Self-Made Artist Blazes New Trails

By Hu Guxin

Now Hu Haiming has finally established himself as an artist, for his artworks have been exhibited both at home and abroad and his name is catalogued in a whos who and whats what in intangible cultural heritage of China. But taking a look at his career, many people still wonder how he ended up becoming a unique artist.

Nothing in Hu Haimings early life suggests that he would become an artist. The eldest of the four sons of the family, he dropped out of school at 9 because the family couldnt afford his further education. A clever boy, he learned all he could from the villagers. He became the accountant of his production team at 14 and at 17 he went to Dongyang to learn woodcarving. He spent more than 10 years in Dongyang, working to make a living while studying and perfecting his art in his spare time. After mastering the techniques of woodcarving, he thought he would not be able to excel at woodcarving since there were too many masters in the field. He had to find a field much less crowded.

He glimpsed a rare field while on a business trip in Shanghai. The chopsticks he used at a banquet looked quite unique because the chopsticks had a designed produced with pyrography. Shortly afterwards during a visit to the home of a friend, he noticed another design also produced with pyrography on a bench.

His curiosity about the art grew. After hitting books, he learned that pyrography in China originated in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and was all the rage for a while before it gradually declined and seemed on the verge of extinction in the 1980s.

Hu Haiming began to wonder if it was possible to try his hand at pyrography with his 10-year experience in woodcarving. He experimented and soon figured out some principles to guide his further probe: the best wood for pyrography is imported beech; the artist must be highly dexterous with the searing iron; and the result must be art.

He tried to solve problems as he experimented and groped. Another decade passed before he mastered the art and began to create impressive artworks.

In 1998, he set up a business to produce artworks made in pyrography. The year 2005 marked the turning point in his career as an artist of pyrography. In February, his works were displayed at an exhibition in Beijing. He was then invited to display his masterpieces at a national arts and crafts exhibition. His works wowed visitors and sold out. In 2005, he was accepted into various art organizations and awarded prizes for his unique contribution.

Hu Haiming is not satisfied with the initial success. As a result of studies on other art genres, he is now able to produce landscape and figures in pokerwork. The other day, an American artist came all the way to visit Hu at his hometown Lanxi, a city in central Zhejiang. The American commented that Hus pyrography is as good as Italian oil paintings.

Hu wants to break new grounds. Nowadays, he enriches himself by traveling and sightseeing across the country and he uses computer to study masterpieces in history and modern art. He strives to create better subjects and inject better artistic conceptions into his creations.□