To view image click on "Access Content Now" above "The luminescent glow in this painting by Wee Lee, “Windy Day (House Sparrow)” was achieved by Lee working on silk cloth with acrylic paint, an innovation he developed from a more traditional Asian technique of watercolour on silk. Lee’s painting style combines classical Asian brushwork with the visual depth and composition of Western realist landscape painting. Well known for his closely observed nature studies, Lee frequently strives to capture a sense of action or movement in his work. In this scene he depicts two sparrows in flight. Lee creates the illusion of depth by portraying the small birds and trees in the foreground in sharp detail and blurring the background softly. The muted colour palette and the bare branches give the impression of late fall or early spring. Over the course of his career, Lee has travelled throughout Canada’s provincial and national parks to gather images and inspiration, and his artwork has won several awards in wildlife painting competitions. Wee Lee (b. 1955) was born in Saigon, presently acknowledged as Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Before emigrating to Regina in 1977, Lee studied Chinese brushwork (1967-1975) from the artist Liang S. Hang at the Oriental Art School in Saigon, as well as Economics at the University of Minh Duc Saigon (1973-1975). In addition to his studio work, Lee has been commissioned to paint large scale dioramas for the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina, White Horse Nature Interpretive Center in Yukon, and murals for the City of Moose Jaw and for the Town of Duck Lake, Saskatchewan. His work is collected in several public and private collections, including Canadian Museum of Civilization, Saskatchewan Arts Board, Revenue Canada, IBM Canada, City of Regina, Dofasco Canadian Collection, Ducks Unlimited Canada, the University of South Dakota, and SGI Canada."
