many times she has practiced. "during that time, I reached a state of obsession, thinking about walking, cooking and sleeping." Shen Huicai said that sometimes when she woke up in the middle of the night and suddenly thought of something, she hurriedly got up and painted on the gourd.

"to paint on the gourd, you should first start the draft with a pencil, and then shape it with an iron hook." Shen Huicai said that pyrography should master three "degrees": one is temperature, the other is speed, and the other is strength. "the speed of the burning pen on the screen determines its color on the gourd, and the strength of the hand determines the color of the lines. The stronger the picture is, the darker the picture is, and the weaker the strength is, the lighter the color is. Using these three degrees to cooperate with each other will produce different picture effects. " Shen Huicai introduced it while demonstrating.

Finally, the effort lived up to the good will, and Shen Huicai's first work, "Flying Prosperity", was born. Shen Huicai's husband asked someone to put the gourd soldering painting in an arts and crafts store in the city and soon sold it for more than 1000 yuan. "at that time, I really didn't know how much a gourd painting could sell. I didn't even dare to think about the price."

Focus on inheriting traditional crafts

The success of the first work made Shen Huicai more obsessed with calabash pyrography.

In order to learn more and practice more and produce more works, Shen Huicai began to grow his own gourds. A gourd rack was set up in her own yard, and her brother's yard also let her plant gourds. "all the gourds planted by my neighbors and friends will be sent to me after they have been harvested." Shen Huicai's home is full of "cucurbit babies".

Material selection, layout, conception and painting are the four major steps for Shen Huicai to make gourd painting. "generally, when selecting materials, they choose the gourd that is more Zhou Zheng, but the shape of some gourds is more peculiar, and I will also create it according to its' figure'." Shen Huicai uses electric soldering iron to tick dots on the gourd. From the beginning of the conception, it is necessary to carefully consider how to choose and match the materials, and what shape, size and so on need to be conceived in advance. We should be more careful in the process of branding and painting: you can't make a single word wrong, and you have to proofread one word for each word; painting requires smooth lines, outstanding details, vivid images, and a brushstroke when ironing long lines.

Nowadays, Shen Huicai's pyrographic skills are becoming more and more mature, and more and more gourd works are produced, which are loved by many collection lovers. After being processed and carved by her, the ordinary gourds have become exquisite handicrafts. "these 'gourd babies' are all my babies," she said. When you are unhappy, look at these gourds and your troubles will go out of your mind. " With the increase of works, Shen Huicai's gourd pyrography works are becoming more and more exquisite. Often, neighbors and friends come to her with money to "ask for pictures," but Shen Huicai always gives her a smile: "my work is welcomed by everyone, and I am very happy, which shows that people recognize this traditional craft." But how can it be passed on better? I think I have to continue to work hard. "