the actual day 1 was yesterday. by the way, at 2pm yesterday the humidity dipped to 2%, tying the record for the driest day in history, both in colorado & the entire US!
but i didn't photograph that early stage, which is now masked by translucent layers of paper.
and a quick comment on the title, which refers to liang kai, chinese song dynasty painter active in the first half of the 13th century. after leaving his prestigious position at the southern song painting academy, liang went to live & paint at a chan buddhist temple.
liang's best known work, poet strolling by a marshy bank, reflects his strong feelings about the illusory nature of existence.
author maxwell k. hearn says: "reversing the usual "one corner" compositional formula of the Southern Song Painting Academy, which leaves half the picture space unpainted, liang kai introduces an unsettling diagonal overhang that restricts the view and makes the landscape beyond appear even more inaccessible and illusory."
DAY 1: liang creek 72x38"
acrylic & collaged paper on canvas
DETAIL: poet strolling by a marshy bank