“It is the only point of getting up every morning: to paint, to make something good, to make something even better than before, not to give up, to compete, to be ambitious.”
― Lucian Freud
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Artist
Ni (/ni:/) Zhang graduated from one of the top European art & design institutions, Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design (a member of University of the Arts London) and currently works and lives in New Bern NC.
Inspired by her favorite artistic styles from her former training, Chinese GongBi drawing, Impressionism and Expressionism, Ni creates portrait pieces that are accentuated by a delicate flow of lines, capturing the undeniable uniqueness of her subjects by bringing forth their character and personality. Her work is a test of skill, creativity and patience as the detailed visual components require a tremendous amount of time to complete.
Ni also embraces the art of figure sketching, to catch moments in passing that resonate with her. It’s especially enjoyable while traveling.
She also finds time to offer private art classes to art lovers of all ages, to lead them into the world of art, offer them the tools to create, and foster an environment for them to find their own artistic identity.
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Mother and Military Spouse
The birth of her first child in 2019 was the driving force behind Ni starting her own business, Lights And Lines Art Studio. The desire to pave the way and show her child(ren) resilience overshadowed every other aspiration and goal she had previously collected.
Coming from a middle class white-collar family, risk-taking was not the family’s favorite dish. When she started life anew in a different country and became a military spouse, it was challenging to say the least. Though it has been and continues to be turbulent, Ni is determined be the trailblazer she wishes one day her child(ren) will choose to be.
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Entrepreneur
This is one of those instances where it was kind of a choice, but not really. It’s no secret that a stable career is hard to maintain as a military spouse, especially for someone like Ni, no established background here, no friends, no sorority sisters, no employment references.
Fortunately Ni’s previous work experiences before she came to the states have prepared her to be the jack-of-all-trade she needs to be to run her own business. It’s a challenge every day, but she faces it head on.
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Podcast Enthusiast & Producer
A recent immigrant to the US, Ni confronts all of her own flaws and ambitions in her brutally honest podcast “That’s What Ni Said” .
She is a self-taught podcast enthusiast, curates and produces the show all on her own out of passion, asks many questions that homegrown Americans might not have thought to ask, and ventur into the lonely journey of being a responsible citizen in her new home country, creating some much needed camaraderie and documenting her experience for her child to visit and understand that her mother is, at the very least, in fact, not a hypocrite.
She is now the proud producer of a few live-stream shows, podcasts and audiobooks. She offers production and distribution services to clients all over the world.
Ni is currently based in New Bern, NC. And as military family life goes, there is no knowing where she will be in a year.
Portrait commissions are not restricted by physical location, and merchandise is available based on shipping options offered by the production vendor, typically within the CONUS, including overseas military stations.
Contact Ni for more information.