This incident took place in 2010. I excitedly informed my mother that I had painted a picture of a lion head knocker handle. She came to my house solely to see it. As she gazed at the painted knocker knob on the canvas, she started speaking and even displayed a comical expression towards the artwork. I was amazed by her reactions.
My mother told me that when she was a child in China, her house had a door with a knocker handle just like the one painted in the picture. The knocker handle had been there since her birth. She mentioned that she often played with the door knocker at home. She enjoyed greeting the lion head on the knocker knob whenever she arrived home or left the house.
She shared with me that the lion head greeted her at the door every day. Each time she passed by, she would say "hello" and "goodbye" to the lion head. The knocker handle had the features of a lion's face, with eyes, a nose, and a mouth. So, it was understandable that as a young girl, she would talk to it, touch it, and play with it.
She explained that since she left home at the age of 12 and moved to Hong Kong, she never saw a lion-faced knocker handle again. When my mother told me this, she was holding the painting I had created.
You know, when my mother was about to leave my house, she even said "Bye-bye" to the lion head on the knocker I had painted, as if bidding farewell to an old friend.
It's amazing how painting has the ability to evoke personal memories and allow for the sharing of individual experiences. Truly marvelous!
Prabhakara Jimmy Quek February 28, 2020