Farmers paint picture of rural life in China

Ma Jiqing is the kind of man who looks for a coin on the ground while not losing sight of the moon. Though farming and painting may not seem connected-with one being down-to-earth and the other a refined pursuit-the 72-year-old has been doing both for the past 50 years.

The farmer-turned-painter has created works portraying the development of the country's rural areas by depicting scenes of rural life, bountiful harvests and satisfied families.

Ma, who lives in the county-level city of Qingzhou, Shandong province, had his own way to celebrate a recent farmers' harvest festival-painting several new pieces.

One of his works show stacks of corn dwarfed by nearby hills.

"These paintings are a salute to farmers and the festival," says Ma.

Typical farmer paintings are hand-painted with gouache watercolors on paper. Their vibrant colors, thick lines and exaggerated figurative patterns enable Chinese farmers to depict rural life and express their views.

Ma is also contracted by a farmer-painting institute in Qingzhou. Paintings of different sizes hang on the walls in his workroom.

"This one earned a national award," says Ma, pointing to a painting that covers half of a wall.

"Unlike many farmer paintings featuring red and yellow, this has different shades of blue. It depicts the repeal of agricultural taxes and farmers celebrating the event," says Ma.

Ma has enjoyed painting since he was little. As his family was poor when he was a child, the cornfield was his workroom and borrowed comic books were his teachers.

"When my parents were farming, I liked to draw them on the back of my notebook. And I traced patterns from comic books to learn skills," he says.