Jonathan Shih lives in Taipei, Taiwan, although he lived for many years in the U.S., mostly in New York, where he earned his MBA and worked in finance. You cannot say he has retired, for his interests and activities keep him busy every day. A prime activity is his art. He carries a sketchbook wherever he goes.
We met up in a beef noodle restaurant on TaoYuan Street in Taipei. [BTW, the beef noodle soup was exceptional!] Jonathan arrived with three sketchbooks under his arm, and I had to know what they were all about. He told me these three were just for the past few weeks – he regularly fills four to five sketchbooks a month.
Clearly, art is his passion. I began browsing through the sketchbooks and quickly decided we should feature his work here at the Fictional Café gallery. I took these photos as we flipped pages on the table, waiting for our beef noodle soup.
Jonathan feels like his sketches are the work of an artist-in-training, that this intense urge to draw everything he sees is his way of gaining experience to work in other media on larger canvases. Although you see here only a few, clearly Jonathan has enough to stage an exhibition. See for yourself.
Please click on the image to see a larger version.
I’ve just seen a face…
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A thoughtful man
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Park scene, Taipei
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Girl with pigtails
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Jonathan’s sketchbook notes
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A coffee shop
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Abstract (after Picasso)
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Man wearing glasses
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Study in charcoal and watercolor wash
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Abstract
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