Painting the Dao

84 ak14.16 Five Dragon Sceptres for Old Stumble Stone, No.2 Ink and watercolour on Arches paper 37.5 × 57.0 cm, Phuket, spring 2014 Two artist seals 攜杖老人 Xiezhang laoren (Old man who carries the staff ) 一二三 Yi er san (One, two, three) Published The Master of the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat, Beyond the Stage of Time , ii: Staff Masters and Stone Fools (Hong Kong: Rasti Chinese Art, 2020), 191 inscr iption The Dragon Sceptre was the upper part of what must once have been an impressive staff, but he had reworked it, adding a tassel and cord. Since I only handled it briefly, my memory of its precise form is clouded, so I have painted two little likenesses of it. The spirit is clear in both, but whether either captures the physical likeness is another matter. But since the original has, no doubt, long since turned to dust and blown away on the wind, as, probably, has Stumble Stone, it matters not. Inscribed by the Master of the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat in the spring, 2014.