I have known Ms. Li Ying since the 1980s. At that time, she was still a fine arts teacher at the No. 13 Middle School of Beijing. She was a smart and diligent worker, and often came up with brilliant ideas on how to better teach students. She actively participated in every teaching research activity in the district; she was particularly excited about the outdoor sketching of fine arts teachers. She was more than willing to share her ideas on art issues and discuss them with colleagues, and most of her works were quite above the average level. She seemed tireless in improving her artistic skills. At that time, most of her works were realistic paintings, with images of accurate shapes and full of life.

　　We did not meet each other for quite a long time from then on. Later, I was told that she was enrolled into the teaching assistant program of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and that after graduation, she devoted herself to the mineral color painting.

　　Long time ago, I once saw the paintings of Japanese artist Kaii Higashiyama, which were created with mineral color pigment. But I knew very little about the mineral color painting, except that it was made by grinding the natural (or artificial) colored rocks into power, then mixing it with gluey pigments, and then applying the mixture to the paper, wooden or metal board, or the surface of cloth or wall. Such kind of painting emphasizes in particular the texture of the materials used, with a kind of unique beauty. Though most of the pigments used in traditional Chinese paintings were “mineral pigments”, the mineral color painting in the real sense was introduced from Japan into China two or three decades ago. The mineral color painting was originated from the Dunhuang Murals in China, and is now appreciated by Chinese audience.

　　Recently I have seen some mineral color paintings by Li Ying and I am impressed by her progress and breakthroughs made in artistic innovation.

　　Her mineral color paintings are not realistic any more, but more subjective. She draws inspiration from the idea of “harmony between man and nature” conveyed in traditional Chinese paintings, borrowed the way of separating and abstracting pure forms and colors from the modern western abstract paintings, and imagined meaningful symbols to represent what she has seen and felt in real life, to express her feelings and ideas and mirror her mind. Her paintings are as graceful as oil paintings in terms of color use, and display the unique textural beauty of the mineral pigments when exposed to light. For example, she tries to compare people and people’s hearts to flowers in her “Flower Series”. Li Ying is a kind and passionate person. Lu You, a famous ancient Chinese poet, once wrote, “fallen in mud and ground to dust, she (plum blossom) seems no more/ but her fragrance is still the same.”

　　I wish that Li’s paintings and the flowers on her canvas, produced after painstaking efforts, will become more charming like the ever-fragrant plum blossom.

作者：Gao,Zongyan