About Nora Sanders
Back in the 1970s I first came in touch with Chinese art and culture while living in Hong Kong. Hence began a love affair that spans almost 30 years. However I became a serious student of the Chinese Brush in the mid-l990s when I was fortunate to find some gifted teachers who had left China after the ‘democracy’ movement and started teaching in London. Under their tutelage I studied traditional Chinese Brush painting, brush strokes, calligraphy techniques, as well as the history and development of this ancient art form. In 2002 I lived in Beijing for three years where I continued to study and learn. The opening up of China has also influenced its art and culture. Today, Chinese artists are able to give a free expression to their creativity through the medium of the brush and other media.
Although trained in the traditional ways I have now developed my own style and have begun painting local scenes with Chinese brushes on chinese materials such as silk, rice paper (xuan), and other unusual surfaces. In 2006 I moved to New Mexico. Its capital, Santa Fe is considered to be the primary art city in the US after New York. I was rather daunted that my materials and training would be out of place here. I was pleasantly surprised to discover, almost fortuitously, that the landscapes of the Southwest lend themselves admirably to the Chinese Brush. The amazing skyscapes, rocks, trees and mountains of New Mexico and Arizona, the Grand Canyon and the Haciendas in this part of the world are perfect subjects for my dancing brush.
Most of the paintings shown in the portfolio are for sale.