I’m no painter, but Derick, Andrew and Danette definitely are! We had art lessons with the famous painter Mr. Xing Yanling today and he was talent times-ten! Mr. Xing Yanling told us that his secret to success is memory, not visual painting. He does not paint his subjects, he looks at his subject only once, then he paints what he remembers. How cool is that? His work is a collage of one lifelike painting after another, brilliant flowers, birds, bamboo and nature scenes that pull you in head first. He creates a beautiful flower with three little strokes, a skinny brush, and some ink, and it looks like he spent all afternoon painting away! He was vibrant yet relaxed as he made his way around the table spending time with each one of us and illustrating techniques that would help us improve our own paintings. He didn’t speak English so we couldn’t understand him, but his eyes told a story about his life and his passion for art and nature. He told us through a student interpreter that he paints every single day and that we should too. He said his father was a calligrapher, and when he was a child he would watch him, and that’s how he developed his love for art and calligraphy. As we painted and chatted around the table, Chinese instrumental music was playing in the background, and delicious hot green tea was continually brought to the table just for us! What a way to spend an afternoon. When we got done with our art session, Mr. Xing Yanling gave each one of us a book of his published art works, autographed with a special message and our names written in Chinese calligraphy.
