42-year-old Zhang Junli from China was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she was six. Her paralysis hasn’t stopped her from filling hundreds of canvases with incredible art.
All of them done in bed at the comfort of her home in the province of Shanxi in North China.
90% of her joints stopped working just after less than 3 years of diagnosis. Zhang has been struggling for three decades, but she never wallowed in self-pity.
With her paralyzed fingers, she chose to pick up paintbrushes, drawing beautiful images, all while letting her imagination run wild.
“The world is too beautiful. Even if I am in poor health, I don’t want to give up the opportunity to live,” she said.
It’s been nearly four years, and Zhang has come a long way. Art lovers love her work, and Zhang now owns an online shop, “Lily’s Easel,” which you can find on WeChat.
Her story inspired so many around China. At one point, all 150 pieces of her artwork sold out.
She first felt the symptoms at the age of six. Her wrist and thumb would swell up and hurt so her parents took her to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with rheumatoid arthritis.
Paralysis was a real possibility, and that came true in the winter of 1986. Zhang’s body went stiff, and she felt a lot of pain. Zhang could move her hip, shoulders, and neck a little, but other than that, nothing.
Zhang took up drawing as a hobby since she couldn’t go to school.
She started learning oil painting from a professional artist in 2015.
“Painting transformed me. The first time I picked up a brush, it’s as if I have found my calling. I felt that I lived to draw,” Zhang recalled.
It wasn’t easy since her wrists were completely stiff. Zhang could only hold a brush between her thumb and index finger in a fist.
Then she had to learn to angle her shoulder to adjust the pressure she applies on the canvas.
With lots of practice, she learned to control the brush. Her devotion and passion helped propel her success.
Zhang takes seven to twelve days to finish a 75 cm x 100 cm canvas. She takes breaks from time to time by sipping water from a cup placed on her bedside.
Zhang’s inspiration comes from her friends’ travel photos, books, music, and other pictures.
“This way, even if I couldn’t get out of the house, I get to see beautiful landscapes, skies and seas – I can still explore the world with my paint and my canvas,” she said.
Zhang is a true creative, writing one autobiography and three fictions.
She wants to encourage others in the same situation not give up on themselves. Instead of crying and worrying, Zhang wants them to explore their identity and find meaning in life.
Zhang’s advice is to live in the present.
She is an amazing woman, one who inspires and motivates others to be better.
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