I often realize from my own experience that life is the very source of art but the latter is much beyond the former. I have been intent on combining my own life experience with the artistic creation and to my excitement, I have been often inspired and benefited from this kind of practice. And similarly, my own artistic experience has brought me great happiness and added much splendor to my life.

　　It is drizzling outside. These past few days it has been raining slightly off and on in Shanghai and the rain drops cooled off the whole city, which has been jammed in the intense heat in the passing summer. Autumn seems to be around the corner. I made a cup of tea for myself and without any hesitation I put down the brush, sitting by the window sill to enjoy the drizzle outside. Watching the rain drops pattering the grey tiles, I got myself lost in remembrance of the past. Sweet memories came flooding back to more than twenty years ago.I still remember the day when I went to visit my wife's family for the first time as son-in-law. It was drizzling too that day and the pitapating rain drops converged into a watery curtain and dashed down the roof of their Sikumen building. A tinge of warmth can be felt all the same to think of it. Though it was the first time I went to visit my parents-in-law, to dance attendence to them I cooked all my specialties with the innate artistic sensibility, which looked pleasant, smelt fragrant and tasted good.Thus my parents-in-law gave high praise for my culinary skills.

　　Born in an artist's family, I was destined to be an artist. I have never put aside the brush and the siccisors since I was six years old. To draw a painting an artist needs inspiration, exquisite composition and embelishment.He has to handle the brush appropriately,which can be also applied to cookery. Even today, once I am free I would be very happy to cook dishes for my family and thus I feel refreshened up from the laborious artistic creation.

　　During Shanghai Art Fair, I was once asked why I should represent the city in my works in that way, why they could be so close to our life and why there are so many historical rudiments in them yet with shining colors.As I see it, Sikumen buildings are the very symbol and the root of Shanghai Culture.They used to be the residences of the city dwellers.However, as time goes by, many traditions have been abandoned and today many people have estranged from their birthplaces, their spirtual hometown.As a person who was born and grew up in this land, despite the drastic changing situation I have been sparing no pains to represent what happened in this city, what are to disappear soon or later, what kind of buildings we used to live in and how we used to live our life so that we can retain our sweet childhood memories.I try to seek a regional culture in my paintings, one that keeps up with the times and fits into the city with a local flavor.Thus I integrate techniques of western oil paintings into the oriental art and meanwhile I would strive to reserve the local flavors with remarkable Shanghai characteristics in my works.To represent the city I am not just driven by my nostalgia; more importantly, I do hope that my works will accord with the Zeitgeist and become another new artistic highlight based on the grey grounding of weathered Shanghai. During my life abroad more than 10 years, I found myself more reminiscent of the happy days when I lived admist the Sikumen buildings. As time went by, with the deafening buldozers mowing down numerous Sikumen buildings my love for them grew more and more intense.

　　Yes, I am keen on representing the Sikumen buidlings in tangible extrovert forms but I focus more on making my inner voice heard. And I am more interested in painting the Sikumen buildings, one of non-material heritances in China with my brush to record what I saw and what I was inspired.

作者：李守白