Emerging Artists | Jing Zhao

A certain beauty

Jing Zhao, Building a Sand Castle, oil, 20 x 24.

Jing Zhao, Building a Sand Castle, oil, 20 x 24.

This story was featured in the December 2019/January 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art December 2019/January 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

JING ZHAO always dreamed of becoming a great artist one day. As a child growing up in Qingdao, China, she had a natural talent for drawing. She studied with a private art teacher and drew every day in hopes of someday attending a top fine-art academy in China. Even when her path took a very different turn—leading her to a career in law, and then software engineering, in the United States—her interest in art never faded. During that time, “I drew a little bit, but just for fun and to relax,” says Zhao.

Things changed, however, in 2016, when Zhao visited an Oil Painters of America exhibition near her home in the Dallas, TX, area. “I met a lot of great artists there, and their stories and their works inspired me to paint,” says Zhao, who wasted no time getting started. She quickly enrolled in classes at the Peninsula School of Art and the Scottsdale Artists’ School. Taking workshops with artists like Kevin Macpherson, Zhaoming Wu, and John Michael Carter also proved influential—so influential, in fact, that Zhao is already snapping up top awards for her figurative work. Most recently, she took home Best of Show at the American Impressionist Society’s national exhibition in October.

Zhao credits her success to hard work and years of drawing practice. “I think great teachers are very important,” she adds. As a young art student in China, she received one vital piece of advice from her teacher that guides her work today: “Draw whatever you find interesting and beautiful.” Now, she says, “I always try to find a certain beauty in a special characteristic. Sometimes it immediately grabs my eye.”

That’s what happened on a trip to Guatemala, where Zhao spotted a beautiful girl in a crowded market. The girl’s brightly colored head scarf caught her attention first; then Zhao noticed the girl’s expression: “not happy, kind of sad,” she says. “That’s emotion, and that’s what I want to paint.” When she returned home, Zhao created GUATEMALAN GIRL IN THE MARKET using photographs she had snapped that day in the market. The impressionistic work reveals her admiration for master artists like Sargent, Sorolla, and Fechin. “It’s not my goal to merely depict the thing I see; I try to express my inner response toward what I see,” says Zhao. “My brush strokes follow my emotion.” —Kim Agricola

representation
www.jingzhaoart.com

This story was featured in the December 2019/January 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art December 2019/January 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

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