Art Exhibit Purpose：To understand artists in the Taiwanese community, and their works. Date：10/18/2014, Sat, 12:00 pm- 5:30 pm Place：U of M, Saint Paul student center Introduction of the artists and their works：
Susan Hsiu-fang Liu Painter
Susan Hsiu-fang Liu was born and raised in Taiwan, and came to the United States in 1974 to study social work. She started painting at the age of forty when she was in search of paintings for decorating her house. She couldn't find anything she liked in her price range, so she decided to create her own. By studying books, taking art classes and workshops, and frequenting art galleries, she realized a new talent. She was a social worker, a computer programmer/analyst, a mother of two children, and currently, a full-time painter. Susan Hsiu-fang Liu's contact info: phone: 651-493-8747 email: hsiufangchen@gmail.com Susan Hsiu-fang Liu's gallery: http://www.mnartists.org/work.do?action=list&rid=208933
Bamboo Hat Making I grew up in rural Taiwan. Bamboo has been an important part of people’s lives. From building material, kitchen utensil, art material, to hat, the one this woman is making. The baskets are made of bamboo, too. The house I grew up had hundreds of bamboo trees in the backyard and bamboo shoots are served on our dinner table regularly. Oh, they are so good when they are cooked right after picked. I miss it very much! 25"W X 37.25"H Autumn in the Arboretum Thanks to good friend Yu-Ann, I got to visit MN Landscape Arboretum many times to enjoy the beauty of Minnesota four seasons. This painting was done before the cabin was renovated.  37"W X 27"H Tiny This cat called "Tiny", grew up to be a big cat. His twelve years' life gave my family lots of fun memories. Sometimes, he was the only family member my quiet son spoke to. Of course, he gave me some headaches, because I did not give him good discipline. I display Koosh ball here because it was his favorite toy. 21.5"W X 17.5"H
Jo Yeh illustrator
Jo Yeh is an illustrator from Taipei, Taiwan, who specializes in narrative, story-based illustrations. She also creates short comics and zines with her own images and texts. As an artist, her greatest interests lie in the depictions of relationships among people and subtle inner emotions and things people might feel uncomfortable talking about.
Śarīra Śarīra, in general, is a term that refers to "Buddhist sages’ relics". People believe that Śarīra are the crystals of spiritual masters’ wisdom and kindness, and are the continuing of their spirits after their bodies are gone. The concept of the piece comes from Śarīra—one’s wisdom and kindness are what make the spirit sparkled and remembered after death. 21.75" W X 15.75" H
Felix Cheng Painter
Felix Cheng was born on April 20, 1992 in Kansas. He moved to Minnesota when he was 5, and procured cable television at the age of 7. Enthralled by the plethora of animation available, he began to diligently doodle the well-loved and memorable characters he is fond of. Fast-forward to high school, Felix began taking art classes under the supervision of Mr. Todd Clercx. During these budding years, Felix was introduced to the world of acrylic paint, Photoshop, and graphic design. His senior year, his acrylic painting “Self-Portrait” was selected as part of an exhibition at the Har Mar Mall. After graduation, Felix went to the North St. Paul Next Step Transition Program and had continued developing his skills in acrylic painting, as well as exploring the new medium of oil painting. He had also forayed into the world of Flash animation. He had produced 32paintings, and also produced “Aldrid Von Pectos: the Strong Man,” a Flash animation.Felix currently takes classes at Century College after graduating from the North St. PaulNext Step Transition Program, which lasted for three years. He is majoring in Visual Communications Technology in which he is taking the 3D animation track and works on the follow-up story project “Heather’s Under the Weather.” Felix currently resides in Maplewood Minnesota.
Lake Chippewa Lake Chippewa was first started when we were on vacation during Christmas Break 2012. At that time, we didn’t pack any paints for the trip; just pencils, a kneadable eraser,and a 30x40 canvas. I painted this scene instead of any lake view because it looked cozy and comfortable during the bitter winter time. From this painting experience, I discovered that the reason why the shadows on the snow were blue was because of the lightingsource from the blue sunny sky. The colors of the snow shadows depend on the color of the sky. For example, whenever it’s a cloudy, snowy day, the shadows are a slightly pale grey color. Different light sources definitely create different color spectrums as can be seen in the different areas of the painting, which all add to the liveliness of the picture. 33.5" W x 27.5" H The Koala The Koala was first started as a gift for my ex-high school teacher Jennifer Bielen-Kim. I painted it as the koala is her favorite animal. The koala is considered one of the cutest animals I had even seen. The piece was painted on a 22 x 28 canvas and its medium I used is acrylic. The koala took three months to finish with the delicate details on the fur, the leaves, and the bark of the Eucalyptus trees the koala was clinging onto. I used a fan brush for certain occasional areas on the koala’s fur to soften up the areas. It wasn’t that easy at first, but delicate work all pays off! After finishing the koala, it was a successful painting that everyone loved it so much although I wanted to give it to Jenni. I had to paint another koala for her due to the aforementioned success of the first piece. The painting was chosen as a favorite among viewers who describe the creativity in its cuteness. 31.5" W x 25.5" H Mickey and Friends Felix Cheng was enthralled by a plethora of animated characters he became fond of, and a group of those characters represent the main icons of the Walt Disney Company. Disney produced many animated films over the years. That was why Felix was influenced by Disney to be an animator to express his artistic creativity to draw characters and write stories on his own. Mickey Mouse was also the first Disney character to star in his first cartoon “Steamboat Willie” in 1928. The medium Felix used to draw Mickey Mouse and Friends was pastel chalk. He made sure that the colors blend together to make gradual transitioning. Blending worked well with pastels when Felix smudged his fingers across different colors to enhance details. The result is that the characters looked realistic from the way you saw them. High contrast of shades and lights make the colorful Disney characters stand out more. For example, yellow and orange make Donald and Daisy’s bills stand out from their heads. Black, white and gray make the white gloves stand out in the background. What’s important is that the first characters in the background should be drawn first before the foreground characters as there is a relationship between the opposite backgrounds. The most accurate achievement Felix was proud of was that he wrote the “Disney” logo at the top because it looked very accurate to the logo we see in global Disney franchises today!!! 25"W x 20"H