When you walk into the atrium at the Indianapolis Public Library’s Central branch, look for the wooden cases of paintings and look inside. On your right, you’ll see a horse charging, built from stark black strokes against rice paper. Look left and you’ll see a bright orange tiger against a blue sky.

But it’s not just about a horse. And it’s not just about a tiger.

Shaomin Qian’s “Galloping Home” is modeled after Xu Beihong, a famous Chinese painter whose works sell for millions at auctions today. Qian’s art is inspired by tradition. The horse’s tail is made with brush strokes that can’t be hesitant — they’re quick sweeps from a confident hand.

Gonz Chua’s art feels like he put inspiration from Chinese traditions, Japanese influences and the things he Googles into a blender. Different styles shine through in each of his paintings. Behind the bright blues and oranges is a context of changing relationships between China and Japan.

Kwan Hui, who is promoting this exhibition for the Indiana Association of Chinese Americans, said Chinese revolutionaries stayed in Japan during the fall of the Qing Dynasty, which lasted from 1644-1911. While they were there, they learned Japanese techniques and use of colors, which they brought back to start a new school of painting in Southern China.

Walking around the cases displaying paintings by Chua and Qian is like walking through a timeline of their personal styles and the history of their influences. You can see the works at the Central Library until Jan. 26.

Major Gonzalo Chua learned how to paint from DVDs and classes with 10-year-olds

Major Gonzalo Chua, 86, goes by Gonz. He’s a veteran of the Vietnam War and had a long career in radiology at IU Health Methodist Hospital. He retired in 2000, but he was recruited at IU North and went back to work from 2005 to 2009.

“Well, in 2010, I was contemplating on retiring, and I knew I had to find something to do after retiring,” he said.

When he actually retired at 71, he saw an ad at the Carmel Clay Public Library for painting classes from a Chinese professor who was visiting. Four hours a day for two weeks, Chua learned to paint. At the end of the session, there was a student exhibit.

Chua’s professor came up to him and said, “You seem to have some talent.”

“I’d never painted before!” Chua said. “They said, ‘Do you want to continue?’ I said, ‘How could I? You’re leaving.

“He put something into me. He said, ‘In Chinese painting, you copy and copy and copy, copy the master’s work until the time that you can actually do the stroke without the copy.’”

Chua ordered some DVDs and books from China, along with rolls of the special rice paper he painted on. He took a semester of another painting class, this time while in his 70s and among a group of 10-year-olds.

Since then, he’s picked a theme every week and painted from that reference. This week, his theme was white tigers. He used two photos of white tigers he found online as inspiration.

But to him, painting is not about making money. He’s never sold one of his paintings, and he won’t. He gives them away to church or the veteran’s organization.

The waiting room for the radiology center at IU North, which is named after Chua and his wife, is lined with 18 of his paintings.

Shaomin Qian passes down the art of calligraphy to students

Qian uses four things to create his calligraphy, and they’re called the four scholar’s treasures. A brush, an inkstick, an inkstone and paper.

The inkstick is a black block, with the four treasures engraved on it. To make ink, he adds a few drops of water and grinds it across the inkstone.

It’s a tradition that’s been passed down through centuries. Qian, who was born in 1962 in Hangzhou, started learning calligraphy at 8 years old. At 10, he enrolled in classes at the Hangzhou Children’s Palace, which is like an art conservatory. From ages 8 to 18, he spent every Saturday and Sunday in calligraphy classes.

In 1995, while Qian was in his 30s, he moved to the United States. His influences span generations of calligraphy history.

Two of his well-known teachers, Zhu Guantian, who was born in 1944, and Sha Menghai (1900-1992), taught him about calligraphers Su Dongpo (1037-1101), Yan Zhenqing (709-785) and Liu Gongquan (778-865).

In Chinese paintings, the piece isn’t completed until an artist uses a stamp, carved with their name. It’s a signature.

Two stone stamps are in Qian’s kit, one with raised bumps and one with characters carved into the surface. They feel cold in your hands. One is his name, and one says he is a Chinese artist that lives overseas.

Today, he passes down these traditions. Each Sunday, he teaches calligraphy and painting to a group of 20 students in Carmel at the Chinese School of Chinese Community Church Inc.

Indy reporter Sophie Young covers services and resources. Contact her at sophie.young@mirrorindy.org.

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