When 30-year-old Yang Hongliang, who comes from a small village in China's Jilin province, had some of his paintings on display at the UN headquarters in New York City, he wasn't able to show up because he was concentrating on his work in the studio back home.

The young farmer has received acclaim from China and abroad and is quite successful by local standards, with an apartment in the county, a job with a culture company, and now his works on display in the UN.

One of Yang's paintings on display depicts people preparing for the coming Chinese New Year in a rural village. [Photo by chinajilin.com.cn]

In looking back on his life-changing moment, Yang says, "It's been enjoyable,” even though he wasn't a straight-A-student and loved drawing and painting and picked up the techniques whenever he had time.

He was similar to other farmers’ children in going to the big city to look for work early on and began learning how to operate a welding machine at an electronics repair shop right after graduation from junior high school. After that, he spent his time flitting back and forth between Tonghua, Changchun, and Chengde to save up enough money over a 10-year period to engage in his hobby while squeezing in some short-term classes on traditional Chinese painting and not grudging the cost of art paper in spite of his daily wage.

Still, in the eyes of his classmates and fellow workers, Yang is, well, "He's sort of weird since he only does his painting after work, while we usually play mahjong, get some drinks and surf the internet."

Then, in 2012,he made a big decision to stop this floating life and goback home to look after his aging parents, but still sticking to his ambition – to be a painter-- and stayed committed to his art work, while attempting to add something to farmer paintings -- a form of art reflecting daily life in a rural community, with vibrant gouache watercolors.

And surprisingly quickly his work stood out in some local competitions and, he says, "I do believe this type of painting has a promising future, because it's quite popular in China and has gradually expanded overseas market."

In commenting on his achievements, Yang still seems humble and notes merely, "It's so unreal, I was just a migrant worker, but now I'm a painter," then half-jokingly says, "Those 10 years of welding benefitted me because now I can hold a paint brush tightly."

And, he's not alone. There are hundreds of farmers engaged in painting whose works have been exhibited in art museums in Switzerland, Germany, Japan, India, Singapore, and Argentina.

So, no doubt about it, this form of art may be accepted as serious art, so, Yang, like many other individuals, spends almost half a day painting and practicing new techniques, and, in his own words, "We're walking down the right path."