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Watercolors win recognition
By JOHN BALZ, Times Staff Writer
NEW TAMPA -- Doesn't art always work this way? The real challenge isn't the execution, it's the inspiration. For two Wharton sophomores, LuJia Li and XiaMeng Sun, coming up with the concepts for a statewide art contest took two weeks, more than twice as long as it took to sketch and paint their finished watercolors. "It's always difficult to come up with an idea," said Li. This year's theme for the Parent Teacher Association's Reflection Contest was "signs of courage." Both students' work reached the final round, which will be judged next month. Li painted a watercolor of a muscular man looking out at a mountain with his back turned to the canvas and a dead wolf thrown over his shoulder. Sun painted three purple flowers growing out of the sea. "More abstract," she said, which she then noted is more of her specialty. Li, 16, and Sun, 15, were both born in China. They came to Tampa with their parents, who work at the University of South Florida as researchers. Li arrived about 18 months ago and Sun has been here for almost three years. Li thinks of herself as an artist. Sun is a bit more hesitant. "I don't think I'm that good at drawing," she said modestly. Both teens took up drawing when they were much younger. Li's instrument of choice is a charcoal pencil. While she said she enjoys looking at art, she never pays attention to the artist. "I just care about the picture" she said. "I don't really care who drew it." The art in American schools is more creative and more enjoyable, said Sun. In China, the emphasis was on drills and repetition of a proscribed object, such as a body part or a fruit. "Here they just tell you to draw whatever you want," she said. "In China, they assigned something." -- John Balz can be reached at (813) 269-5313 or at balz@sptimes.com .
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From the Times |
