After graduating from the Department of Fine Arts, National Taiwan University, I taught classes and painted traditional ink wash birds and flowers for 15 years before switching to watercolors due to an illness. After retiring in 2001, I had even more time to paint, dabbling into all kinds of genres, such as still life, landscapes, portraits, and animal paintings, choosing both foreign and domestic subjects. For the past 10 years I’ve decided to choose birds as the main subject of my artwork, hoping to integrate watercolor and the birds and flowers I am familiar with in an attempt to build my own artistic identity with a singular creative direction.
In order to familiarize myself with the subject, I participated in birdwatching courses with the Wild Bird Society. In the indoor courses, I learned about things like bird anatomy, behaviors of different bird species, bird migration, and environmental protection. The outdoor classes involved going out into the field to observe birds in their natural habitat, as to avoid making a joke of myself by painting something which is factually wrong. I also visited farms with livestock like chickens, ducks, and geese in order to carefully observe and record them through photography. I am especially fond of sunny days, when there are shadows. On these occasions I never hesitate to snap many photos and gather materials that make me feel moved. These experiences fueled my drive to keep painting, and helped me complete many artworks.
In particular, over the past 5 years, I have most often visited the second hometown I grew up in – Nantou. Its countryside culture is simple and natural, and it shaped my pragmatic and peaceful nature. Its people, kind and compassionate, nurtured my bright and cheerful way of thinking. So I always paint when I’m in a calm mood, just to attain that peaceful, serene feeling. My paintings merely consist of things seen in daily life. I pursue meaning by expressing some warmth and compassion, with the hope of eliciting some interactions.