Lu Yu

 Lu Yu, born in 1986 in Tengzhou, the hometown of Mozi located in the land of the Three Kingdoms and Five Counties—a culturally rich region in Shandong Province; entered the Painting Department of Shandong University of Arts in 2004 to study Chinese painting. A renowned contemporary young painter, first-class artist, member of the Shandong Artists Association and the Shandong Gongbi Painting Association, she specializes in meticulous (gongbi) bird-and-flower painting. Her works are fresh and elegant, possessing high decorative and collection value. She has successively participated in the Academic Invitational Exhibition of Famous Chinese Gongbi Painters, "Era & Brilliance" Invitational Exhibition of Chinese Gongbi Painters, and numerous national-level large-scale painting and calligraphy exhibitions. Skilled in a precise and delicate brushwork technique—the traditional Chinese method of depicting scenes with fine detail—she integrates emotional expression into bird-and-flower painting, creating artworks that burst with vibrant colors and achieve subtlety down to the finest details. Based on the characteristics of gongbi painting, her creative process is meticulous and steady, using small brushes for outlining, applying colors according to subjects, and layering washes gradually, thus achieving an artistic effect where form and spirit are perfectly combined. After graduating in 2008, her work "The Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars" was successfully exhibited in a university student painting and calligraphy art tour at her alma mater. The exhibition theme, "Promoting Filial Piety, Gratitude to Parents," awakened students' sense of gratitude and spread love throughout society. In March 2010, her artwork "Twelve Beauties of Jinling" was selected for the joint exhibition hosted by Nanjing Artists Association celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, winning a silver award. The following month, she submitted designs for cigarette label illustrations to Nanjing Cigarette Factory. In August 2011, she participated in the 20th China Silk Road Turpan Grape Festival recommended by the Shandong Artists Association, producing several on-site sketches of grapes. Since then, she has developed a special affection for grape themes. In recent years, she has continuously refined her techniques, evolving from traditional methods toward modern gongbi heavy-color painting, combining vivid realism with symbolic meaning. In May 2012, her piece "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" made its debut at an exhibition co-hosted by the Macao and Hong Kong Artists Associations and the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, receiving high praise. Its diverse and lively forms highlighted the precious nature of her work, which has since been collected by major top-tier art museums across China. In September 2013, her painting "Crown World Pomegranate Garden" was displayed at the First World Pomegranate Conference and the Third International Symposium on Pomegranates and Mediterranean-Climate Small Fruits in Yicheng, China. It was immediately acquired at a high price by an overseas Chinese businessman. In June 2016, her work "Lotus Blooms in the Sunlight Are Uniquely Red" was presented as a gift to Korean friends during the annual Red Lotus Festival held by Tengzhou municipal government under the theme "Culture Builds the Stage, Economy Takes the Lead." This painting symbolizes Tengzhou flourishing in a prosperous era, with lotuses glowing red under the sun. In October 2019, her artwork "Year After Year, Every Persimmon Turns Red" was exhibited at the "Entering the Most Beautiful Persimmon Village—Fu Ping, Shaanxi" event organized by the Shaanxi Provincial Artists Association. With strong realism and profound symbolism, along with exquisite composition, it was immediately purchased at a high price by a well-known entrepreneur. In February 2020, she collaborated with "Stone Sparrow Stories," preserving traditional craftsmanship, participating in the first Qingdao West Coast Intangible Cultural Heritage Works Exhibition and the inaugural Stone Sparrow Stories Artisan Works Exhibition. In January 2021, upholding the belief that "cross-strait cultural arts share the same roots, and the light of art shines brilliantly over Chinese soil," she accepted an invitation from the China Strait两岸Calligraphy and Painting Artists Association to join a cultural gathering where artists united joyfully, writing and painting freely, expressing New Year blessings for the Year of Xinchou (Ox), and wishing prosperity for cross-strait cultural exchange. On January 8th of the same month, she was awarded the title of "Cultural Exchange Ambassador Across the Straits." In February 2021, completing a creation project initiated by the China National Academy of Painting titled "Beauty for Poverty Alleviation" since September 2019, she traveled through 27 impoverished counties and districts nationwide for field research and sketching. Her artwork "Year After Year, Every Persimmon Turns Red" was completed, serving as an artistic tribute to the great achievements of poverty alleviation.