by Rich Fowler
Staff Writer
Chapel Hill —Jinxiu Zhao usually goes by Alice because it’s easier for people to pronounce. A typical day for her is busy, filled with the art she loves. She teaches classes for seniors and children and is always cheerful and upbeat about it. She truly loves her work, and it comes through when you talk with her. Whenever she talks about her art or her students, she smiles.
Zhao paints traditional Chinese brush paintings, as well as Chinese calligraphy, and she teaches young and old all over the state. The themes of her brush paintings emphasize nature and natural settings: flowers, trees, plants and the scenery around her.
“My favorite painting subject was people when I was in China,†Zhao says. “But now I am more interested in painting flowers and birds after I moved to the states, because North Carolina is so beautiful and has many nice plants and birds. They give me the inspiration to paint.â€
She also says that plants and birds make better subjects for her students to study.
Chinese calligraphy is difficult for those who aren’t familiar with the written language, let alone those not used to writing with a large brush. In a small room at the Chapel Hill Zen Center on a Sunday afternoon, three people sit around a couple of folding tables, drawing Chinese characters on newsprint with brushes. The faint smoky smell of calligraphy ink mixes with the smell of the old Chinese-language newspapers that keep the ink from bleeding through the paper and ruining the tables.
The students, at various levels of learning, keep working on getting their strokes right while Zhao walks around, checking her students’ work, cheerfully encouraging them with an enthusiastic, “That’s good!†or “Oh, that looks nice!†The mood is amiable, as everyone chats pleasantly while working on their calligraphy.
Halfway through the class, the students take a break to stretch and enjoy the Zen Center’s koi pond.
This weekend, Zhao will be one of 11 artists participating in Art for a Cause, an art show that is part of the 19th annual Alternative Christmas Market at United Church of Chapel Hill.
“When I was little, I always had this dream,†Zhao says. “I said I would go somewhere very far when I was very young. It’s strange. I didn’t know where to go, I just had this dream.â€
Zhao grew up in Huangshi City, an industrial city along the Yangzi River, about 800 miles south of Beijing. She started drawing around the age of two, and her passion for art has grown ever since.
When she decided to emigrate in 1995, her dream led her to Chapel Hill.
The first thing she noticed when she came to the U.S. was the blue sky and the clean air.
“America is so beautiful,†she says, “everywhere you see is a painting, so that’s given me inspiration. So when I paint here, I don’t think I think so much about China.â€
Zhao started teaching soon after she came to Chapel Hill: “I showed my artwork to an American artist shortly after I arrived in North Carolina and she said I should teach. With the help of my American friends, I had my first brush-painting class in July 1995, with 18 people signed up.†The class was a success.
Her classes range in size from one-on-one private lessons to large workshops. “The first time I taught at a teacher’s workshop, there were 80 of them. I was so nervous,†she said.
“After I came here, I tried different jobs. Interpreter, translator, secretary — but still my passion is painting.
“When I had a full-time job, I didn’t have much time to paint. I like to teach and paint, so I decided to do this full-time.â€
With the help of Duke University’s Asian/Pacific Studies Institute, Zhao started teaching workshops in K-12 schools all over the state to teach both students and teachers Chinese brush painting and calligraphy. Since 2004, she has taught over 60 workshops.
The students at the schools she visits send thank-you cards and notes and decorate them with the Chinese calligraphy and brush painting she’s taught them.
Zhao appreciates the opportunity to teach people about Chinese cultural arts: “I can use what I know and what I can do to introduce Chinese art to them, plus they’re interested in learning about a different culture. It’s great.
“So even [though] now I’m here by myself – all of my family is in China – I don’t feel I’m a stranger here because, like my Chinese friends say, I have new friends here.â€
Zhao teaches brush-painting classes at the Robert and Pearl Seymour Center in Chapel Hill, the Chapel Hill Zen Center, the North Carolina Botanical Garden and the Duke Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
Alice Zhao is a wonderful teacher who is as cheerful as your article describes.
She has taught for us at Open Sky Aikido in Hillsborough at our camp for the last two summers. The kids love her and we love her. I have a spray of flowers she painted hanging in my kitchen, and it is a source of enjoyment every day. Best wishes to Alice, she is a great addition to the area.–Jesse kaufmann
Alice is an inspiration to all of us- students, teachers, artists. Her expressive Asian style of art contrasts with my American style, but I admire so much her skill and detail.
Sissy Newell
Alice teaches small group classes at The Nature of Art in Holly Springs. Our students have FUN while learning because Alice shares her joy of life through painting.