Teapot artist shows passion for his craft
By Li Ning and Xu Wei |
November 28, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
DURING the recent 8th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, purple clay teapots designed and made by artists Tan Shujun and Wu Yajun were given as gifts to honored guests from abroad. It is the second time Tan's artwork was chosen as a national gift at the China-ASEAN Expo following last year's event.
Tan's Shanghai Juntaoju Purple Clay Craft Making Co Ltd is located in Xinzeyuan Park of Jiangqiao Town, a place of orchids, odd-shaped stones, paintings and sculptures. Born in Yixing, a small town on the shore of the Taihu Lake and well known for its pottery, Tan was brought up in a family of potters. His route to a master in purple clay pottery started in his childhood.
Tan's mother is a student of famous pottery artist Jiang Rong. When Tan was a child, he enjoyed playing with the purple clay and forming the clay into shapes such as peanuts, melon seeds and human figures when his mother was making a teapot.
His proudest work at that time was a purple clay gun which made him the "king" of all the naughty children in the neighborhood. Tan's "small gun" aroused Jiang's interest. Jiang visited Tan's family and told the boy to make something more useful.
Under Jiang's instruction, Tan managed to make the first purple clay teapot in his life. Since then he has been an enthusiast maker of teapots and has tried various artistic concepts to make teapots.
"At that time all the teapots I made were not for sale," Tan says. "My friends were free to take them away."
Since Tan's father worked in the town's culture center, his works were also collected by his father's friends, they were mostly scholars. Some scholars even shared their artistic opinions with him, which provided new inspiration for Tan's later creations.
The poetic landscape and rich cultural heritage in Yixing have influenced Tan's artistic taste and made his artwork more exquisite and impressive. In 2002, Tan migrated to Jiading District. The calligraphy inscription "Juntaoju" for Tan's studio in Xinzeyuan Park was written by noted scholar Fang Zeng. Since then, he has become an important part of the area's cultural scene and his teapots are highly regarded.
And to this day, Tan is humble, downplaying his artistic teapots.
"It is the cultural connotation that makes Yixing teapots a popular collectible among the scholarly class," Tan says. "Without the cultural charm, it is nothing more than a commom utensil."
Tan is keen on reading books and appreciating paintings and calligraphy. After he moved to Jiading in 2002, he befriended many scholars, calligraphers and artists including Ruan Wenhui, Lin Jinmao, Fan Zeng, Ma Hansong, Wang Zhihai and Yin Shi. He is also a student of craft artists Zhang Zhiqiang, Liu Tianyuan and Li Hongchang. His frequent exchanges with musicians, sculptors and writers have also largely improved his skills and artistic taste.
Practice makes perfect. Tan, who is nearly 50 years old, is now at an age, according to Confucius, to know the fate. Tan's current works have broken the stereotype of his predecessors and were even named as the Tan school in the purple clay art field. With combination of tradition and innovation, Tan's works have received many awards in the past years and have been collected by the National Museum of China, the Ziguang Pavilion of Zhongnanhai and the Palace Museum in Beijing. His works are even popular with teapot lovers and collectors in South Korea, Japan and Singapore.
Tan is indifferent to fame and wealth. He says that people seeking fame and money can only make superficial artwork, and his best teapots are made when his heart is at peace and he feels at harmony with nature.
In his leisure time, Tan frequently meditates like a monk.
No matter how busy and noisy it is outside his studio, he records his understanding of life ineach teapot.
Tan's Shanghai Juntaoju Purple Clay Craft Making Co Ltd is located in Xinzeyuan Park of Jiangqiao Town, a place of orchids, odd-shaped stones, paintings and sculptures. Born in Yixing, a small town on the shore of the Taihu Lake and well known for its pottery, Tan was brought up in a family of potters. His route to a master in purple clay pottery started in his childhood.
Tan's mother is a student of famous pottery artist Jiang Rong. When Tan was a child, he enjoyed playing with the purple clay and forming the clay into shapes such as peanuts, melon seeds and human figures when his mother was making a teapot.
His proudest work at that time was a purple clay gun which made him the "king" of all the naughty children in the neighborhood. Tan's "small gun" aroused Jiang's interest. Jiang visited Tan's family and told the boy to make something more useful.
Under Jiang's instruction, Tan managed to make the first purple clay teapot in his life. Since then he has been an enthusiast maker of teapots and has tried various artistic concepts to make teapots.
"At that time all the teapots I made were not for sale," Tan says. "My friends were free to take them away."
Since Tan's father worked in the town's culture center, his works were also collected by his father's friends, they were mostly scholars. Some scholars even shared their artistic opinions with him, which provided new inspiration for Tan's later creations.
The poetic landscape and rich cultural heritage in Yixing have influenced Tan's artistic taste and made his artwork more exquisite and impressive. In 2002, Tan migrated to Jiading District. The calligraphy inscription "Juntaoju" for Tan's studio in Xinzeyuan Park was written by noted scholar Fang Zeng. Since then, he has become an important part of the area's cultural scene and his teapots are highly regarded.
And to this day, Tan is humble, downplaying his artistic teapots.
"It is the cultural connotation that makes Yixing teapots a popular collectible among the scholarly class," Tan says. "Without the cultural charm, it is nothing more than a commom utensil."
Tan is keen on reading books and appreciating paintings and calligraphy. After he moved to Jiading in 2002, he befriended many scholars, calligraphers and artists including Ruan Wenhui, Lin Jinmao, Fan Zeng, Ma Hansong, Wang Zhihai and Yin Shi. He is also a student of craft artists Zhang Zhiqiang, Liu Tianyuan and Li Hongchang. His frequent exchanges with musicians, sculptors and writers have also largely improved his skills and artistic taste.
Practice makes perfect. Tan, who is nearly 50 years old, is now at an age, according to Confucius, to know the fate. Tan's current works have broken the stereotype of his predecessors and were even named as the Tan school in the purple clay art field. With combination of tradition and innovation, Tan's works have received many awards in the past years and have been collected by the National Museum of China, the Ziguang Pavilion of Zhongnanhai and the Palace Museum in Beijing. His works are even popular with teapot lovers and collectors in South Korea, Japan and Singapore.
Tan is indifferent to fame and wealth. He says that people seeking fame and money can only make superficial artwork, and his best teapots are made when his heart is at peace and he feels at harmony with nature.
In his leisure time, Tan frequently meditates like a monk.
No matter how busy and noisy it is outside his studio, he records his understanding of life ineach teapot.
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