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Success for struggling deaf artist
November 3, 2009, Tuesday
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A poor, hearing-impaired country girl with a gift for painting has been helped by Hangzhou artists who are touched by her talent and determination. Xu Wenwen reports. A hearing-impaired painter - bullied and shunned as a child - is preparing a solo art exhibit, thanks to kind-hearted painters, a calligrapher and the generosity of people who spotted her talent and brave heart.
The success of 35-year-old Xu Xiaoping attests to the warm hearts of many people and to Xu's own perseverance in the face of daunting difficulties.
Today she is praised as "a golden phoenix taking flight." She is selling paintings and preparing for an art exhibit next spring.
This is her story:
Xu was born a healthy girl to an ordinary family of farmers and innkeepers in Mt Tianmu area in Hangzhou's Lin'an County, 65 kilometers from downtown. She loved observing nature and drawing. The Mt Tianmu area is known for its scenery and its hickory trees.
When she was five she lost her hearing after getting an overdose of antibiotic. She was no longer able to speak clearly.
She muddled through ordinary primary school because Lin'an did not have any school for the hearing-impaired. When she was 13, a special school opened and she attended it for six years.
Over the years, she was tormented by other children because of her disability and discriminated against - she even thought of taking her own life.
But she did not despair and looked to the future. She painted in her spare time, copying pictures and reading art magazines and books.
After graduation from high school, Xu could not pursue art and went to work in a factory making glass utensils and in the family inn run by her parents and sister.
It was not until 2005 that Xu again picked up a brush after meeting a vacationer, Xu Fuhua, who became her teacher and mentor.
Xu Fuhua, 73, is a Chinese brush painter living in Hangzhou's urban area. Every year he and his wife, artist Weng Rufan, vacation and paint in Zhejiang Province. In 2005 they lived in Xu Xiaoping's family inn at the foot of Mt Tianmu.
One day, as the couple were painting, Xu took a break from her cleaning chores and watched them for a long time. They communicated in gestures. Xu Xiaoping kept saying "beautiful, beautiful" with thumbs up. The artists asked if she wanted to try and she immediately copied their works skillfully.
Artistic gift
"She did a good job, not simply copying but studying how we used the brush and then imitating," recalls Weng. "We were touched by her artistic gift and fortitude. We decided to help her and take her as a non-paying student.Over four years' teaching, Xu Fuhua and Weng took Xu Xiaoping to many spots in the province. She excelled in painting landscapes and other subjects.
By this time, Xu Xiaoping had married a construction worker and had a baby, born in 2006. Her husband's monthly income of 1,500 yuan (US$220) was not enough to support the family, especially with a baby. She still struggled to paint, but lacked materials.
Sometimes Xu has no choice but asks for money from her parents, who supported her art. To feed the baby took 5 yuan a day.
For many 3-year-olds, 5 yuan buys a bag of chips or an ice cream, but to Xu Xiaoping's family, it pays for a day's food.
At one point Xu Xiaoping thought about giving it all up and taking a job, but her teachers Xu Fuhua and Weng and her parents insisted that she continue to paint.
"Though I am deaf, I need to respect myself," Xu says in a letter to the reporter. "I love drawing and I cannot let down the people who have helped me."
"She's smart, she catches on and can understand artistic expression," says Xu Fuhua. "I don't need to explain. And she isn't distracted because she cannot hear.
"Of all my students, she is the hardest working. Once she even was painting while breast-feeding her baby."
The elderly artist couple took her into their Hangzhou home where she does housework in exchange for lessons. Xu Fuhua helped her enroll in the classes of two other teachers, Liu Jiajun and Pan Peirong in a Hangzhou university.
To help her earn money, the couple introduced her to elderly friends who pay her as a domestic helper.
During the week Xu Xiaoping works and studies in Hangzhou and on the weekends she helps at her family's inn.
Since 2007, calligrapher Shen Liangyuan has been teaching her calligraphy, and Ye Xiaogang, a former language teacher at Hangzhou Normal University, raises funds to support Xu Xiaoping's art career.
To ensure Xu Xiaoping to earn a steady income, the three elderly couples lent her 100,000 yuan in 2006 to build a three-floor addition to the family inn. Xu Xiaoping receives 10,000 yuan annually in rent.
Meantime, Ye has collected charity funds from the municipal government for her painting expenses. The municipal, county and provincial federations of disabled persons promote Xu's art works.
"Helping and being helped are both natural," says Ping Yayu, Ye's wife.
"It's a miracle that Xu did such a marvelous job over four years and now we want to help her become independent."
Thanks to everyone's generosity, Xu opened her own studio in August 2007 at the family inn. She sold an award-winning work for 1,400 yuan, her most expensive. So far she has repaid half the funds lent to her, and her yearly income is around 20,000 yuan.
Next May Xu Xiaoping will hold a solo exhibition in Lin'an. She is creating and selling paintings and also receiving donations.
Xu Xiaoping is deeply grateful, and her mentor Xu Fuhua observes: "I have done many good deeds, like giving alms to beggars, but mostly I was cheated. This good deed is well worth it - Xu Xiaoping deserves it."
The success of 35-year-old Xu Xiaoping attests to the warm hearts of many people and to Xu's own perseverance in the face of daunting difficulties.
Today she is praised as "a golden phoenix taking flight." She is selling paintings and preparing for an art exhibit next spring.
This is her story:
Xu was born a healthy girl to an ordinary family of farmers and innkeepers in Mt Tianmu area in Hangzhou's Lin'an County, 65 kilometers from downtown. She loved observing nature and drawing. The Mt Tianmu area is known for its scenery and its hickory trees.
When she was five she lost her hearing after getting an overdose of antibiotic. She was no longer able to speak clearly.
She muddled through ordinary primary school because Lin'an did not have any school for the hearing-impaired. When she was 13, a special school opened and she attended it for six years.
Over the years, she was tormented by other children because of her disability and discriminated against - she even thought of taking her own life.
But she did not despair and looked to the future. She painted in her spare time, copying pictures and reading art magazines and books.
After graduation from high school, Xu could not pursue art and went to work in a factory making glass utensils and in the family inn run by her parents and sister.
It was not until 2005 that Xu again picked up a brush after meeting a vacationer, Xu Fuhua, who became her teacher and mentor.
Xu Fuhua, 73, is a Chinese brush painter living in Hangzhou's urban area. Every year he and his wife, artist Weng Rufan, vacation and paint in Zhejiang Province. In 2005 they lived in Xu Xiaoping's family inn at the foot of Mt Tianmu.
One day, as the couple were painting, Xu took a break from her cleaning chores and watched them for a long time. They communicated in gestures. Xu Xiaoping kept saying "beautiful, beautiful" with thumbs up. The artists asked if she wanted to try and she immediately copied their works skillfully.
Artistic gift
"She did a good job, not simply copying but studying how we used the brush and then imitating," recalls Weng. "We were touched by her artistic gift and fortitude. We decided to help her and take her as a non-paying student.Over four years' teaching, Xu Fuhua and Weng took Xu Xiaoping to many spots in the province. She excelled in painting landscapes and other subjects.
By this time, Xu Xiaoping had married a construction worker and had a baby, born in 2006. Her husband's monthly income of 1,500 yuan (US$220) was not enough to support the family, especially with a baby. She still struggled to paint, but lacked materials.
Sometimes Xu has no choice but asks for money from her parents, who supported her art. To feed the baby took 5 yuan a day.
For many 3-year-olds, 5 yuan buys a bag of chips or an ice cream, but to Xu Xiaoping's family, it pays for a day's food.
At one point Xu Xiaoping thought about giving it all up and taking a job, but her teachers Xu Fuhua and Weng and her parents insisted that she continue to paint.
"Though I am deaf, I need to respect myself," Xu says in a letter to the reporter. "I love drawing and I cannot let down the people who have helped me."
"She's smart, she catches on and can understand artistic expression," says Xu Fuhua. "I don't need to explain. And she isn't distracted because she cannot hear.
"Of all my students, she is the hardest working. Once she even was painting while breast-feeding her baby."
The elderly artist couple took her into their Hangzhou home where she does housework in exchange for lessons. Xu Fuhua helped her enroll in the classes of two other teachers, Liu Jiajun and Pan Peirong in a Hangzhou university.
To help her earn money, the couple introduced her to elderly friends who pay her as a domestic helper.
During the week Xu Xiaoping works and studies in Hangzhou and on the weekends she helps at her family's inn.
Since 2007, calligrapher Shen Liangyuan has been teaching her calligraphy, and Ye Xiaogang, a former language teacher at Hangzhou Normal University, raises funds to support Xu Xiaoping's art career.
To ensure Xu Xiaoping to earn a steady income, the three elderly couples lent her 100,000 yuan in 2006 to build a three-floor addition to the family inn. Xu Xiaoping receives 10,000 yuan annually in rent.
Meantime, Ye has collected charity funds from the municipal government for her painting expenses. The municipal, county and provincial federations of disabled persons promote Xu's art works.
"Helping and being helped are both natural," says Ping Yayu, Ye's wife.
"It's a miracle that Xu did such a marvelous job over four years and now we want to help her become independent."
Thanks to everyone's generosity, Xu opened her own studio in August 2007 at the family inn. She sold an award-winning work for 1,400 yuan, her most expensive. So far she has repaid half the funds lent to her, and her yearly income is around 20,000 yuan.
Next May Xu Xiaoping will hold a solo exhibition in Lin'an. She is creating and selling paintings and also receiving donations.
Xu Xiaoping is deeply grateful, and her mentor Xu Fuhua observes: "I have done many good deeds, like giving alms to beggars, but mostly I was cheated. This good deed is well worth it - Xu Xiaoping deserves it."
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