Oil Landscape Paintings by Xiangyuan (Jay) Jie at Walls Fine Art Gallery in Wilmington, NC

An exhibition of landscape paintings by Xiangyuan (Jay) Jie featuring imagery of both the eastern and western United States runs through March 20th at Walls Fine Art Gallery in Wilmington, NC.

Xiangyuan (Jay) Jie, a native of Hunan, China, now lives and paints full time in Atlanta, GA.  He received his formal art education in China, Europe, and the United States. In 1982, Jie graduated with a BFA in theater set design from the Central Academy of Drama at Beijing. He then taught art and design at Hunan University. In 1987 and 1988, Jie studied and lectured at the Ecole Cantonal d’ Art de Lausanne, Switzerland. Upon immigrating to the United States, Jie taught at Auburn University as a visiting professor. In 1995, he received his master’s degree in industrial design from Georgia Tech. Since then, he had been working at the Disney and Fox Feature Animation studios as a background stylist and visual development artist.  His screen credits include Mulan, Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch, Brother Bear, Ice Age 2 - The Meltdown.
“Xiangyuan Jie (affectionately called Master Jay) painted a stunning color script that helped guide us in painting our keys. Master Jay is probably the best painter I have ever met (we don't throw around the title "Master" to just anyone). Sitting next to him was kind of like going to graduate school.” –Robert MacKensie on “Ice Age, The Meltdown”

Jay’s expressive painterly approach is largely influenced by the direct and fluent style of early European, Russian, and American impressionists and realists.  Jie enjoys painting people from life settings and landscape on location wherever he goes on the road trips.

“There’s a hallway on the studio’s third floor where Disney artists show their own work in a gallery setting, and one day the wandering directors were exposed to the work of Xiangyuan (“Jay”) Jie. “Bob and I knew we wanted a real rugged, artful-looking film,” says Blaise. “We didn’t want it to be really detailed and highly rendered.” When they saw Jie’s bold, impressionistic landscapes, they were hooked. “You could see every brushstroke,”

says Bob Walker, “and the way he handles color is incredible.” The rest of the unit was immediately trained to paint like Jie.” –Taylor Jessen, on the film “Brother Bear”

Jie’s artworks have been featured in national and regional juried art exhibitions around the country. He has been published in Artist’s Magazine and International Artist’s Magazine, Southwest Art Magazine. He also received second place in 2003 and the honor award in 2002 and 2005 at the international competition sponsored by the Portrait Society of America. Jie also received third prize in Artist Magazine’s portrait competition in 1999. His landscape paintings were selected for the Top 100 in the 2002 and 2003 “Art for the Parks” competition, and received Landscape Art Award and Grand Teton Natural History Association Purchase Award and Judge's Choice Award.

Xiangyuan (Jay) Jie is a member of the Portrait Society of America, Oil Painters of America and Plein Air Painters of West.