ARTIST STATEMENT: I am an oil painter trained at the Art Students League of New York under the New York School of Abstraction. Inspired by Action Painting (and what it took from Impressionism and Monet), I employ a spontaneity of brushwork mixed with a strong sense of light and composition. Later I found a calling in traditional Chinese scholarly brushwork, and studied at China Academy of Art in Huangzhou,China. I then moved my practice to Beijing. Blending and transforming these aesthetics, and keeping a constant source of inspiration in the natural world, has developed and informed my work up to the present. My artistic expression is a physical embodiment on the canvas of my spiritual expressionism. I see the brushstrokes as a medium of both physical and nonphysical energy, a translation of the poetry of life passing through me. Just as Buddhism must be a full practice, so I see art as a full practice in my life-- in my tea, my calligraphy, my painting-- which is best aimed at cultivating myself further, not as a monk in solitude but a fully engaged artist and being. I strive to make my art a service for others, to offer small realms of peace, comfort, beauty and tranquility; and to connect and uplift the spirit.