After retiring from an administrative job last year, Zhao was able to devote herself to her hobby wholeheartedly. She thinks even the small surface of an egg shell can convey any theme.
Zhao wei said, "Many different things can serve as canvases. Most people paint on paper, while some draw on straw, I think egg shells are also wonderful to paint on. When I was in the countryside and could easily find egg shells, I began to paint my favorite themes on them. I thought it was very interesting. It was not like painting on paper, because paper is flat while egg shells are round. So egg shell paintings have a unique feel."
Zhao's biggest work is the character series from the Chinese novel "Outlaws of the Marsh". She aimed to create a lifelike series of all the characters in the literary classic,and Zhao worked for three months to finish the task. Her set includes all the one hundred and eight warriors depicted in the novel. On an egg shell smaller than a palm, Zhao vividly delineates characters -- each with different personalities. Although she used some references from the books, Zhao worked a lot from her own imagination.
Zhao worked in Beijing's Tianqiao area for twenty years. Her love for Tianqiao folk culture inspired another series "Eight Strange Performers of Tianqiao". Now the set graces the Tianqiao Street Administrative Office. The "Eight Strange Performers of Tianqiao" are renowned folk performers in the Tianqiao area of old Beijing, each of them boasts incredible and unusual skills. Zhao's works remind viewers of the lively street scene of Tianqiao, a folk culture center in old Beijing.
