Coral WilsonMaybe the rocks, the bamboo, the...

Coral Wilson

Maybe the rocks, the bamboo, the mountains and waterfalls have never

existed in the world as they do on Ve-Na Chen’s rice paper paintings.

But they don’t have to.

That is the beauty of Chinese brush painting.

“The Chinese look at everything, filter it through their mind and

put it on paper,” Chen said. “It is not necessarily what you see.”

FYI

“The Art Work of Ve-Na C. Chen” will be on display through March

21 in the Center Hall Gallery of the UC Irvine Student Center. The

show is free and open to the public. For more information, call (949)

824-5588.

Sometimes a Chinese artist uses calligraphy to explain the poetry

of the mind, she said. And sometimes the pictorial Chinese characters

are paintings in themselves.

Chen’s love of art was inspired by her father, an avid art

collector. But when she announced her dreams of a career in art, her

father brought her back to reality.

“You can’t find job. You will be starving,” he told her.

Medicine was a more practical, acceptable choice, so she studied

biology. She moved from China to Taiwan, and now lives in Irvine. She

has retired as manager of the student health laboratory at UC Irvine.

Chen never stopped painting and teaching on the side.

“Art makes life more beautiful, and I like sharing my interest

with others,” she said.

She taught at the Learning Tree University in Irvine, the Art

Institute of Southern California, wrote the book “Loving Chinese

Brush Painting,” founded the Orange County Chinese Artists Assn. and

was a product design consultant for the Disney movie “Mulan.”

Chen still teaches at the Fine Arts Center in Irvine, and her work

is on display at UC Irvine student center through March 21.

One day four years ago, an enthusiastic 76-year-old woman showed

up for Chen’s class.

Ruth Bienz from Zurich, Switzerland, was looking through the

newspaper and saw an ad for a Chinese brush painting class.

Bienz always loved to paint, but her father said, “No, you must be

a teacher.”

She became a good teacher and a passionate musician. She taught

classical guitar and chamber music, performed in numerous concerts,

operated a day-care center and taught kindergarten. Now retired, she

still teaches private students.

Aware of his mother’s childhood love of art, Bienz’s son said, “Oh

mom, go, go,” after she told him about the class.

Her son, Dan Hoffmann of Costa Mesa, is the reason Bienz comes to

Newport Beach every year from October to April.

Far from home and without a car, Bienz took a taxi to attend

Chen’s class. After progressing past the basic level, Chen started

going to Bienz’s home to give private lessons.

“I am happy that I found Ms. Chen. She is so great person. She is

wonderful. She is good teacher, very calm, and I love her,” she said.

“She gives me her eyes. I look with her eyes.”

In the process, Bienz has developed an appreciation for the

Chinese people. “They are so nice, so kind. They have a mentality we

don’t know, a heart mentality.”

Now at 80 years old, Bienz teaches brush painting to private

students in Switzerland -- friends who became fascinated with the

ancient Chinese art form.

Chinese brush painting is different from western oil and acrylic

painting. Using different paints, different brushes and delicate rice

paper that shows every stroke, the artist must be disciplined in body

and mind.

As artists tend to do, new generations have experimented with

interesting combinations of styles and culture. While Chen has seen

the changes over the years, she prefers the traditional approach she

was trained in.

“Both techniques can be combined to make more beautiful paintings

and art. Maybe the whole world can combine into one. Who knows?” she

said. “We exchange knowledge, why not art?”

After dutifully following her father’s advice, Chen, now in her

late 60s, can finally engross herself in her rice paper world of

brightly colored flowers and ink mountains.

Every year, Bienz gives Chen a call to say she is back in Newport

Beach. Bienz passes her California days painting every morning,

playing music in the afternoon and visiting with her son’s family.

A teacher for life, she returns home to share what she has

learned.

And so it goes. East meets West.