The Chinese Brush Paintings (which are the bulk of my paintings now) in my art gallery are rendered on rice paper, then mounted on a thicker paper using glue. The color is ground from minerals or plants and mixed with glue so it will stick to the paper. The ink comes in liquid form or ink sticks that are ground on an ink stone made of slate and mixed with water. The ink stick is preferred over the liquid ink. The brushes are soft (rabbit hair), medium (mixed fox and horse hair), or hard (horse hair), and are loaded with water first, then as many layers of color or ink will be added depending on the subject matter. By loading the brush in this manner it allows the blending of one color into the other gradually in one brush stroke. After the paintings have been mounted the mood seals and chop with name of artist will be added. One chop has my name while the mood seals are poetical sayings or a symbol, which has a connection with the painting. The seals are pressed into a tin of cinnabar paste, a scarlet red color, and is pressed onto the painting. When using a red seal on a monochrome painting, it is said to be adding the eye to the dragon. Besides the signature seal, my work also has my name in Chinese characters, and my signature in English.The subject matter varies from landscapes to birds, flowers, fish, landscapes, animals, insects and so on. Much of the subject matter has symbolic meaning. For instance,if a couple were getting married, or moving into a new house, a great gift would be a painting with fish. Fish symbolize long life and happiness. If you have fish in the work place it keep cash flowing, so a painting of fish in the office would be a great choice. Landscapes symbolize tranquility, which makes a living room a great place for a landscape painting. Both Crane and pine tree are strong and is a symbol of long life . These paintings are used by many interior decorators to feng shui home and or office for their clients.