Tina Chen

    We tend to say flowers are most resplendent in summer, but the exception is the plum blossom, which blooms in deepest winter.

    And that’s why Lin Yuanzhen, 68, an artist well known for his Chinese paintings, has dedicated so much of his life to this delicate but strong flower.

    Recognized for his plum blossom paintings, Lin has won numerous national awards, including the Gold Dragon Cup at the Beijing World Chinese Art Exhibition in 2000, gold at the World Chinese Artists Competition at Hong Kong University in 2006, and bronze at the 4th Anniversary of the World Day of Peace in 2006.

    His work has been recognized by leading Chinese institutions. The Art School of Xu Beihong, an icon among modern Chinese painters, acquired two of his large paintings in 2001.

    In 2002, he was chosen to create more than 20 paintings for the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, where heads of state hold receptions and events.

    In 2004, one of Lin’s paintings, 10.8 meters long and 1.48 meters high, was presented to the Soong Ching Ling Foundation.

    Lin has created his own distinctive style he calls “plum with seven colors.” Such paintings are very popular and have been collected by connoisseurs from Germany, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.

    But what makes his work so remarkable is that Lin’s painting hand has just two fingers, leading to his informal title, “The Two-finger Plum Blossom Painter of China.”

    Interest is the best teacher

    Lin didn’t attend art school until the age of 50.

    He became interested in painting as a child, always coming top in art class.

    But at the age of 12, an accident occurred that was to change his life forever.

    Born into a family of doctors, Lin loved doing experiments with his father’s chemicals.

    One day, while making firecrackers, his luck ran out. The chemicals exploded in his right hand. Lin lost three fingers.

    “For a long time I suffered from a sense of inferiority,” Lin told the Shenzhen Daily at his studio in Guanlan Subdistrict, Bao’an District. “I felt I was unsound.”

    But painting made him feel relaxed, allowing him to forget his misery.

    With just the thumb and the little finger of his right hand, he has held a brush almost every day for more than 50 years.

    Nevertheless, Lin found it was very difficult for a man with a disability to find a decent job.

    He has run a photo shop, been a receptionist, a photographer, and a teahouse manager.

    From 1981 to 1987, Lin was a professional beekeeper. During these six years, Lin had to take bees around the country to catch the blooming of the flowers.

    He traveled from Sichuan to Tibet, and to Ningxia, Gansu and Inner Mongolia.

    He dedicated his time to observing various flowers during his long journey, making sketches along the way.

    He would spend all his spare time painting.

    “Only diligence can remedy my disability,” Lin says. He still practices drawing more than eight hours a day.

    Blossoming friends

    In 1992, Lin was enrolled by Tianjin Art Academy and studied with Sun Qifeng, a well-known Chinese painter and a student of Xu Beihong.

    Lin was already 50 years old. But as a man who had never had any formal training, his paintings impressed his teacher.

    Sun coached Lin to create a unique style and found Lin’s talent lay in depicting plum blossom. Sun encouraged him to specialize in painting the flower.

    Lin now has five plum trees in his garden.

    “There are winter plums [yellow plum], and the other two are red plums,” says Chen, Lin’s wife.

    Chen lives with Lin at Guanlan Hill&Water Landscape Products Base, where studios are offered to outstanding artists who specialize in Chinese painting.

    “He also planted other trees as he loves plants and birds. One magnolia tree is already 13 years old,” Chen says.

    “He has raised more than 50 birds, such as doves, magpies and myna birds, from which he learns how to draw them.”

    Speaking of Lin’s physical challenges, Chen says: “It’s not easy for him to continue achieving these days. He’s gone through hard times. In the winter his right hand is more clumsy because of the cold weather.

    “He clutches the brush with only two fingers. And even when the water he uses for painting freezes, he keeps going.”

    A blessing, not a curse

    Unlike traditional artists, who depict flowers in impressionistic styles with few strokes, Lin is more elaborate.

    He says: “I do this because modern people are less likely to appreciate abstract styles.”

    “My paintings are intended to present natural beauty which can be admired by artists and laymen alike.”

    He paints his plum blossoms in seven colors: red, yellow, white, green, black, blue and purple.

    Chen Yuepei, one of Lin’s friends, says: “I’m very impressed by his persistence and diligence.

    “I never consider him disabled as he has made achievements that most people with sound bodies can’t make.

    “He often says: ‘Suffering a loss is a blessing,’ which impresses me very much.”

    Chen helped Lin publish “Mei Chi,” an album of his paintings, and also introduced Lin to exhibitions, including the China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair.

    Lin says: “I used to reserve some of my best works. I thought I would hold an exhibition of those pieces at the age of 70.

    “But several years later, I found I wasn’t so satisfied with them.

    “I found I had made great progress; today is better than yesterday. So I believe tomorrow must be better than today.”