For Ping Kelly, seeing her artwork in exhibitions is the stuff of dreams.

Yet the Bradford-based artist has enjoyed that privilege – and is fast gaining a reputation for her work, in Yorkshire and beyond In her native China, Ping was a top gymnast. From the age of seven to 16, she trained on the mats, bar and vaulting horse, making it into the national gymnastics team in her home province of Yunnan in south-west China.

The physical demands of this highly-disciplined sport mean gymnasts retire at a relatively young age. So, while still a teenager, Ping suddenly found herself doing something that was far removed from the rigorous training schedules and fierce competitions that make up the world of a young gymnast.

“In China, when anyone retires from gymnastics, the authorities guarantee that you will have a job to go to,” says Ping, “They placed me in a textile factory making woollen blankets.”

But Ping did not enjoy her new job – and knew what she wanted to do instead.

“I wasn’t suited to it at all and really wanted to paint,” she recalls, “I told my dad that I wanted to go to university and study art, and he agreed that I should apply.”

But getting a place was not easy. “Every year hundreds of thousands of people in the province apply and only 23 students get accepted, so I did not have high hopes.”

To her delight, Ping was one of the lucky ones and went on to study fine art at the College of Art in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, where she grew up.

Her studies included the ancient art of Chinese brush painting, in which she became an expert. The most interesting aspect of the technique is that each brush stroke is a defining move that produces a portion of the painting that is neither improved upon nor corrected.

No sketch is prepared and no model is used – artists paint with rapid strokes, transporting a ‘mind image’ to the paper. From the first to the last stroke, the artist must get it right, while in Western watercolour, corrections and over-painting are part of the technique. Chinese brush painting depicts the subject as the artist imagines it, meaning it is more than a representation of an object, it is a symbolic expression. This is why a full plant is never painted, but a few blossoms to represent it.

“In Chinese painting you don’t see any shadows, unlike in Western paintings,” explains Ping, 44.

“In Western painting, we talk about forms, perspective, shapes and shading, whereas Chinese is more like abstract art.”

She uses Xuan paper, a soft, fine, textured traditional Chinese paper – “It is very sensitive and expands when wet,” – and a special Chinese brush made from bamboo and either wolf or goat hair, one used for background washes, the other for objects.

Twelve years ago, Ping – who is also qualified as a teacher – brought her talents to Britain, and to Bradford, after she met and married Stuart, an English teacher.

Settling in Bradford, she gave birth to a son, Shaun, now nine. Her life as a mother has taken her work in a new direction.

“I used to do a lot more abstract work but since becoming a mother my mind is more mature – I’m not such a crazy artist anymore,” she laughs.

Ping also paints both in oil and acrylic. “I particularly like abstract painting in oils,” she says. She describes her style as “very Oriental”. “I like bright, loud colours. I particularly like working in blacks, reds, yellows and oranges.”

Her love of red stems from her childhood memories of China’s Cultural Revolution from 1965 to 1968. “I remember greys and reds. Everyone wore grey clothes but Chairman Mao wore red, and everyone carried the Little Red Book.”

“I am now trying to combine modern forms and traditional techniques to create abstract works in oil, while retaining characteristics of the Orient.”

She has also expanded to portraiture, with a diverse selection of work depicting both adults and children.

Ping, who teaches art at Leeds Chinese Community Mandarin School, has exhibited her paintings at the Art In The Garden exhibition in Sheffield and most recently at St James’ Hospital, Leeds. Her work can also be seen on her website.

She also works to commission, and has painted landscapes from her homeland, from across the UK and the Bradford district. Her works include the Delius Church in Great Horton Road.

Among her plans this year is a special canvas in six colours, depicting a cube on a flat surface, which will tell the story of her experience of the Cultural Revolution and the country’s closed-door policy. “It will reflect my feelings during that time,” she says.

She would like to exhibit her work more widely, and let people know about Chinese art. “A lot of people I talk to ask only about Chinese food – I want to let them know about art.”

- For more about Ping’s work, visit pingkelly.co.uk