The First Placements
By June 2015, the spark that ignited on April 19th had become a relentless rhythm. The studio in Chengdu was no longer just a room; it was a production line of discovery. My days were measured by the scrape of the palette knife and the immediate, electric feedback of the digital world.
WeChat became my gallery and InstaMag my curator. Every time a piece was finished, I’d post it, and the 'spirit hunting' would begin. Friends and collectors would zoom in on the textures, finding hidden faces and stories in the symmetrical folds of my 'Mirror Image' Spirit Paintings. It wasn't just social media; it was a validation loop that fueled the next canvas before the paint on the last one was even dry.
Two works from this period stand out as the pillars of my early lore. On May 14th, I finished 'The King's Banner,' a piece that carried an inherent regal weight. Then, on June 9th, I completed 'Copper Mine Creek.' At the time, it was an exploration of Canadian Shield depth, but it eventually became one of my very first 'Postage Stamp' paintings, a series that would take flight in 2016.
These weren't just experiments; they were the first 'stars' of my journey, destined for international exhibitions I hadn't yet imagined.
The momentum reached a milestone on July 16th. I remember the weight of two mirror-image sets as I delivered them to the Chief and Deputy Chief Editors of the Chengdu Weekly newspaper.
They were my earliest adopters, women who recognized the vision while it was still wet on the canvas.
What the world didn't see in the WeChat photos, however, was the hidden DNA of those paintings. My sons, Nate and Michael, were there in the studio with me. Though they were young, I handed them the palette knives. They added their own strokes, their own energy, to the layers. Those weren't just my paintings; they were our first true collaborations. The beginning of a family art dynasty, building a legacy, one heavy impasto stroke at a time.
WeChat became my gallery and InstaMag my curator. Every time a piece was finished, I’d post it, and the 'spirit hunting' would begin. Friends and collectors would zoom in on the textures, finding hidden faces and stories in the symmetrical folds of my 'Mirror Image' Spirit Paintings. It wasn't just social media; it was a validation loop that fueled the next canvas before the paint on the last one was even dry.
Two works from this period stand out as the pillars of my early lore. On May 14th, I finished 'The King's Banner,' a piece that carried an inherent regal weight. Then, on June 9th, I completed 'Copper Mine Creek.' At the time, it was an exploration of Canadian Shield depth, but it eventually became one of my very first 'Postage Stamp' paintings, a series that would take flight in 2016.
These weren't just experiments; they were the first 'stars' of my journey, destined for international exhibitions I hadn't yet imagined.
The momentum reached a milestone on July 16th. I remember the weight of two mirror-image sets as I delivered them to the Chief and Deputy Chief Editors of the Chengdu Weekly newspaper.
They were my earliest adopters, women who recognized the vision while it was still wet on the canvas.
What the world didn't see in the WeChat photos, however, was the hidden DNA of those paintings. My sons, Nate and Michael, were there in the studio with me. Though they were young, I handed them the palette knives. They added their own strokes, their own energy, to the layers. Those weren't just my paintings; they were our first true collaborations. The beginning of a family art dynasty, building a legacy, one heavy impasto stroke at a time.