Ten Feet of China: January 2009

The original sign from the show. Hand painted

This Exhibition was shown at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas in the School of Art from November 7 through the 15, 2008.

I went to Wuhan, China in August of 2003. I taught college level English and writing classes for two school years. Through my paintings of China I documented common events in the daily lives of the Chinese. When most Americans think of China they think of chopsticks, the Great Wall, and kung-fu. When people think of nature in China, they think of terrace farming and rice paddies. While those do exist in China, they were not part of my experience. I spent two years in a few neighborhoods in an industrial city with a population the size of New York.

“Ten feet of China,” the title of my exhibition, is a reference to the amount of China I felt I experienced. China is so vast and diverse, and I saw very little of it. Relative to the whole, I feel like I only experienced ten feet of that huge nation.

Caught Looking

12 x 12 in. oil on canvas
The subject was staring at me as my husband was buying phone cards, so I took his picture. Brown is a popular clothing choice for middle-aged men in China.

George

12 x 12 in. oil on canvas

He was a local student. I chose to paint a white background for him because its blandness contrasted with George's intense personality.

Coke Guy

12 x 12 in. oil on canvas

The subject was 92. I am intrigued to think of all the history he has seen. I chose red as a background because of the contrast with his white hair.

Young Hands

12 x 12 in. oil on canvas
While this boy talked to my husband in Chinese, I took several pictures. He seemed nervous, because he kept moving his hands around. I chose yellow for the background because it seems pure and innocent.

Gloria

12 x 12 in. oil on canvas
She was a student who was very interested in being my friend. I choose light grey because of the contrast with her red shirt.

Grace

12 x 12 in. oil on canvas

This portrait is of a woman my husband and I knew. She was very gracious and gentle. She teaches medical English at a nursing school.

Barry

12 x 12 in. oil on canvas
Barry was a friend of my husband's before moving to Canada. I thought his intense stare would work well with orange.

Baby

12 x 12 in. oil on canvas-Sold

I only took one picture of this baby as his father was carrying him in a crowd. I thought a “baby” blue was appropriate for him.

The portrait paintings are for sale at $200.00 each, plus shipping.

These next paintings are all painted on brocade, a cloth that is very popular for garments in China. These paintings are not matted and framed-they are not meant to be-I wanted them to hang in the manner of a Chinese banner. They hang by a bamboo dowel inserted into a sewn in pocket at the top. I then attached wire to the dowel to make the painting hang more stably.

Planting Marigolds

36 x 36 in. acrylic on cloth

Many places around the city displayed flowers and plants. During the year, workers would replace the current plants with flowers better-suited to the coming weather. This worker is planting marigolds in the late summer. I chose the gold cloth for this painting because of the color of the flowers.

Dragon Eye Fruit Stand

36 x 36 in. acrylic on cloth

This is two images put together to make one picture. I chose the brown cloth because the round pattern on it corresponds to the sphere shapes of the “dragon eye” fruit, and the watermelon. There were numerous fruit stands in our city.

Fishing Boats

36 x 36 in. acrylic on cloth-Sold

In this painting I liked the contrast of the modern apartment buildings with an old method of fishing with nets.

Children's Day

36 x 36 in. acrylic on cloth

Children's Day is held in May every year. Many of the children wear costumes and perform for their parents. This picture shows children dressed up going to such an event. This painting is on teal brocade to bring out the red in the boys' costumes.

Gambling Men

36 x 36 in. acrylic on cloth

I chose red cloth because street gambling is a very popular activity for the men of China and red is the national color. Red is the Chinese color for happiness, and I suppose these men are happy when they gamble.

Flower Cart

36 x 36 in. acrylic on cloth

Fresh flowers are readily available on the streets in China. I chose white cloth for this painting to contrast with the black suit of the woman looking at the flowers, and as a contrast to the green of the flower stems.

Sleeping Man

36 x 36 in. acrylic on cloth

My husband and I were shopping for fabric. We saw a worker who had fallen asleep on several rolls of fabric, rolls he was probably delivering. This image was really fascinating to me because it shows a person sleeping in public, not a common sight in America.

Rice Bags