Stone houses, beaches, dreamlike “sea sparkle,” Celestial Well... these beautiful scenery of Pingtan, which is a rising international tourism island in China, are all vividly presented in oil paintings. The owner of these paintings is Lin Maoyu.

Lin, in his 50s, is a native of Pingtan and a member of the Pingtan Artists Association. In his early years, he left his hometown to study oil painting in Xiamen, a coastal city in E China’s Fujian province. Since then, he started his oil painting career. It has been more than 20 years in creation, and now he chooses to return to his hometown to start his own business, capturing the beauty of his hometown in his works.

Successful career in Xiamen

Lin learned the trade in 1991. With his artistic talent, a year later, he was promoted from an oil painter to the director of an oil painting workshop, when he was only 22 years old.

After being promoted, he pursued his further education and was admitted to a university in Fujian. After graduation, he set up his own studio in Xiamen. This studio not only educated students, but also provided commercial creations for art trading companies.

Lin Maoyu pictured painting

“"At that time, our finished works were all exported to European countries." Thinking of the old days, Lin Maoyu couldn't help sighing that it was painting that earned him a living, which allowed him to support his family.

Now, the children are grown up, the son is in college, and the daughter has just married. His son Lin Hao also helps his father keep the studio during the summer holiday.

Anecdote:Painter turned engineering manager

In 2017, a call from the Lin family brought Lin from Xiamen to a tunneling site outside. "The family has been engaged in tunneling. They needed managers, so I was summoned." Years of life on the construction site made him nostalgic about paintbrushes. He was determined to pick up the trade after the construction ended.

Although he has been away for long, Pingtan has always been kept in mind. Good news comes one after another. “ ‘Pingtan Island built its first sea-crossing bridge.’ ‘Another bridge bearing high-speed trains was opened to traffic in Pingtan.’... Things that I can't even think of have happened!” Lin was marvelled at the drastic changes in Pingtan.

"Friends in the painting circle said that many of the official oil paintings related to Pingtan’s tourism were created by nonlocal painters. You are a native painter of Pingtan, why are you still struggling outside?" It occurred to Lin who harbors a homeward complex. After the Spring Festival in 2021, Lin returned to Pingtan with his family and opened a studio.

The children are supportive of their father's decision, and they came up with a great many marketing ideas together. They helped his father update posts on social platforms. "Now is the era of new media, we use the Internet and our expertise to help Dad increase exposure so that more people get aware of what Dad does is meaningful," Lin Hao said.

Relocate for hometown

The stone houses with graceful figures and the beaches with enchanting scenery... Lin Maoyu’ s vivid and delicate works revealed his concentration and love for Pingtan. 

It is Lin Maoyu's dedication that made his paintings popular. Lately, he had just finished a painting of Pingtan’s sea sparkle, which grabbed a onlooking tourist. “I want to take it and put it up at home.”

The rapid development of tourism in Pingtan and the rapid changes in rural construction have made many old houses disappear. One day, a local senior found Lin Maoyu, hoping that Lin could help him paint two houses in his memory.

It turned out that the house had been demolished more than 40 years ago. There are no photos or other images. After several rounds of field surveys, Lin painted the original appearance of the two houses. After finishing, the senior praised, "Lifelike!"

It is such experience that makes Lin Maoyu feel the meaning of his job. “Now, Pingtan is building itself into an international tourism island in full swing. It’s incumbent to cultivate Pingtan’s local oil painters. This is also one of my purposes when I come back to continue my career. I hope that through my painting, more people will know Pingtan and fall in love with it," Lin Maoyu said.

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