At a very young age, Hua Nian and her family were forcibly moved from Beijing to a small rural town in southern China during the political upheaval of the Cultural Revolution. This harsh childhood experience and rigid environment prepared her to become a close observer of the world. The move to the United States made a profound impact on her life, and on her making and thinking about art. The strong contrast of Chinese and American cultures inspired her to transform all her personal experience into new, fertile soil. From her early “Mask” printmaking series to her current series of acrylic paintings, “Where the Wild Things Glow”, Nian expresses feelings about our ongoing life under the force of nature and the scale of history.

As a signature artist of the International Society of Acrylic painters (ISAP) and the National Oil and Acrylic Painters’ Society (NOAPS), Ms. Nian’s paintings have been shown in numerous art exhibitions thought out U.S. and in Germany, Australia and China. She has been a frequent award winner at various local, states, and national shows, and her works have been widely collected by co-ops, universities, and by numerous private collectors around the country. Her works and interviews have been featured in the American Artist Magazine, the Chicago Sun-Times, Dialogue: An Art Journal, and in numerous local and Chinese newspaper and magazines, as well as cover art for books, music CDs, and posters produced by Stanford University and others.

Ms. Nian moved to the USA in 1992 from China, after years of teaching photojournalism in Jinan University in Guangzhou. She received her Master’s degree in Art Education from Pittsburg State University, Kansas in 1996, and is now an active exhibiting artist and art instructor at her studio —Hua Nian Art Studio. She lives and works with her husband and two children in Urbana, Illinois.
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Im a graphic designer who is working on being a better artist. Although trained in traditional media I've developed a strong interest in digital painting. My work pulls in elements from both traditional and digital, depending on the piece being created. In other words, what ever worksNike Air Max

Richard Benoit, from Kankakee, Illinois, is a self-taught artist with a degree in photography. He works in a full complement of subjects using pastel, charcoal acrylic paint and mixed media. He has been pursuing a career in art as a means of self-expression.
Richard has been exhibiting his artwork, including his photography, for many years. Originally he got into photography when using that medium to take visual notes for his paintings and drawings but now he concentrates almost exclusively on that latter mode of expression. His work has been described as wonderfully intense, powerful and original and is included in the Illinois Institute of Art and Governors State University’s permanent collections, the Bourbonnais and Bradley Public Libraries, Aventis Pharmaceutical, Riverside Medical Center and many private and public collections throughout the U S.
Richard is a Guild member of the Union Street Gallery in Chicago Heights, IL. and is an artist member of Tall Grass Arts Association in Park Forest, IL.
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