Accidental artists

Ning Yingxia is a mother who found painting as an outlet to express herself and joined her son in a painting class. Photos provided to China Daily

Visit Beijing's 798 Art Zone to appreciate paintings by a group of mothers, who attend art classes with their children. Chen Nan gives you the colorful details.

A group of mothers who learn painting with their children, is exhibiting their works in Beijing's 798 Art Zone.

Titled Mother Artists, most of the art on display are oil paintings. The exhibition was launched on March 8, to coincide with International Women's Day.

One of the works belongs to Chang Ying, 41, who claims that painting cured her postnatal depression.

"I've heard of postpartum depression but I didn't expect it to hit me," says Chang, who suffered from the disorder after she completed her yuezi, or observation of a confinement period of 30 days. (During yuezi, new mothers rest and eat special food to help them recover from the rigors of childbirth.)

"I felt lost and sad, not only because I put on lots of weight but also because my life totally changed."

The former accountant, who is now a full-time home maker and mother, was depressed for about five years.

"I endured the depression because I thought it's a normal feeling for mothers, especially full-time mothers. I ignored it and pretended to be normal," she says.

When her son reached the age of 5, she sent him to a painting class conducted by Chen Wei, a professional oil painting artist.