Yao cheng
Yao is an artist and designer based in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Her dedication to painting began in childhood and has since become an integral part of her life’s work.
Founded in 2012, Yao Cheng Design is an art studio where Yao’s vibrant watercolors are created for home-decor products and licensing projects. Her client list includes Google, Target, Tervis, Blue Sky Planners, Chronicle Books and more.
Yao’s art is joyful.
They are brimmed with color and emotions- capturing the things we cannot see, cannot say but can always feel. Yao believes that art has the power to move us to our very core, and that’s what she strives to do in each of her projects. Her art is also painted by hand on paper, relying on her years of technical art training as her guide. It is genuine in this way, full of imperfections that are celebrated and honest.
More than anything, Yao’s watercolors are meant to be enjoyed and used. Whether it is a hung painting or a home-decor piece in your home, they are here to bring joy into your life.
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Yao's love for art began in early childhood- from her very first art class at the age of 5, she felt the thrill of picking up a pencil and creating her own world of ideas. After that, drawing and painting became her cornerstone, steadying her through all of the different phases of her life.
In college at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), she was able to fully immerse herself into the world of art and design with a degree in Textiles. And in the years before founding Yao Cheng Design, she worked in the corporate fashion industry to learn the trade and to start preparing for her own studio.
Over a decade ago, art brought her to this discovery into watercolor. It was immediately clear that this was her medium- it was instantly captivating, you cannot help but be pulled into its world of swirling colors and shifting washes. There are unpredictable moments and impossible mistakes, but watercolor teaches her to be ok with imperfection. In fact, it is to be celebrated and listened to. Here, in this world of watercolor, art is momentous and makes you believe that anything is possible.
It is with this that Yao creates each of her paintings- to share with you the joy that art has given her.
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