OPINION
Page 6 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
November 17, 2014
Volume 24 Number 22
November 17, 2014
ISSN: 1094-9453
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MY TURN
n Dmae Roberts
Illustrating the art of
Chinese watercolors
illow Zheng considers herself lucky she well the deceptively thin paper held up as she pulled
started grade school at the end of China’s out the wrinkles and permanently stretched the
Cultural Revolution. During this time, paper canvas.
Zheng created 11 original paintings in four
from 1966 to 1976, the arts were considered the “old
Sundays
as well as writing some calligraphy. She
way of thinking” and many of China’s artifacts were
actually destroyed by the government and artists said it was the first time since her husband’s death
were oppressed. It was part of a movement by Mao in 2007 that she was able to concentrate on creating
Zedong to purge all capitalist and traditional art. She told me that her husband, Rosario
Aglialoro, was the long-
aspects of Chinese society.
time executive director of
As a child in the north-
the
Northwest
China
eastern
province
of
Council (NWCC). They
Shaanxi in China, Zheng
were college students when
loved to draw. Her father
they met in China, fell in
enrolled her in an arts
love, and married. Rosario
school when she was in the
sixth grade. It was 1973,
brought Willow to the U.S.
and she knew classmates
in 1988. For the most part,
who were being “re-edu-
she was able to work on her
cated” in the countryside.
art while he was alive. She
She was fortunate to
also taught Chinese lan-
attend an art school that
guage courses at NWCC.
still allowed basic arts “Two Girls at the Lake,” by Willow Zheng, watercolor on
When her husband passed
rice paper. (Photo courtesy of the Mei Mei Project)
training. She took to it
away, nearly 400 people
eagerly, learning to sketch western sculptures from attended a memorial held at the Portland Classical
replicas such as Michelangelo’s “David.” As she Chinese Garden (now called the Lan Su Chinese
grew into adulthood, she eventually earned Garden).
bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts from the
During the time her husband was alive, Willow
Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts.
painted a great deal and held art shows at venues
“I love to draw and sketch from real life,” Zheng such as the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center.
told me. She found work while attending art school; She became a still artist at the Rental Sales Gallery
for a time she was a set painter for a Chinese Opera at the Portland Art Museum, where people have
company and an illustrator for a newspaper. She been able to rent her paintings. After her husband’s
yearned to paint full time on her own projects, passing, she realized she needed to work more hours
though, so she did not take any permanent to support herself, so being a full-time artist was not
positions.
realistic. She now teaches Chinese language
During the past couple months, I got to know courses at Portland State University and Washing-
Willow and became familiar with her artwork. I ton State University Vancouver as well as the
enlisted her to illustrate Mei Mei, A Daughter’s classes at NWCC.
Song, the 25-year-old radio documentary about the
When I asked Willow to paint Chinese water-
relationship between my mother and me that I was colors for the more mythological scenes of the Mei
turning into a film. For several Sundays, Willow Mei Project, she realized she had no place to work so
created beautiful Chinese brush paintings at my I let her use my office. It has been a source of
office. As I watched her work, I learned more about frustration for her knowing that even when she does
her and the process of Chinese watercolors.
have time to work on art, it is not practical to paint
Using brushes of various sizes, Willow would because her personal living space is too small. For
effortlessly dip water into the watercolor paints as me, it’s been a pleasure to watch her work her
she mixed colors directly on the rice-paper canvas. magic, blending Chinese classical and modern
At one point she showed me how she “mounted” the illustrations.
thin rice paper onto boards to eliminate the
“I especially like a kind of Chinese painting
wrinkling effect of her finished paintings. I gasped a technique called gong bi zhongcai,” Zheng said. It
little when she brushed more water on the painting, loosely translates to “fine line drawing with heavy
thinking it would smear and destroy the artwork. color.” She said she loves the technique and it can
But to my open-mouthed astonishment, I saw how
Continued on page 7
W
Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication.