Excellent condition as we purchased it, framed by artists, signed twice front and rear along with a storyline of her beginnings, attached to rear of artwork. Born in eastern Zhejiang province in China, Yan Inlow attended the prestigious Academy of China in Hangzhou, in the scenic West Lake region. Majoring in textile design, Inlow began creating pieces using the decorative art of embroidery, an art form practiced for thousands of years in China.

Fifteen years ago, Inlow immigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area. She has lived in Alameda since 2002 with her husband and two daughters.

How did you learn to embroider? My mom taught me. When I saw her embroidering, I wanted to try too. I don’t remember exactly when I started but I was pretty young, not quite 10 years old.

Then attended, Academy of Art in Hangzhou. Now it’s called the Academy of China. Then I went to Japan to study at Kobe University. I love Japanese art and the embroidery on kimonos.

Where do you get the ideas for your designs? Everywhere. Gardens, flowers. Sometimes I travel to places like Yellowstone and take pictures. My daughters will also take pictures of things they think I will like.

I use my imagination. Sometimes the picture is not of a real place. Maybe I’ll put a few places together. Rather than the steep hills in China, I prefer the rolling hills of California like the ones around Mount Diablo.

Your subjects often transcend the bounds of traditional Chinese art. I live here. So I do a lot of Western scenes. I also do traditional Asian images such as lotus flowers, peonies, cherry blossoms, bamboo.

Each of my pieces starts with a watercolor base on silk, which I then enhance with needle and thread hand embroidery. To express fine details, I split single silk strands. Each piece is one-of-a-kind artwork. For example, after completing an ocean scene, I might shift to depicting California poppies or a grassy landscape. I deliberately avoid creating the same subject repeatedly, even in different sizes, to keep my creativity fresh. I love natural scenes. Wildflowers, wild grasses and oceans are my favorite subjects. They bring peace and love.