William Liao was inspired artistically from an early age. Growing up in Beijing after the Cultural Revolution, he was surrounded by classical Chinese culture as well as new European art. These are the influences which continue to define and inspire his work today. With seven years of professional training, William graduated from Beijing Normal University, with a Bachelors of Arts degree, majoring in Fine Arts. Specializing in portraits and landscapes, William usually starts each piece with some kind of connection with his model or scene. He works out ideas and explores all the possibilities, then lets the painting itself take over. The end result is not about the aesthetic of the piece, but rather, it’s a reflection of the energy that he has received. "My creative process alternates between cityscapes and natural landscapes. Perhaps this might be hard for others to grasp, but it's precisely this approach that keeps my work fresh. It allows me to approach the same subject matter with distinct methods, rather than mechanically reproducing a set of artworks using a fixed formula." - William Liao "By becoming a painter of ‘shan shui’, mountains and water/snow/ice/clouds, William Liao has become a painter of the moods and emotional responses to the ever-changing and awesome reality of the great forces of nature." - Richard Barnhart (Princeton University; Professor Emeritus in the History of Art)