sketchbookfactory

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My library recently had a fantastic exhibit of works from two Chinese artists. One was a painter and the other a sculptor. Both were excellent, but I was particularly drawn to the sculptures. For the duration of the exhibit I spent most of my breaks in the gallery sketching.

One day there was a young Chinese man taking pictures of the sculptures. After a few minutes another guy, who was with the Chinese guy, noticed me sketching and said, “That’s him. That’s the artist.” I was like, “What, no way!”

Then the Chinese guy/artist (who’s name is Chen Xuebo) came over to me and excitedly gestured toward my sketches. He didn’t speak much English but he was obviously very flattered to find someone doing sketches of his work. I tried in my (own awkward way) to tell him how much I admired his sculptures, and he enthusiastically smiled and nodded, and took a couple pictures of me sketching his sculpture. Although we didn’t speak the same language, we shared a nice moment of artist love.