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I was born in
Taiwan
in 1956, the oldest of four children. Three of us were very
interested in art, and we won many prizes—at first in our classes,
then in our school, and then in citywide competitions in
Taipei
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Our family was poor, but my mother took on side-work at night so that we
could complete our educations. My brothers and I drew constantly
on old newspapers that we found lying about. I became interested
in watercolor, so I would bring home discarded paintings from school,
soak off the pigment, and paint new images. The shadows of the
underwash that remained would peek through my new paintings like ghosts. |
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When I was 23, I
married an American and eventually settled in Petaluma,
California. Suddenly I had a wealth of wonderful opportunities. I
began studying under great teachers, like Frank Sardisco, Charles Reid,
Robert Wade, and Michael Loffredo. I’ve also been influenced by
the great masters. I particularly admire Matisse for his sense of
color and composition, Picasso for his skill at drawing, and Soutine for
his loose and innovative style.
As with all artists,
my compositions aren’t always successful. I have a reputation
for “killing” paintings—repainting over old oil paintings in order
to reuse the canvas. One of my oil paintings has six earlier works
underneath. It was common for the old masters to paint over their
failed compositions, but very few modern artists do this since it makes
the colors a little muddy. But I like seeing the faint shadows of
earlier paintings in my newer works. I think it adds texture and
complexity. |
