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Ming Wei
SIX PAINTINGS
I would like to introduce the two major traditional Chinese watercolor styles to audience: GongBi and XieYi. Chinese watercolor is a combination of poetry, history, culture, music and visual beauty. I would like to translate my understanding and perceptiveness of nature and human life onto my paintings. I have been enjoying blending the Western and Eastern Painting Styles. --M.W.
Click on image to enlarge it. Commentary by Susan Wei, the artist's daughter.
Autumn Midnight
This painting was inspired by my birthday trip to Crater Creek in the autumn of 2004. My sister, dad and I rented two yurts at the Rogue River Camping Ground.
When midnight strikes, the mist is steamed from the grass, floating among the forest and covering up the winding roads. The full moon is hanging highly in the sky and casting a layer of silver veil over the forest. The camping ground is dipped into the overwhelming atmosphere of peace and calm.
Dad wants his audience finds their inner peace through the simplicities of rural life.
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Morning Ray
The painting’s focus is its unique red. There is no Sun painted in this picture. But everyone can tell this is scenery of the sunrise. This is an early morning. The sun is coming up from the east and its ray steaming up the mist and cloud which is rising from the river and floating among the mountain peaks. This is also an early spring morning. All the trees are covered with the newly grown green leaves. Two diligent fishermen have left their village and set out to the river with their herons.
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Peaceful Li River
 Guilin is the city where my parents have lived more than 30 years. The Li River is one of the most famous rivers in China which is winding through the whole city like a silver ribbon. This is typical scenery of Guilin. Guilin is an evergreen city since it rains 9-10 months a year. In the spring, it drizzles and fogs a lot, which seems like someone casts a thin layer of veil over the whole city. Moving your eyes from the bottom to the top, you will see trees are decorated with green buds and new grass starts to cover the river banks; two fishing boats are floating along the river bed; the fog is rising from the foot of the faraway mountains… Moving you eyes from the left to the right, you will discover a tiny old village hiding among the trees and rocks. You can feel the peaceful river from the clear reflection cast on it… This painting offers inner peace by imagining yourself in the fishing boats.
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Wetland of Herons
Herons often have been spotted in the Northwest wetlands A fabulous wetland of herons was depicted by my father in this painting.
The spring breeze wakes not only the thousand-year-old trees but also the grass along the river bank. The forest is filled with the songs of birds and other creatures. The
creek is full of lives as well. Even my dad did not paint one fish, you can imagine there are tons of them in the creek from the busy hunting herons and a fishing boat which was just undocked from the bank.
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Music of Nature (Silence of Sound)
My parents and I hiked the Gui Bei Mountains in the mid summer of 2002. The waterfalls hitting on the rocks produced a wonderful melody. As you can see, there are two waterfalls, the big one is rushing through from the center and the little one is meeting with the big fall from the right hand side, just like two musicians playing the songs together… The sunray is peeking through the layers of the dark green summer foliage and shines the top of waterfalls… My dad wants you to “hear” the sound and melody through his silent painting…
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Misty Yangtez River
This painting is about the narrowest point of the Yangtez River Gorge, locating in the Province of Sichuan. The energy can be felt from the steep gorges and roaring water. You wonder the fate of the little boat... My dad is very witty and funny. He painted one little temple on the top of gorge and a little farm house on the lower rock. He wants to tell everyone not to worry because no matter how the treacherous the nature is, people always can make peace with it.
Artist’s Biography
as told by his daughter Susan Wei
My father, Ming X. Wei was born in 1940 and raised in a family of traditional Chinese scholars and artists. He began painting when he was 7 years old. He received fundamental drawing training from Shanghai Children Palace Drawing Club. From 1956 to 1958, he served as president of Shanghai JiangWan High School Art Society.
It was there, in 1956, he met Fang (my mom) whom he calls the best discovery in his life. She also became a very talented artist. After high school graduation, my grandpa urged Ming to give up his dream of being a full-time artist. He told my dad that an unknown artist would face an unstable life-style and income. Thus, my dad enrolled into University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Beijing, the most prestigious technology university in China and majored in geology. Meanwhile, my mom went to China Textile University in Shanghai, to pursue a degree in knitting engineering.
In 1966, my parents married in Beijing. In order to support the family, my dad had to hold off his dream and focus on his career. Over the next three decades, he would become a successful and respected geologist. He owned many publications in his field and he was invited 3 times to give important speeches at international geology conferences (1985 in Australia, 1988 in Japan and 1995 in the U.S.). My dad has traveled all over the world due to his work. He took full advantage of these opportunities to discover the beauties of nature. Now, he records many of the memories he collected through the years in his paintings.
After his retirement, my mom, his soul mate, encouraged him to go to the art school to get more formal education and training in order to fulfill his childhood dream. Since the moment that my dad picked up the paintbrushes, his life has been totally transformed. Since then, art has become the everlasting topic among us.
My dad moved to the states and he has been living with me in Beaverton OR since Nov. 2004. I am so blessed that I have the opportunity to live with my dad who is one of the most positive persons I’ve ever met in my life. His wisdom and humor brighten each day of my life. I hope you will recognize his wit and his passion for life in his paintings too.
Artist's Blog
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