About Charles Zhan:
Born in 1959 in Canton, China, Charles Zhan started his life at a very young age when he joined an art group at the age of 12. The group’s focus on sketching parks & other public places helped Zhan create a love for nature he wants to express in his work, specifically citing the tinkling of the water, the scent of the forest, & the melody of the birds as his main inspiration. He would later join Dongyu Chen’s Studio to study under Professors Lau Sing & Su Urlong for ink painting & watercolor landscapes all at the age of 15.
With this formal education, Zhan became a landscape designer at the Southern China Institute of Landscape Architectural Design. He would design many Chinese Gardens including the International Gardening Exhibition in Munich, Germany & the Chinese Garden in Sydney, Australia. He has since moved to the U.S. in 1985 where he obtained a Master’s in Fine Art & Design at the Pratt Institute & intigrated a French/American Impressionist style to his work, with using colors to indicate lighting, shade, & wind.
