THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 25, 1995 TAG: 9508240170
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
There are exquisitely detailed goldfish swimming in radiant light, majestic herons, bold and playful monkeys and heroic rodeo riders.
You can view the above mentioned scenes at the Chesapeake Central Library as part of a month-long exhibit of art created by Virginia Beach resident Shawmei Shen.
Shen, who is a full time professional artist and teacher, is an expert in two traditional Chinese art styles: watercolor on silk and brush and ink.
In scoping out the library several months ago, the Kempsville resident thought the Chesapeake library would make a good venue for her art.
The exhibit features more than 30 of Shen's works ranging from watercolor on silk paintings to simple brush ink works.
Both styles are techniques Shen learned from Taiwan's National Academy of Arts, which teaches and preserves all manner of Chinese art and culture.
Shen said her brush and ink art is called shei-yi (pronounced shay-ee), where the artisan captures the essence of his or her subject, not the details.
``It uses simple strokes, to give life and movement to a subject,'' she said. ``It's a deceptively simple style that tends to be humorous and is fun to look at. It mainly uses black and white and shades of gray to create bold forms. You capture the most important strokes of a subject.''
This technique uses four different brush strokes, all exhibiting its own unique trait or characteristic: bamboo, orchid, plum and chrysanthemum.
``For example, the bamboo represents flexibility and being upright and the orchid stands for hidden or subtle beauty,'' she added.
Shen has been teaching Chinese art and calligraphy at the Tidewater Chinese School, located near the ODU campus in Norfolk, for many years. She's an artist in residence at the Artist's Gallery on Pacific Avenue in Virginia Beach and has taught or demonstrated art for the Chrysler Museum, the Portsmouth Museum and the Chesapeake Watercolor Society, to name a few.
Her art works have won several awards including silver medal awards at the Third World College Student Art Exhibit in South Korea and the National Museum of Natural History in Taiwan.
A native of mainland China's Szechwan province, Shen lived in Taiwan for more than 20 years before moving to Texas to attend Baylor University, where she earned a bachelor of fine arts degree.
Before moving to Virginia Beach, Shen attended the Art Institute of Chicago; worked as an interior designer and a graphic design consultant. MEMO: The artwork of Shawmei Shen will be on display at the Chesapeake Central
Library, 298 Cedar Road, through August during normal library business
hours. For more information about the exhibit, call 547-6578. For more
information about Shen's art or classes, call 476-4535 or 422-3703.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Pen and brush drawing by Shawmei Shen.
by CNB