Me and Jin Ming Li
My friend Jin Ming Li (Jin Ming Lee, Li Jin Ming) asked me to write about him for the preface of a book of his paintings, and the following is what I wrote:
Some of the first paintings that I liked when I first discovered modern Chinese painting were by Jin Ming Lee. Often, artists are expert at either landscape paintings or portraits, but the two paintings that I had discovered were one of each of those specialties: a Mediterranean harbor scene, which I own, and a portrait of a herder girl on the Tibetan plateau. Had I discovered a true artist? For me, color has always been an important ingredient of the art that I tend to like, and Jin Ming Lee seems to always understand the use of color. His paintings are usually bright and cheerful with colors that are happy and vibrant, and even in his more somber paintings, the colors go well together and offer a sense of calm. More importantly, he understands how colors go together, and the colors in his paintings are always in harmony, which is an important part of the overall presentation that a painting offers, for one color out of place can ruin the feeling that one gets.
Of course, the most important thing about painting is in the brushstrokes. After all, from a few stokes of a pen, a pencil or a brush, we, as onlookers, see a scene or a portrait. It is an art, perfected by my ancestors, the Italians, in the renaissance, about half a millennium ago. Again, Jin Ming Lee shows not only understanding, but true ability. In his Mediterranean harbor scene, the bold brushstrokes that form the water make it look like the boats in the harbor and buildings on the dockside are being reflected in ripples in water. In the portrait of the herder, the girl’s brightly colored Zang traditional clothing, upon closer inspection, is seen to be composed, mostly, of single bold strokes. Yet, in portraiture, he shows that his bush can be applied quite delicately, showing that he truly understands the painter’s art. Before I met him, I had seen photos of him, and he usually appeared confident and somewhat serious, yet, I detected something more beneath the surface. When I first met him, I found him to be an impish little boy, just like me, playful and a bit mischievous. Picasso said that artists are children who never grew up; others, from Rembrandt to Miro, may not have said it, in words, but have shown it in playfulness in their art. It takes someone, who knows what fun is, to make art, and my friend Jin Ming Lee understands fun and the fun in art. They say the same thing about physicists, which was my first career, and I am always happy to find other people who believe that life is about having fun, who don’t take it too seriously but enjoy it all, instead. People, like that, retain the wonder of the child, throughout their lives, and can still be in awe of the simplest things, from a beautiful view to a great thunderstorm.
Jin Ming Lee should be a good artist since he can trace his artistic lineage directly to one of the original revolutionaries, in modern Chinese art, Lin Feng Mian, who was the teacher of several of his art teachers, including Xu Jian Bai Ying Qi Cang, and Tan Xue Sheng. The teachings of those artists focused not only on technique but also the philosophy of modern art: to not just paint pictures but to capture emotion. Of course, education can only elicit and hone the talent that is already there, and desire is the further ingredient, necessary to advance learning. For Jin Ming Li art is more an avocation than, simply, a vocation: he has the soul of an artist. Even as a small boy he liked to paint, painting along side his father, who also painted. After graduating from college, during the reign of Mao Zedong when the government decided where a person would work after college, Li was assigned to international trade, not art. However, that had no affect on his artistic pursuits: he simply used his travels to paint more varied subjects and scenes. Indeed, much like people, today, always carry their cameras around to make memories, in photos, of things they have seen, Jin Ming Li logs his memories in paintings, using whatever materials he can muster at the moment. He even has a large collection of small paintings, much like other people have albums of photographs. While some artists that I have met, over the years, paint to make a living, for Jin Ming Li painting is more than a living: it’s his life. While there are others who are good painters, few paint for painting’s sake, like Jin Ming Li, and I enjoy his paintings, even more, because I know that they are not about his occupation as a painter but about the little boy inside and how he sees and wants to remember the world around him.
In truth, I like and respect few people, but I have both affection and respect for Jin Ming Lee. Since we first met, we have become great friends. Last year, he took me to his hometown, Heshan, which is the birthplace of another prominent artist from the original revolution in Chinese painting: Li Tie Fu. Heshan is a water village area, so, perhaps, that is why he likes to paint boats, and is even called the boat king, by some, but to me he’s a prince of a man and an all round great artist. Perhaps that is also why when I opened my gallery, in Guangzhou, he was the first person that I wanted to invite to see my new world and my creation: the gallery. As it turned out, we had one more thing in common. Way back when, while he was still an art student, Jin Ming Lee would come to the area where I decided, decades later, to opene our gallery to paint and instruct others in painting. Now, he’s returned to the area, in our gallery’s collection, to show a new generation what art is all about.
You can see the art of Jin Ming Li on our website at http://www.leonacraig.com/catalogue_art_gallery/wall_art/jin_ming_lee_page.htm
Some of the first paintings that I liked when I first discovered modern Chinese painting were by Jin Ming Lee. Often, artists are expert at either landscape paintings or portraits, but the two paintings that I had discovered were one of each of those specialties: a Mediterranean harbor scene, which I own, and a portrait of a herder girl on the Tibetan plateau. Had I discovered a true artist? For me, color has always been an important ingredient of the art that I tend to like, and Jin Ming Lee seems to always understand the use of color. His paintings are usually bright and cheerful with colors that are happy and vibrant, and even in his more somber paintings, the colors go well together and offer a sense of calm. More importantly, he understands how colors go together, and the colors in his paintings are always in harmony, which is an important part of the overall presentation that a painting offers, for one color out of place can ruin the feeling that one gets.
Of course, the most important thing about painting is in the brushstrokes. After all, from a few stokes of a pen, a pencil or a brush, we, as onlookers, see a scene or a portrait. It is an art, perfected by my ancestors, the Italians, in the renaissance, about half a millennium ago. Again, Jin Ming Lee shows not only understanding, but true ability. In his Mediterranean harbor scene, the bold brushstrokes that form the water make it look like the boats in the harbor and buildings on the dockside are being reflected in ripples in water. In the portrait of the herder, the girl’s brightly colored Zang traditional clothing, upon closer inspection, is seen to be composed, mostly, of single bold strokes. Yet, in portraiture, he shows that his bush can be applied quite delicately, showing that he truly understands the painter’s art. Before I met him, I had seen photos of him, and he usually appeared confident and somewhat serious, yet, I detected something more beneath the surface. When I first met him, I found him to be an impish little boy, just like me, playful and a bit mischievous. Picasso said that artists are children who never grew up; others, from Rembrandt to Miro, may not have said it, in words, but have shown it in playfulness in their art. It takes someone, who knows what fun is, to make art, and my friend Jin Ming Lee understands fun and the fun in art. They say the same thing about physicists, which was my first career, and I am always happy to find other people who believe that life is about having fun, who don’t take it too seriously but enjoy it all, instead. People, like that, retain the wonder of the child, throughout their lives, and can still be in awe of the simplest things, from a beautiful view to a great thunderstorm.
Jin Ming Lee should be a good artist since he can trace his artistic lineage directly to one of the original revolutionaries, in modern Chinese art, Lin Feng Mian, who was the teacher of several of his art teachers, including Xu Jian Bai Ying Qi Cang, and Tan Xue Sheng. The teachings of those artists focused not only on technique but also the philosophy of modern art: to not just paint pictures but to capture emotion. Of course, education can only elicit and hone the talent that is already there, and desire is the further ingredient, necessary to advance learning. For Jin Ming Li art is more an avocation than, simply, a vocation: he has the soul of an artist. Even as a small boy he liked to paint, painting along side his father, who also painted. After graduating from college, during the reign of Mao Zedong when the government decided where a person would work after college, Li was assigned to international trade, not art. However, that had no affect on his artistic pursuits: he simply used his travels to paint more varied subjects and scenes. Indeed, much like people, today, always carry their cameras around to make memories, in photos, of things they have seen, Jin Ming Li logs his memories in paintings, using whatever materials he can muster at the moment. He even has a large collection of small paintings, much like other people have albums of photographs. While some artists that I have met, over the years, paint to make a living, for Jin Ming Li painting is more than a living: it’s his life. While there are others who are good painters, few paint for painting’s sake, like Jin Ming Li, and I enjoy his paintings, even more, because I know that they are not about his occupation as a painter but about the little boy inside and how he sees and wants to remember the world around him.
In truth, I like and respect few people, but I have both affection and respect for Jin Ming Lee. Since we first met, we have become great friends. Last year, he took me to his hometown, Heshan, which is the birthplace of another prominent artist from the original revolution in Chinese painting: Li Tie Fu. Heshan is a water village area, so, perhaps, that is why he likes to paint boats, and is even called the boat king, by some, but to me he’s a prince of a man and an all round great artist. Perhaps that is also why when I opened my gallery, in Guangzhou, he was the first person that I wanted to invite to see my new world and my creation: the gallery. As it turned out, we had one more thing in common. Way back when, while he was still an art student, Jin Ming Lee would come to the area where I decided, decades later, to opene our gallery to paint and instruct others in painting. Now, he’s returned to the area, in our gallery’s collection, to show a new generation what art is all about.
You can see the art of Jin Ming Li on our website at http://www.leonacraig.com/catalogue_art_gallery/wall_art/jin_ming_lee_page.htm
Website: http://www.leonacraig.com
11 Gui Gang Three Road, Dongshan Kou, Yuexiu district,
Guangzhou, China 510080
广州市越秀区东山口龟岗三马路11号
086 020 37625069
Posted by Leona Craig Art at 7/8/2010 8:08 AM 
Categories: Chinese Oil Painting, Artists and Genres, Oil Painting
Tags: Leona Craig Art Gallery Jian Bai Xu Tibet Guangzhou artist 徐坚白 impressionism art Jin Ming Lee Li Tie Fu 李金明 contemporary Jin Ming Li 谭雪生 Guangdong Xue Sheng Tan Lin Feng Mian Li Jin Ming LC Yilang Heshan Tan Xue Sheng China Chinese Xu Jian Bai
Categories: Chinese Oil Painting, Artists and Genres, Oil Painting
Tags: Leona Craig Art Gallery Jian Bai Xu Tibet Guangzhou artist 徐坚白 impressionism art Jin Ming Lee Li Tie Fu 李金明 contemporary Jin Ming Li 谭雪生 Guangdong Xue Sheng Tan Lin Feng Mian Li Jin Ming LC Yilang Heshan Tan Xue Sheng China Chinese Xu Jian Bai
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