The advertisement for one of the exhibits Jan did includes a painting she did of churdza (middle) the Chinese eggplant (above). Brush strokes are an important part of what Jan studied (and practiced!).

There you are: a stranger in a strange land. And yet there is a persistent feeling this foreign culture isn’t so foreign. It’s more than that. You find comfort in this feeling — this sense of coming home.

Eight years ago on a whirlwind trip, cramming all things Asian into several weeks, Jan Ruby, professor of art, found herself in such a location. She knew one day she would return. For six months, Jan has lived her dream, teaching, creating art, and studying traditional Chinese art forms.

The story of how Jan found this connection begins with the 1995-96 academic year when the university hosted an exchange teacher, Dr. Chiu-Jhin Chen, who taught Chinese painting. Jan and Chiu-Jhin became friends and stayed in touch.

In 2000, Jan was invited to be a keynote speaker and panelist at the International Conference in Visual Culture in Taipei, Taiwan. Thanks to a CFEST grant, Jan was able to spend three weeks prior to the conference traveling throughout Japan. She explored indigenous art forms and studied papermaking with several masters while embracing the Japanese culture.

The pace stepped up considerably upon her arrival in Taiwan. In addition to her conference duties she was a guest lecturer at several graduate seminars. There only two weeks, she crammed in visits to the National Palace of Art, Kelong Temple, and the Jade Market, feasting her eyes on beauty she saw everywhere.

Jan found her students imbued with a high level of visual thinking, coupled with kindness, “the work just seemed to flow out of them.” During the relatively few hours of joint artmaking, Jan knew “I had things to give to them and they had much to give me as well.”

The conference at an end, Jan left Taiwan with an invitation to return. It took a little longer than she liked but now she is at the tail end of a profound experience.

Her arrival this time was in the gloomy, rainy winter, not the brilliant sunshine of before. But the connection with the visual was the same – immediate and prevailing. “I found myself drawn to the numerous traditional markets. I loved the look of the vegetables and fruits, having seen nothing like the dragon fruit (fuchsia exterior skin with elongated green points), leolion (large oval ochre colored fruit with sharp points), and churdza – the thin, long, snake-like eggplants.”

Making art in Taiwan has been a way of life for Jan. She describes her apartment as a “studio with a bed in it. Every room is littered with art materials and creative works in progress.”

The art in progress is the result of six months studying traditional Chinese art forms. Each week Jan attends classes in scroll mounting, Chinese ink painting of mountains, trees, and water, Chinese ink painting of birds and flowers, and print making. She also taught four courses, an undergraduate course in computer design and three graduate courses in visual culture.

“The exposure to all of these new techniques plus being part of my students’ creative processes, and simply living in such a visual environment has deeply affected my artwork,” Jan said.

Jan often explored Taiwan (this page) finding something that appealed to her artistic senses everywhere she looked.

“My first major painting was a large oil painting of churdza. Although the composition was a bit different and certainly the subject matter was, my style of painting was in keeping with my on-going body of work. The difference was I could spend long periods of focused time engrossed in my painting. The hours I spent happily painting in my tiny apartment while Taipei boiled and bubbled outside my door seemed to just slip by.”

Her professor of Shan Shui hua, Dr. Lo, would “stand at the head of the table, moshui (ink), mobi (brushes), and xuanzhi (paper) laid out before him, and casually lift a brush, load it with the darkest of inks and a bit of water and wield it to create a scene of mountains, trees, waterfalls, and temples hidden among the clouds. I would go home in a trance from watching him create so much beauty.”

It was her friend and colleague Steven Lin and his wife, Jessica, who showed Jan a new way both to compose artwork and to create it from interior memories. “We would travel to awesome locations in northern Taiwan and as we hiked they would teach me about the structure of mountains and Chinese philosophies of composition. We would return home and spend the rest of the day painting our memories.”

Dr. Chen, Jan’s teacher of Shui Moir, was in total control of her environment. “Her technique of loading a brush with multiple colors and then applying strong, purposeful strokes to the paper amazed me as she pulled whimsical paintings of birds and flowers from her imagination.”

Jan’s first efforts were “quite comical” but she persevered, learning how to add strength and conviction to her strokes while controlling the flow of water and ink. Her classmates, who had studied these techniques since their very early years, urged her on, painting along side her in the park, giving her tips, and bringing her endless cups of tea. “I love how teachers are treated in Taiwan. Teaching is a very honorable profession and the teacher who is known as a jiàoshòu is well respected, admired, and revered.”

For the past several years, many of Jan’s artistic creations have involved books. This art form too, underwent change in her new environment. “Making books with my students has opened many new avenues,” Jan said. “My Taiwanese students have come up with numerous ideas I have never seen before. They have expanded what I know about materials, painting, binding, and technique a thousand-fold.” Her studies with Fu jiàoshòu has added a new dimension to her books as well.

The shuimohua and shanshuihua techniques are already being integrated into Jan’s art although she is quick to point out that when combined with her dominant western style the results are different from traditional Chinese ink painting.

For the past six months, Jan has worked hard to incorporate what she has learned into her visual aesthetic. The memories of her life in Taiwan will remain with her always. Next spring those interested can join her for travel and study of traditional Chinese art forms at the National Taiwan University of the Arts with Lo jiàoshòu.

For more about Jan’s art visit her website at webspace.ship.edu/jrruby and her blog at janruby.blogspot.com.