Chen Juzheng doesn't just pick up unusual stones when he takes a walk along the Yellow River banks, like many other people in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province. He also turns them into works of art by painting them according to the stones' colors, shapes and other features. The 58-year-old folk artist has now painted on these special stones his own reproductions (复制品) of many historical paintings and frescoes (壁画) found in the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang. It is where large numbers of Buddhist (佛教的) frescoes have survived for more than 1, 000 years.
Chen's artistic works, including the nine-color deer, sleeping Buddha and Bodhisattva, were praised by many painters and the local people in the northwestern provincial capital.
"But not all the stones can be painted. Actually only a few of the stones can be used to reproduce and paint the historical Mogao Grottoes paintings and frescoes, and then become artistic works loved by the public. " A lifelike sleeping Buddha can be painted on a stone when its shape, colors and other features are fit for such an image (图像), Chen explained. "It took me many years to find such a stone for painting the sleeping Buddha, " he said.
Chen, who is very interested in the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, has been painting for more than forty years. Chen said, when he first saw the historical paintings and frescoes in the Mogao Grottoes, he was deeply attracted to the Buddhist art and considered the site a world treasure of art. "Mogao Grottoes should be a place many painters like to visit, " he added. Chen said he had planned in the following months to add modern and new subjects to his artistic works.
