Art gives new life to village

In harmony with the village's more than 85 percent forest coverage, Guo also planted flowers such as orchids, sunflowers and chrysanthemums. The village is veiled in shades of purple, yellow, pink and evergreen throughout the year.

"The aesthetic appreciation of nature rewards the artists with a bigger stage to create," Guo said.

The ceramic art breathes new life into the unadorned village.

Every winter, Guo holds exhibitions to invite artists from home and abroad to create, exhibit and auction their artwork. The revenue from such auctions will be used for the art education of school-age children in the nearby villages.

Since 2015, the number of artists that have participated in the exhibitions has grown from 23 to 100, raising a total of about 648,000 yuan ($96,540).

Six classrooms, where music and fine arts classes are taught by art majors and professionals, have been set up, benefiting around 1,200 local students. Works created by students in the classes, after being beautifully decorated by the artists, are given to them as surprise gifts on Children's Day.

Guo believes that art can inspire students. "Art education should be given the same attention as math, physics and chemistry lessons," he said.

Guo's efforts are also making a difference among the villagers. Ji Jingtao from the Qianhe village recently invited Guo to design an art piece for his newly furnished house - a wooden artwork made out of a tree root.

"I would have burned it as firewood before, but now they see it as materials for art pieces," Ji said.

Guo said: "Only by understanding and learning about beauty can we create and discover the beauty."

Xinhua