十里荷香Lotus Fragrance for Ten Miles

A lotus pond. The great leaves are swept in with a loaded brush, wet and dry, dark and pale, overlapping layer on layer; some face us, some turn away, some curl and some spread. The paler leaves are washed with ochre-tinged ink, the darker ones broken with deep black, and a few strokes mark their veins. Pink lotus flowers open among them, their petal tips touched with rouge and their bases left white around pale green seed heads. Thin reeds in light ochre rise lightly on the right. Under the leaves at the left a pair of ducks swim one behind the other, one in reddish brown, one in dense ink. At the foot of the scroll the lotus stalks cross, drawn with a firm, upright brush.

The inscription at the upper right gives the title, Lotus Fragrance for Ten Miles, and the date, summer of 2022. The phrase pictures a pond in full flower whose scent carries far: a summer scene, and a quiet wish for a good name that travels.

此作写荷塘。荷叶数张，以大笔泼墨挥洒，浓淡干湿，层层相叠，或正或侧，或卷或舒，淡者以赭墨晕之，浓者焦墨破之，叶筋数笔勾出，墨韵淋漓。粉荷数朵穿插叶间，瓣尖点染胭脂，根部留白，莲蓬嫩绿，鲜妍可爱。右侧细苇以淡赭写出，疏朗轻扬；左侧叶下，水禽一双相随而游，一着赭红，一着浓墨。画底荷梗斜出交错，以中锋写之，劲挺有力。

右上题“十里荷香”，款署“壬寅夏　菊梅”。十里荷香，言荷花连绵十里、清香远播，写夏日荷塘之盛，亦寓清名远扬。