Watercolor Painter Charlotte Fung Miller is VIVA’s August Guest Artist!

Reverence for nature, serenity, and peace

Artist Statement: 

My painting is done in watercolor on rice paper.  No shadowing is used, and depth is achieved only through gradation of color.  However, I add my own individual style through the use of more color and the introduction of Midwestern themes.  I especially delight in the colors of Wisconsin’s changing seasons. 

Charlotte’s Biography:

The Chinese philosophy inspires the brush painting of Charlotte Fung Miller of Mukwonago, who is a native of San Francisco’s Chinatown. She studied 9 years of formal Chinese calligraphy and 7 years of Chinese brush painting under Master Lui-Sang Wong of San Francisco. She earned an M.S. degree in bacteriology at the University of California at Berkeley. Charlotte has also taught courses in Chinese art and cooking, her philosophy being, “I will be able to share my heritage with others.”

Charlotte shares:

I am now  vacillating  between  classical Chinese Brush Paintings and  mix media. My mixed  media  still has nature's harmony but with very brilliant colors.  I  did this  during  covid years as my 20 art fairs a year became only five  art fairs and I had  a lot of  creativity time.  Now  I blend eastern and western  subjects and  especially relish in  the four seasons of  Wisconsin with an Asian touch.  

  What  I need to focus on is  to  illustrate my  scenes with a minimal amount of  brush strokes letting the  open spaces speak for itself.  It is  always tempting to  add a  few more brush work here and  there  but  I  try  to make myself stop when  I  achieve my objective.    

  I use  a  variety of hand made rice paper and  watercolor and am now  using some  acrylic paints in my  art works always  bearing in mind  how much  paint, watercolor  and  water  I use  to  achieve my   aim.  I  also use Chinese paint  brushes and  it is important to know   how much  pressure  I am using  in putting the  watercolor on paper and how long  I  allow the  watercolor to  soak into the paper.  The process is  endlessly facinating.  

 My interest in painting started in the  4th  grade in  San Francisco  public school.  I  could not figure out how to  read  but  the  teacher liked me  because  I loved to  paint on the  easel .  She let me stay in the  classroom  at  recess time to paint and  that  gave me quite a lot of  self  esteem.  I  did  figure out how to  read  later and am now an  avid  reader and  subsequently did  well in  school!   I also  went  to Chinese school  as well as  regular school daily.  Lots of  homework and memorizing.  The  Chinese calligraphy was done with  brush and black ink only.  I  mastered the use of the  brush early as  pen and pencils were not allowed.  I took  private Chinese Brush Painting  lessons  in San Francisco Chinatown  for many years of my  childhood.  Moving to Wisconsin opened up my  painting  career full time.