fishing-solitude

hrh the princess painted this picture after a chinese poem by liu zongyuan entitled “snow river.” it depicts a very cold day with snow falling, the river turning into ice, and no birds in sight but only an old man sitting and fishing alone. she translated the poem into thai. no birds flying over the mountains; footprints in ten thousand paths disappear. an old man in a cloak wearing a straw hat fishing in solitude at the snow river. hrh the princess cherished this painting as she said, “i like the fisherman sitting alone. it’s the scenery that i’m fond of.” in fact, she does not like fishing as it is sinful and she does not like sitting still. she explained that she “liked drawing people fishing because it implies there is something to wait for” and that she “liked drawing a picture of stillness and tranquility because it entails being alone in the grandeur of nature in the open space with no one and doing nothing.”