The story appears on

Page A10

February 26, 2012

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Feature » Art and Culture

Painter overcomes loss of parents

ARTIST Jin Guoming lost both of his parents when he was 30 years old. He didn't have an extended family to lean on, didn't have a decent job and he didn't have any hope for the future.

He felt like he was falling into an abyss, he says.

"Youth, probably one's best period in life, was actually my darkest time," says Jin, sitting in his 40-square-meter studio on Taikang Road in Shanghai. "Compared with my peers, I witnessed death, pain and financial pressure much earlier than most."

However, all this pain can not be found in his paintings.

Large brilliant color patches form a blurred backdrop for a peaceful countryside scene. Sometimes a slender young woman stands in the middle or rides a bicycle in the corner.

The girl immediately touches viewers' hearts because she is not today's "material girl" dressed up in fashionable outfits. Instead, her simple white dress and long, straight black hair outline the beauty of a natural and pure figure, reminding viewers of a past "innocent age."

"She is my dream lover," Jin confesses, speaking of his wife.

Unlike Salvador Dali, few artists would consider their wives to be their muses. Perhaps Jin is another exception.

"She shined her light on my life and backed me during those dark days," he says.

Born in Shanghai, he graduated from the oil painting department at Shanghai Normal University.

But his career path has taken a lot of detours.

For years, he changed jobs frequently. Jin has been a middle school teacher, a professional artist, an advertising agency employee and an editor.

He finally returned to art full time in 2000.

"I don't complain about life," he says. "In fact, it has taught me a lot of things that I could never obtain from books."

Jin calls himself "a calm appearance that hides a wild heart.

"In the recent decade, I traveled extensively in Europe, America and Asia," he says. "The outside world has really widened my interpretation of art and life. I can't say these are my best days, but it is my ripening period in art. Life has a way of balancing out for everyone, now it's time for me to savor some joy and happiness."




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend