For many a life has been what one has made of it. One must work for fame and fortune instead of it being handed to them. One must execute their talents in order to reap their full benefits.

Artist Zhiwei Tu has done just that. Tu was born in a village in Guangdong Province in China. He was not born a rich man but had peasants as parents instead. Throughout his childhood he had done just like the other boys in his village and helped with various laborious tasks that the elders had passed down. His days had been mostly spent barefoot, herding sheep and doing things that were expected of peasant children at the time. In fact he had seen his life much the same as his ancestors had lived long ago.

One day Tu’s life had changed for the better and forever. The city government had sent an artist to his village to paint a portrait of Mao Zedong. During this time he had sat and watched this artist sent to his village for an entire day. At the end of the work day he had asked if he could borrow small samples of the artists’ oil paints. The artist had complied.

The next day Zhiwei Tu had set up his supplies alongside the government sent artist and started to paint right along with him. The people in his village had seen his work and had been so completely impressed by the portrait that he had painted that the villagers had chosen the teenagers painting over the professionals painting that the city had sent. It had been seen as a great honor.

As he grows older he makes his way to the United States. While relocating to the US he finds himself studying at Drake University. Before making his trek to the US he had studied in his native land at the Guangzhou Institute. He now lives in the United States but travels back to China at least once a year.

Realizing a dream that one never knew that they had can be life changing. Realizing special gifts handed down from the heavens can often times help one achieve that dream just a little bit easier. Zhiwei Tu had realized his dream as a young boy sitting alongside someone that he had admired for a very short time. He had admired the beauty of what a few colors and strokes of the hand could create.