Jonathan Aumen has been creating art most of his life. He was born in Virginia in 1980. From the ages of 8 through 18 he lived full time in China—from rural areas to Bejiing. The extremely vast new landscape and lifestyle gave him a great visual boost.  One of his early memories in China was taking in the cricket fights in the rural town. He filled his countless sketch books with all the that at first were so oddly foreign to him but over time reflected what he came to love: the faces of the young and old, mostly peasant or working class Chinese.He studied art with Chinese master painters. He is fluent in Mandarin.He graduated with a Fine Arts Degree in 2002. He has been a frequent global traveler ever since. He focuses these days on commission work and working on his original oils.  In 2005, he spent time in Russia on an aid mission. During that time he completed 40 portraits of the children to give them as presents at the orphanage where he volunteered.