A cold dish chef at Tsinghua University who loves painting has recently gained widespread attention for his perseverance in pursuing his passion for painting.

Hailing from a rural area in Henan province, Liu Tao's passion dates back to his childhood days. Growing up in a life of poverty, he could not afford drawing materials, so he bartered homemade sugar water for drawing paper with his classmates.

In his teens, Liu left his hometown to work as a chef with the culinary skills that he learned from his uncle. Before settling in Beijing in 2004, Liu worked in over 20 places for more than a decade. However, his wandering life and straitened circumstances did not deter him from drawing after work.

A turning point for him came in 2009 when Liu worked as a chef at Beihang University, where his love for painting and talent caught the attention of Cai Jinsong, founding curator of Beihang Art Gallery, who offered to organize a solo exhibition for him.

Due to his lack of professional training, Liu always wanted to study under professional mentors. After seeing the works of Professor Du Dakai from the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, at an exhibition, Liu was deeply inspired. In 2016, at the age of 35, he enrolled in the calligraphy and painting training program at the academy.

Through unwavering diligence, Liu's painting skills have greatly improved, with his work subsequently selected for exhibitions at home and abroad. One of his representative works, The Five-colored Soil, an Emblem, is on display at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris and has become a permanent collection of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

In 2019, he became a member of the Chinese Artists Association and in the same year, Liu landed a job at Jiasuo Restaurant of Tsinghua University's reception center.

Liu is skilled at creating paintings using mud, and is particularly adept at capturing dynamic lines, dots and symbols. His unique artistic style is influenced by hand-made clay statuette ninigou from his home province Henan, a technique which has been listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage.

Liu's style of painting is popular among children's picture books. Since 2019, he has illustrated 25 children's picture books, some of which have reached readers in other countries like Singapore and Greece.

"I have always wanted to get more people to know the traditional art form of ninigou and our rich Chinese culture. It would be even better if foreigners could also know about it," Liu said.

Despite his busy schedule as a chef during the day, Liu finds solace and joy in painting during late evenings and early mornings.

"When people ask me whether I'm tired, I say I'm not. I'm very happy when I paint. Every line and dot in my eyes is alive. For me, painting brings immense joy and fulfillment." Liu said. "I will continue to paint, for as long as I can."