Wang Baoan uses ink and water color to find the 'spirit of life', Zhuan Ti reports.

Painting brings Wang Baoan closer to nature and its liberating world.

Creating mostly landscapes in ink and water color, one of the main categories of traditional Chinese painting, the 49-year-old artist shows a unique interpretation in his attitude to life and interactions between human and nature.

Rejecting repetition in a painting, Wang noted "I like thinking - I'm always exploring new ways to better express myself."

Being eager to present works in various styles makes Wang a keen observer of life.

He said that Chinese painting is about showing the spirit and essence of things, the unspoken connection between painter and object.

As an artist living in busy modern times, nature is something sometimes absent but always on his mind.

He paints the mountains and woods where people live a reclusive life, but also sketches people's longing for a laid-back and carefree lifestyle.

His paintings are bathed in an otherworldly blur made with seemingly casual lines and strokes.

Experimenting with different styles and painting freehand enable the painter keep his own voice in the ever-changing art world, critics say.

Wang said he has to go through three phases before a painting is finally done - involvement, reflection and representation.

Involvement means to spend long periods with nature, in the woods, at the beach or just time in a park.

Reflection, Wang said, is the most crucial phase. It means to find an object in nature the painter can best relate to, then to figure out the relationship between the object and the painter to feel its spirit.

"If there is only observing and no thinking, feeling, understanding or reflection, there will be nothing innovative and unique," said Wang.

He noted that Chinese painting is an art form that celebrates the burst of emotion and energy of a certain moment.

Delivering that emotion and energy can only happen during reflection.

Representation, as the final phase of Wang's creative process, is the conclusion.

"It could simply be a presentation of what I got from the involvement and reflection, exactly something I have been looking for or it could also be a transcendence, something that carries its own meaning," Wang said.

Wang noted that Chinese painting should always be vague and touch the viewer with "some kind of vibe".

Critics say his paintings bring the viewer into a spiritual place they have been looking for where they can finally relax and become who they really are.

Wang's ideas regarding Chinese art and painting as a creative process have been influential and his works are critically acclaimed, critics say.

He has been lecturing on Chinese painting at universities for many years. He now teaches at the Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts.

Contact the writer at zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 11/10/2013 page14)