Los Angeles—Zhao Qi, a well-known Chinese painter, began his painting arts world tour on July 9 in Los Angeles, which is concurrently held with a charity auction.
Zhao Qi, born in 1980 in Tianjin, China, started to learn painting and drawing at the age of 7. His diligence and dedication to arts earned him a nickname “Contemporary Ma Ling”, a legendary painter in ancient China who used his magical painting brush to fight injustice.
Some of his works on Chinese landscape was collected by David Freeman, a renowned author and illustrator of children’s books in American.
“To become a painter is my childhood dream,” said Zhao. “But I don’t want to be a painter who spends all his time in a studio. I enjoy scenery landscapes. Therefore, I want to travel and paint.”
“However, it is not easy to be a travelling painter,” Zhao added. “My family could not afford my learning of painting. And my mother had a strong objection to my pursuit, since in her mind painting could not sustain my life. So I had to pursue my dream in private, and be self-taught.”
The masterpieces on exhibit in Los Angeles include “Mountains and Rivers”, “Fog”, “the Yangtze River”, “Boating in Spring”, “Experiencing the Country”, “Autumn Waters”, and “Summer Rain”.
These seven works were auctioned during the exhibit. And the proceedings would be donated to children who are under cancer treatment at City of Hope National Medical Center.
Zhao’s art style is impressionistic. He depicts the landscape in his eyes with dark paints while leaving imagination space.
Zhao Qi’s painting world tour in North America includes Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and New York.
“The happiest thing in one’s life is to do what one enjoys,” said Zhao. “This is what I have learned from painting and drawing. In the subsequent years I wish to travel to Europe, Australia, Africa and some other places.”
