Jack Wise wrote of his mentor's black and white paintings, embodying elements of Zen Buddhism and Taoism, in the West Coast Review. In a piece entitled: "From Cross-cultural Fertilization to Interface: A comment on the painting of Lin Chien-Shih" (Vol. 7, April 1973, 9-10). Wise explained:

His paintings seem to grow … this rhythmic progression unfolds as informal a space as that which we observe in wood grain, waves of water, stones or cellular structure, all woven together as naturally as a spider's web. Clearly, to the attentive eye, these paintings come from a man who, while in the act of creation, embodies a oneness with the forces of nature which no amount of calculation or contrivance can hope to achieve. We look not at a thing, but at a process.

The respect between teacher and student was mutual. In an essay for the catalogue of Jack Wise: A Decade of Work, Chien-Shih wrote "I find that he has surpassed Tobey" (Lin Chien-Shih, AGGV, Victoria, 4.), indicating that Wise had exceeded the calligraphic accomplishments of Mark Tobey, an artist born in 1890, in Centerville, Wisconsin. Tobey had moved to Seattle and demonstrated a great interest in Chinese and Japanese calligraphy, preceding Wise in attempting to embrace Chinese calligraphy within a western context, blending Abstract Expressionism and Asian inspired brush work in a similar manner.

For Wise, his teacher was an inspiration. The two men were following the ancient tradition of initiating a disciple through a Master. Wise may just as easily been describing his own work when he wrote of Chien-Shih's painting that "an acknowledged master of traditional Chinese calligraphy has transcended tradition by painting works which are … startlingly contemporary and deeply knowledgeable of International style." (Wise, West Coast Review, 10). Perhaps more important than their relationship of student and teacher, Lin Chien-Shih and Jack Wise formed a bond of friendship and family. They hoped that they would one day meet in another life as monks, to spend their days in meditation and painting in Chinese caves (interview of Bill Porteous, Angela Andersen, 02/01) Wise said, "He was like an older brother to me." (D. Rimmer, Language of the Brush, N.F.B., 1998).

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