Theresa Lee

I was born in China where I spent my childhood during World War II. My family moved to Taiwan in 1949 and I spent my teenage and college years there. After earning my Bachelor of Arts in Art Education from the National Taiwan Normal University, I realized that teaching was not my passion. I realized that I wanted to be an artist, so I needed to broaden my view of the world and expose myself to the master works of Western art. So I came to the United States in 1958 to further my education as an artist. A full scholarship enabled me to enroll in a coordinating program at the Penn Academy of Fine Arts and at the University of Pennsylvania on another scholarship where I earned my Master of Fine Arts in Art.

But, as an obedient daughter of old fashion minded Chinese parents, I strayed away from pursuing my dream of becoming an artist. Instead of pursuing my career, I got married and focused on my role as a wife and a mother. I painted a little and participated in some art exhibitions now and then, but I did not take my art seriously. I also did some art related odd jobs here and there. I eventually ended up running a small needlepoint design business, Lee’s Needle Art Inc, for forty something years. Not until our three children were all grown and my husband was retired was I no longer occupied with family duties and had time to spare. I started to paint portraits of our grandchildren for they were all so cute and lovely that they inspired me to catch the innocent age as expressions of love.

Reflecting back on my life, I have fulfilled what my parents expected of me but not my dreams of being an artist. At the same time I also realized that although I am getting older day-by-day and year-by-year, fortunately I am still in good physical health and of sound mind, and my passion for art is still alive

Now, I feel the urgent need to work extra hard and diligently in order to make up for lost time in pursuing my art. Now, I spend all my spare time and energy concentrating and focusing on developing my art form and polishing my skills to reach my goal of becoming an artist. I believe in an old Chinese saying that one’s art can only be as good as oneself and that the artist is only as good as their art. Therefore, in order to be a good artist, I begin with being a good person. Hopefully, some of my stories are worth being heard.

When my husband had a bad fall almost four years ago, he was paralyzed on his entire left side and needed maximum care. This is why he moved to a skilled nursing facility in the Quadrangle. Soon after, I also moved there to be near him so that I could care for him. Those were difficult times. At first it seemed sad and confined. However, I made the most of the situation. I realized the flip side of the coin is maybe a blessing in disguise. Since he is being taken care of, it allows me a lot of free time. Therefore, the confinement also gives me the freedom to pursue my passion of painting. Now I can paint as I wish almost every day in my home studio.

Part of myself feels as if I were a child or a beginner artist full of passion and enthusiasm. As you can see, I am not afraid of adventuring with different mediums and ways to express myself. I have not developed a personal unique style yet, and am experimenting with different techniques and ways to express myself. But for now, I am happy to present my accumulated paintings in various stages to you. Hopefully one day, I will have a more mature and unique style of painting of my own.

Contact:

• theresalee2@icloud.com
• 609-472-3683