Zhaoming Wu
 
ZHAOMING WU Zhaoming Wu was born in China and grew up in Guangzhou City. He received his BFA from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art China and his MFA from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. Since 1983, he has been exhibiting his work in Asia, Europe, the United States and other countries around the world. He has won numerous awards, including the Merit Award at the 6th National Art Exhibition in Beijing, China, the Gustafson Fund Award, the National Oil and Acrylic Painter's Society (US) Award, 1st place in the 9th Biennial National Figure Painting and Drawing Exhibition in Mendocino Art Center, California, Grand Prize Winner in International Artist Magazine (Aug/Sept 2005), the Daler-Rowney Award from the Oil Painters of America 2000, and the Art Distributors Awards of Excellence from the Oil Painters of America 2005. Long active as both an artist and a teacher, he served as a professor of painting at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art and is currently an instructor of painting at the Academy of Art University. His works have been featured in many publications, including two drawing books and two painting books, International Artist Magazine (April/May 2003, August/September 2005), Art of the West magazine (September/October 2004, July/August 2007), Art Talk Magazine (February 2005), and American Art Collector (January, December 2007). Zhaoming Wu uses composition, value, color, and edges to express many moods – his own and those found in nature. From hills drenched in sunlight to sandy beaches shrouded in fog, Zhaoming Wu finds constant inspiration in the dramatic shapes that occur in nature. But the subjects he sees are really just the starting point, the essential building blocks that he arranges, adjusts, and changes to suit the feeling he’s after. Through his careful development of design, he takes nature to a higher level, using it as a vehicle for expressing mood, drama, and movement. Although his landscapes feel very contemporary, Wu’s design principles actually date back to traditional Chinese painting. One of his first steps in composing a new image is to determine what he calls points, masses, and lines. A “line” refers to any prominent edge, shape, or series of shapes that sweeps through the painting. A “point” refers to any small shape. And a “mass” refers is any large shape or cluster of small shapes that can be grouped together to become one large shape. While a painting can be built on two or even just one of these three elements, Wu prefers to build his compositions on a mixture of all three. Says the artist, “I use points, masses, and lines the way a composer uses notes to write a song.”