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I, Bethany Qiang, am an 8th grader at Brecksville
Broadview Heights Middle School, and have a sparkling passion for many
art forms. I have been drawing and painting realistic art forms since
I was four years old. I have studied pencil drawing from the ages of
five to ten, and in December of 2004, attended Ms. Shen’s student’s
art show at the Brecksville Library. Since then, I have been taking
lessons in Chinese Watercolor from Ms. Shen.
Ms. Shen’s passion of art shows through her
paintings. Her artwork can be found in many continents, including
North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Ms. Shen teaches
Chinese Watercolor at several areas, including the University of
Akron, Cuyahoga Community College, Cuyahoga Valley Career Center and
the Cleveland OASIS program for senior citizens. Ms. Shen’s artwork
includes a variety of xieyi and gongbi art, and she has passed these
cultural traditions down to her students.
I have experienced the freedom of xieyi painting,
as well as the meticulous gongbi style of art. Xieyi drawings are
composed of freehand strokes, and it transfers your inner emotions
onto the paper. I started off with xieyi, and it is generally
recommended for beginners as it is a good introduction to Chinese
Watercolor and its strokes. Xieyi does not portray any fine detail,
therefore sometimes is less time-consuming than gongbi drawings.
Figure 1 is an example of the xieyi style of Chinese watercolor.
Another style of Chinese brush painting is gongbi,
which I have also enjoyed. Gongbi shows the artist’s emotions through
details. Whether it is thin lines, small dots, carefully placed
strokes, etc., gongbi requires an excruciating amount of patience. It
has a very scrupulous nature, and is recommended for those who have
already have had some exposure to the traditional Chinese strokes.
Figure 2 is an example of the gongbi style of Chinese watercolor.
Chinese brush painting has benefited me in many
ways, both as an artist and a person. It allows for the freedom of
expression when words will simply not do the job. Chinese watercolor
is a wonderful way to relieve stress without any sudden outbursts of
temper, and it most definitely helps someone calm down after a rough
day. This form of painting allows us to learn what it means to be
patient, as any kind of art requires patience. You will not get any
result of value if you do not allow yourself to learn from your past
mistakes. This goes hand in hand with perseverance and determination,
two more things that Chinese watercolor have brought into my life.
Some of the paintings I have done have taken more than a month to
complete, but looking at the end result, every little ounce of effort
put into it shines through in the end.
I enjoy writing as a member of my school’s Power of the Pen team, and
I have done very well. Power of the Pen is a writing competition among
seventh and eighth graders throughout the state of Ohio. As a 7th
grader during the 2005-2006 school year, I have tied for 3rd place at
the District Tournament. I then moved on to place 10th at the Regional
Tournament, and I had written the best-of-round paper for the third
round. By placing in this position, I had qualified to move on to the
highest level, the State Tournament at the College of Wooster.
I am also a member of my school’s Math Counts
team. Students from the seventh and eighth grades are selected by
their schools to participate in an annual competition, usually held at
Cleveland State University. Math Counts students partake in the
Chapter and State competitions (if they qualify) through a process of
problem solving, computations, and teamwork. I have placed 6th in the
Chapter Competition. Doing so, I have moved on and qualified for the
state and highest level of competition at Columbus State University.
In addition to quality academics, I have been
playing violin since 4th grade, and currently play first violin in my
school orchestra as well as first violin in the Baldwin-Wallace Junior
Youth Orchestra. I have been taking lessons with Mrs. Wei-Shu Co for
three years. Mrs. Co is teaching at the Music Department at
Baldwin-Wallace College, and is the Professor of the Music Department
at Baldwin-Wallace. She also serves as concertmaster for the Cleveland
Opera Orchestra and is first violin in the Cleveland Orchestra.
I have swum competitively for Peak Performance in
the past. I have also been on the Brecksville Community Center’s
basketball teams. Currently, I play tennis at Peak Performance. |
