Xu Qifeng

Xu Qifeng, female, from Tancheng, Shandong Province, was born in 1968 and graduated from Henan University. She is now a member of the Shandong Provincial Artists Association, a member of Linyi City Calligraphy Association, a painter at Shandong Shu Tong Art Academy, a painter at Lianyungang Donghai Art Academy, an assistant secretary of Tancheng County Calligraphy Association, and the dean of Shandong Longfengwen Yuan Pavilion Art Academy. She has been fond of painting and calligraphy since childhood. Her calligraphy teachers are the contemporary famous calligrapher Mr. Xu Shuchao and Mr. Luo Hongjie, a master of Shu Style. She is also a disciple of Zheng Yongbiao, a renowned master of flower-and-bird painting. Master Xu Shuchao is proficient in music and his erhu skills are rarely surpassed. In calligraphy teaching, he emphasizes guiding students to appreciate beauty from rubbings. Mr. Luo's calligraphy features elegant and bold strokes, round and harmonious shapes, and innovative layouts. His freehand paintings have inherited the essence of Mr. Wang Xiaogu. Master Zheng absorbs the strengths of various schools, integrating calligraphy and painting into one. He learns from the ancients but does not follow blindly, innovates but avoids eccentricity. His works have a sense of dynamism, with smooth brushwork that appears unrestrained yet rigorously structured, possessing the temperament and nature of literati paintings. She has received guidance from these teachers and particularly values the unity of painting and calligraphy. Her paintings emphasize the use of calligraphic brushwork and the flavor of calligraphy, using the methods of calligraphy for painting creation. The accumulation is not only technical but also the cultivation of artistic sentiment, improving one's cultivation and projecting an image externally. She excels in flower-and-bird painting, with lively and cheerful works that focus on ink effects. From composition to technique, from ink application to coloring, her work is mature and innovative. In the vastness of silk or paper, a single flower or bird reflects spirit. Viewing her paintings gives a tranquil and serene feeling like still water running deep, where one can hold their breath and converse with flowers or echo with birds. Listening to the blooming and falling of flowers, amidst the noisy world, one finds inner peace and tranquility, as if immersed in a sea of flowers, bringing comfort to the mind and spirit. Her compositions are cleverly designed with a balance of density and sparsity, rich spatial layers, where peonies may be hidden or revealed, either budding or blossoming quietly. Her paintings convey a scholar's sentiment, an interpretation of spirituality, and a reading of the spirit. Xia Zhengping, vice president of the Chinese Mao-style Calligraphy Art Research Association, member of the Chinese Poetry Society, editor-in-chief of "Wanghai Tower Poetry Journal" and "Lianlian Large Literature", once wrote a poem for her: In the East Sea Hall, Feng Xiang rises, with auspicious clouds basking in the bright light. Learning from Master Zheng, adding brilliance, standing out among peers, spreading fragrance. The freehand peony is the true national color, tilling the art garden, making Tancheng shine. With diligence, dreams are realized, and art becomes more fragrant. In 2008, her work "Drunk by Spring Breeze of Zishu" won the title of "Lanting Hundred Talents" in the National Calligraphy and Painting Competition commemorating the creation of the "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection" for 1655 years; In 2009, her work "Abundant Fruits" was collected by the Kong Fansen Memorial Hall and a certificate was issued; In 2010, she won the second prize in the Shuixie Hating Cup Calligraphy and Painting Competition held in Linyi City, Shandong Province; In 2012, she won the second prize in the 10th "Chinese Song" National Literature and Art Competition and was selected for the "National Famous Artist Works Creation Exchange Exhibition"; In 2016, she was exhibited in the "Third National Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition of Shenzhou" and included in "Shenzhou Calligraphy and Painting Collection"; In 2019, she was awarded the first prize in the category of fine arts in the National Arts Invitational Exhibition celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the country. Her works were selected for the珍藏 edition of the "National Arts Invitational Exhibition Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the Country" (Calligraphy and Painting Volume), a large-scale calligraphy and painting album officially published at the national level.