Talking pattern

I drew what I saw and experienced in the Buddhist temple. My mother follows Buddhism, so since I was little, I often went to the temple with her. To me, everything in the temple felt like a dream. The grand Buddha murals and the plants in the temple seemed to glow.

The last time I visited the temple was before school started. My mother took me there to pray. It was a rainy day. The temple, located in the mountains, looked even more hazy. That’s why I chose solid watercolor — it blends easily. The top part of my work is the original painting. The bottom part shows the fabric texture I wanted. I used overlapping layers to create a dreamy feeling. I plan to print many pieces of organza fabric and layer them together.

My painting follows my line of sight. The second piece shows a scene inside the temple. I want to use stamping to create it.

The third piece shows a ginkgo tree I saw in the temple. That tree is over 100 years old. I didn’t draw the leaves in their real shape. Instead, I used the colors of the ginkgo and mixed them with shapes from my imagination and Buddhist descriptions of plants in the Western Pure Land.

Then I walked into the temple corridor. There were carved Buddha patterns on the walls. The rain had stopped, and the sunset was beautiful. So I decided to paint it. I used a repeating pattern in the print. After arranging them, it looked like many small Buddhas offered by believers.

Next, I entered the main hall. There were Buddha images on the walls.

After that, I saw an old Buddha statue in the backyard of the temple. I was very interested in the worn marks on its body. I think tie-dye can create a similar effect.

At the end, after praying, a monk served lychees to my mother and me.