A Still Life by Anton Zhou This past Saturday evening I had the privilege to attend a reception for a gallery showing in Houston. The artist is an award-winner, primarily a painter in oils, and an impressionist. He is also only 18 years old and a past student of mine.
Anton Zhou has been working on his art for at least 12 years now. He was a 14 year old 8th grader when I retired from teaching, and he painted my portrait which I keep in my office.
His work is far more advanced and mature today. He has many awards and recognitions, including being named a Texas Young Master by the Texas Commission on the Arts. His entry in this year's Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo (the world's largest) sold for a record $221,000. Now the Livestock Show is a charity and the bids are always over the top, but that is still a lot of money. You can see Anton's work here.
Attending the exhibition were a number of my ex-students, and I had the opportunity to chat with most of them. And what a thrill that was for me. Their aims and ambitions are every bit as stratospheric as Anton's. They are headed to the country's finest universities - Columbia, Cornell, MIT, Rice, UC Berkley - and they are looking to study and work with the big ideas - bio-chemistry, applied mathematics, artificial intelligence. And knowing these kids, there is nothing pie-in-the-sky about their plans. I can feel their excitement, and I know they will make it happen.
An event like this almost makes me want to "unretire" and go back to the classroom. Almost.
Anton Zhou has been working on his art for at least 12 years now. He was a 14 year old 8th grader when I retired from teaching, and he painted my portrait which I keep in my office.
His work is far more advanced and mature today. He has many awards and recognitions, including being named a Texas Young Master by the Texas Commission on the Arts. His entry in this year's Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo (the world's largest) sold for a record $221,000. Now the Livestock Show is a charity and the bids are always over the top, but that is still a lot of money. You can see Anton's work here.
Attending the exhibition were a number of my ex-students, and I had the opportunity to chat with most of them. And what a thrill that was for me. Their aims and ambitions are every bit as stratospheric as Anton's. They are headed to the country's finest universities - Columbia, Cornell, MIT, Rice, UC Berkley - and they are looking to study and work with the big ideas - bio-chemistry, applied mathematics, artificial intelligence. And knowing these kids, there is nothing pie-in-the-sky about their plans. I can feel their excitement, and I know they will make it happen.
An event like this almost makes me want to "unretire" and go back to the classroom. Almost.
RSS Feed