Painting being exhibited in this year’s annual exhibition for Visual Arts Scotland at the RSA Gallery in Edinburgh. Image – Chi Zhang – Heavy Snow

Title:Forth Size 230x320mm, Medium:Chinese ink/brush painting color on Chinese rice paper. Mounted and framed. This artwork is for sale, please contact for more information.

More works showing at the following venues until beginning of March:

French Fancies
42 London Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6PT.
Opening times: Mon–Sat 8am–6pm; Sun 10am–4pm

Water of Leith Cafe Bistro
52 Coburg St, Edinburgh EH6 6HJ
Open six days (Closed Mondays) from 10am till 5.30pm

Edinburgh Night

Title:Edinburgh Night Size 330x200mm, Medium:Chinese ink/brush painting color on Chinese rice paper. Mounted and framed. This artwork is for sale, please contact for more information.

Lighten up the sky

Title:Lighten up the sky Size 370x230mm, Medium:Chinese ink/brush painting color on Chinese rice paper. Mounted and framed. This artwork is for sale, please contact for more information.

Visual Arts Scotland Annual Open Exhibition 2012

Dear Friends, art lovers, supporters and students,

I am pleased to let you know my Chinese brush painting artwork been selected for (VAS) Visual Arts Scotland Annual Open Exhibition 2012. I would like to invite you to attend the opening of the exhibition on Sat 4th February. You are welcome to bring your friends or pass this information around. I will be in the gallery all day from 10 to 5 and will be glad to see all of you there. Exhibition is FREE and run from Sat 4th February – Thurs 1st March RSA Upper Galleries, The Mound, Edinburgh.

张弛在苏格兰爱丁堡给大家拜年！感谢在过去的一年支持和帮助我的人。愿海内外的亲人，朋友及所有关注我的人龙年吉祥，幸福快乐！附图：近期书写的各种‘龙’。 Wish everybody a happy Chinese new year and welcome to the year of dragon! Loves and best wishes from Chi Zhang in the chilly Scotland capital. Image attached: Chinese Character Dragon in different styles.

Title:December Size 150x150mm, Medium:Chinese ink/brush painting color on Chinese rice paper. Mounted and framed. Edinburgh Castle under snow. Chinese brush painting style. This artwork is for sale, please contact for more information.

Edinburgh Caslte in festive season - painting on Chinese rice paper

Style with artist's emotion

Cursive style is the most difficult style in Chinese Calligraphy. It is also the most expressive style, abstract and full of pace and contrast. See the photo of Cursive Style calligraphy write on cotton bags, which are tiger and dragon, two of the most important animals in Chinese culture. They both means courage. The dragon in China is different in Europe. The legendary dragon king lived under water, control rain, hurricane and floods. Dragon in China symbolize power. Chinese Emperor usually uses dragon as a symbol of his imperial power. You could also refer to my previous article about 'add eye to the dragon' story.

Mop-sized Brush

Mr Chi Zhang demonstrate the most expressive format of Chinese writing – cursive style with a mop-sized brush.





Chinese characters in different styles:
虎(Hu)Tiger
象(Xiang)elephant
鹿(Lu)Deer
From Pictography to regular style or cursive style.
All three chracters on the left were 象形字 which means 'imitation of pictures', a completed drawing of the thing following its shape and curves.

I teach calligraphy in Scotland

China Radio International English Channel report:

Picasso once said that had he been born Chinese, he would have been a calligrapher not a painter.

But now, foreigners can access Chinese art and culture in their own countries as more people are promoting Chinese culture around the world.

Today, we are going to meet a 29-year-old Chinese man, Zhang Chi, who is teaching Chinese calligraphy in Scotland. Zhang Ru has more:

To listen click here >

Selected Poems by Robert Burns in Chinese Calligraphy

Book published by Edinburgh University Press in 2010, collects eleven well-known poems written by Burns, in their original texts and fine translations in Chinese. Every translation is presented on its illustration page with Chi’s beautiful calligraphy.

This project was funded by Confucius Institute for Scotland and the Scottish government and is of cultural significance. The book is usually presented as a gift for guests who visit the Scottish government or the University of Edinburgh, and it was brought as a gift by Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland, when he visited Expo 2010 in China. This book, with its literary and artistic value as an exquisite presentation of Burns’ poems in Chinese translations, is also produced as a token of the long-standing friendship between China and Scotland, reflecting people’s love for literature and poetry in both countries.