Born in Washington, DC of British diplomatic parents, Virginia Lloyd-Davies and her husband Dennis DiVito moved from Scotland to Rockbridge County, VA in 1986. A Sumi-e and Chinese brush artist since 1976, she has paintings in collections in the U.S, China, Britain, Europe, Japan, and Mexico. Her teacher was Master Painter I-Hsiung Ju, with whom she traveled regularly to China & Taiwan. She has been a U.S. citizen since 2002.
She is the author of “Mindful Artist: Sumi-e Painting” (2019) published by Walter Foster, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group.
Performances, Demonstrations, Workshops and Exhibitions (selection):
US Embassies & Ambassador’s Residences in Kenya and Guatemala
The Millennium Gate Museum, Atlanta GA 2015
Chinese Brush Painters’ Group and Islington Chinese Community, demos & workshops, London 2015
The Veerhoff Galleries, Salomon Smith Barney, and Freddie Mac, Washington, DC
Sumi-e Society, Washington, DC area 2013, 2015, VA Beach 2019, The Villages, FL 2016
The Pinner Gallery, London, England; Universal Hall, Findhorn, Scotland 2012
Kendal at Lexington, VA, 2014, 2015; Merck head offices, Philadelphia, PA
Zhang-Jia-Jie, Jiangyin, Wuxi, and Shanghai China, 2001, 2004, 2006 2010
Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA 2002, 2003, 2013-2019
Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention, VA Tech, Blacksburg, VA 2011, 2012
Open Center, SoHo, NYC 1992 & Medical College of VA, Richmond, VA 1992
Beijing, Wuxi & Shanghai Academies of Art & Amoy University, China 1993, 2006
Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, GA 2010, Southern Virginia University 2012, VMI 2013
Central VA Watercolor Guild 2013; Westminster Canterbury Retirement Community 2013
Joyful Brush® performances for American Heart Association Annual Convention, Dallas TX 1998,
Hospice Capital Chapter Annual Convention 2003 & 2004 and Rockbridge Area Hospice
Special Christmas ornament commissioned by Hillary Clinton for The White House tree 1993
Artist featured in The Best of Silk Painting ed. Tuckman & Janas, North Light Books 1997
PBS-TV live performances with Josh Harvey 2000-2007; Demonstrations at the Lincoln Center Arts Festival, NYC 1994-5-6; Beijing National TV, China 1993 & 2001, Jiang Yin TV, China 2006, 2010; NBC-TV news interview, NYC 1995; Joy Philbin interview and demonstration for Haven (CBS-TV) 1996; artist featured painting in Jay Leno TV commercial 1994; FOX-TV Morning News interview & demonstration, NYC 1998, Fox News Living Local 2019, WDBJ7 2019.
DVDs and Downloadable videos: How to Paint Grapes (2017), How to Create Mist (2015), Autumn Waterfall (2015), How to Paint Peonies (2012) and Joyful Brush® Performance with Josh Harvey (1998)
Her YouTube painting channel has been viewed over four million times.
She is also an accomplished singer, actor and puppeteer and has performed as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Buffalo Symphony and the Long Island Symphony. She has appeared on radio and TV in the US, China and Britain and has written articles for The NY Post, Ad Astra Magazine, The Traveller and East-West Journal in the US, and The Scotsman, The Guardian, Aberdeen Press & Journal and She Magazine in Britain.
Her art name "Wei Jen" is the Chinese approximation in sound of “Virginia” and translates as “Nothing But Love”
Born in Washington, DC of British diplomatic parents, Virginia Lloyd-Davies and her husband Dennis DiVito moved from Scotland to Rockbridge County, VA in 1986. A Sumi-e and Chinese brush artist since 1976, she has paintings in collections in the U.S, China, Britain, Europe, Japan, and Mexico. Her teacher was Master Painter I-Hsiung Ju, with whom she traveled regularly to China & Taiwan. She has been a U.S. citizen since 2002.
She is the author of “Mindful Artist: Sumi-e Painting” (2019) published by Walter Foster, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group.
Performances, Demonstrations, Workshops and Exhibitions (selection):
US Embassies & Ambassador’s Residences in Kenya and Guatemala
The Millennium Gate Museum, Atlanta GA 2015
Chinese Brush Painters’ Group and Islington Chinese Community, demos & workshops, London 2015
The Veerhoff Galleries, Salomon Smith Barney, and Freddie Mac, Washington, DC
Sumi-e Society, Washington, DC area 2013, 2015, VA Beach 2019, The Villages, FL 2016
The Pinner Gallery, London, England; Universal Hall, Findhorn, Scotland 2012
Kendal at Lexington, VA, 2014, 2015; Merck head offices, Philadelphia, PA
Zhang-Jia-Jie, Jiangyin, Wuxi, and Shanghai China, 2001, 2004, 2006 2010
Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA 2002, 2003, 2013-2019
Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention, VA Tech, Blacksburg, VA 2011, 2012
Open Center, SoHo, NYC 1992 & Medical College of VA, Richmond, VA 1992
Beijing, Wuxi & Shanghai Academies of Art & Amoy University, China 1993, 2006
Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, GA 2010, Southern Virginia University 2012, VMI 2013
Central VA Watercolor Guild 2013; Westminster Canterbury Retirement Community 2013
Joyful Brush® performances for American Heart Association Annual Convention, Dallas TX 1998,
Hospice Capital Chapter Annual Convention 2003 & 2004 and Rockbridge Area Hospice
Special Christmas ornament commissioned by Hillary Clinton for The White House tree 1993
Artist featured in The Best of Silk Painting ed. Tuckman & Janas, North Light Books 1997
PBS-TV live performances with Josh Harvey 2000-2007; Demonstrations at the Lincoln Center Arts Festival, NYC 1994-5-6; Beijing National TV, China 1993 & 2001, Jiang Yin TV, China 2006, 2010; NBC-TV news interview, NYC 1995; Joy Philbin interview and demonstration for Haven (CBS-TV) 1996; artist featured painting in Jay Leno TV commercial 1994; FOX-TV Morning News interview & demonstration, NYC 1998, Fox News Living Local 2019, WDBJ7 2019.
DVDs and Downloadable videos: How to Paint Grapes (2017), How to Create Mist (2015), Autumn Waterfall (2015), How to Paint Peonies (2012) and Joyful Brush® Performance with Josh Harvey (1998)
Her YouTube painting channel has been viewed over four million times.
She is also an accomplished singer, actor and puppeteer and has performed as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Buffalo Symphony and the Long Island Symphony. She has appeared on radio and TV in the US, China and Britain and has written articles for The NY Post, Ad Astra Magazine, The Traveller and East-West Journal in the US, and The Scotsman, The Guardian, Aberdeen Press & Journal and She Magazine in Britain.
Her art name "Wei Jen" is the Chinese approximation in sound of “Virginia” and translates as “Nothing But Love”