In 1982, Chen Yifei traveled to Europe for nearly two months, visiting a dozen countries such as Spain, Italy, Netherlands, and appreciating a large number of famous original European paintings which he longed for so many years. The famous paintings only seen on album of paintings or magazines in the past can be watched by his own eyes during this trip, which enriched his creation experiences. What's more, the stunning scenery of Europe inspired him to produce a series of works on Venice's water town. Some classic works among them are similar with this work whether in the adoption of one-point perspective or the application of chiaroscuro and opponent colors with high saturation, which reveals that the artist has developed mature composition and brushwork from the process of depicting the cultural and natural landscape of Europe and fused them into his water village paintings in the 1990s.

Most Chinese oil painters feature“Chinese spirit with Western skills”, which means expressing Chinese spirit, thoughts and emotions with artistic skills and forms of expression learning from the West. Through the creation of Venice series, Chen Yifei developed a passion for representing Chinese water villages with realistic oil paintings. When he returned China, he visited Suzhou and discovered the old water town Zhouzhuang. Water Valley I displays the fusion of Western techniques of figurative painting with Chinese romance by the artist to experience and interpret national emotions with the unique style.

It is noteworthy that although Chen was born in Zhenjiang and grew up in Shanghai, he called the water town Zhouzhuang his hometown for many t.mes s. According to his wife Song Meiying, Chen had missed the beautiful scenery of his childhood hometown, but the old scenery of Zhenjiang had disappeared with the process of modern city construction. Only Zhouzhuang could evoke his child memories. 
On Zhouzhuang's ferry boat, Chen once said, “In front my home, there's a river accessing directly to the sea. From here, my mom took me on a boat and left my hometown.” In Water Valley I, the artist applies the low viewpoint of horizontal plane to lead the viewers into a picturesque scene of a water village - flowing water, small bridges and riverside houses - the atmosphere of hometown. The artist skillfully adopts shadows and cool-warm tones to separate the picture into two parts of left and right, representing two distinct artistic moods and the splendid landscape of water villages on the canvas.

While Water Valley I demonstrates the artistic techniques acquired by the artist during his inspection trip to Europe in the 1980s, the poetic ambiance of the traditional Jiangnan water village remains apparent. In 2006, Water Valley I was exhibited in Baoqu Tang Modern Art Gallery and was recorded in the exhibition catalogue.

1982年，陳逸飛到歐洲展開了接近兩個月的考察之旅，遍訪西班牙、義大利、荷蘭等十餘國，大量觀摩了歐洲名畫原作，一償多年心願。過去只能在畫冊或雜誌上看到的名畫，都在此趟旅程中得以親炙真跡，豐富了他的創作閱歷；此外，歐洲的風景亦為他帶來震撼，促使他創作了一系列的威尼斯水鄉作品，當中的一些經典創作，無論在單點透視的運用，以至明暗法及飽和度高、對立配色的調度使用，均與本作《水鄉之一》類同；可見藝術家從描繪歐洲的人文風景的過程中提煉出成熟的構圖形式及筆墨技法，並將之融入九〇年代的水鄉風景創作

中國油畫家多數有「中魂西藝」的特徵，即是借助西方的藝術技巧和表現形式，呈現一種中國精神及思維情感。經過威尼斯系列的創作，陳逸飛對於以寫實油畫呈現中國水鄉產生了濃厚的創作激情，回到中國蘇州考察，並且發現了水鄉周莊。本作《水鄉之一》即展現藝術家將西式具象繪畫技術與中式浪漫格調相融合，以此獨特的風格體驗並詮釋民族情感。

值得注意的是，陳逸飛出生於鎮江，成長於上海，卻多次把周莊的水鄉風景稱為故鄉。按陳逸飛妻子宋美英的解釋，是藝術家一直懷念兒時的故鄉美景，但現代化的城市建設，卻使鎮江景物不復舊觀，反而周莊更能掀起了他的童年回憶。
在周莊的擺渡上，陳逸飛曾經說：「我家門口有一條大河直通向海，媽媽帶我乘船，從這裡離開故鄉。」 在《水鄉之一》，藝術家採用水平面的低視點，帶領觀眾切入畫面，水鄉的流水小橋，河畔的房屋，無不透露出濃濃的鄉情。藝術家更巧用陰影與一冷一暖的色調將畫面左右分開， 呈現出兩種截然不同的情調， 將水鄉妙曼多變的景色盡收畫上。

《水鄉之一》既體現藝術家旅歐考察後的技法心得，亦保留江南水鄉獨有的詩意氛圍，實屬精彩之作，別具收藏價值。本作於2006年曾展出於香港抱趣堂當代藝術館的首屆油畫/雕塑展〈靈性的呼喚〉，並載錄於展覽圖冊。