When you first meet Dr. Ping Xu Moroney, you immediately notice her bubbly personality; the second thing that comes across is her love for her adopted home, Greenwood Lake.
As she showed the mural that she painted some 20 years ago in Greenwood Lake Library’s children’s section, she repeatedly extolled the virtues of the village, its famous body of water, the joys of small-town life, its local businesses, and the community. She’s certain that, someday, “art historians will know more about” the area.
The mural, she said, is based on antique postcards of Greenwood Lake, belonging to the father of the previous librarian.
Dr. Ping, as she is known, came to the U.S. from China as a young woman, arriving as a newly minted university grad nearly 25 years ago. She fell in love with this country, specifically with New York City and the treasures found in some of its most iconic cultural centers: the Guggenheim, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met).
Although she initially trained as a teacher back in China, she knew she wanted to pursue a career in art. As a youngster she was a member of the Shanghai City Youth Association, due to the “quality of [her] art,” Ping said.
After her tourist visa expired, she stayed in the U.S. and worked toward the path of eventual citizenship.
Along the way, she lived in Flushing, Queens and New Rochelle (after she got married) before settling in Greenwood Lake, where she and her husband have three children: a 19-year-old son, and 13-year-old twins, a son and a daughter.
She took time off — about 20 years — to raise her family, and to care for an ailing mother.
Still, Ping added with a smile, “It’s my time now!” Her works will be part of a plein air art show this Sunday, June 2, at the Greenwood Lake Community Center, as part of the village’s centennial celebration.
Although she began painting in watercolors, she said that she really enjoys working in oils. While she initially painted portraits, her more recent works are of local businesses and the many landscapes in and around Greenwood Lake and Warwick.
Several of her paintings are on display in local businesses, such as the Chateau Hathorn.
Ping earned a masters degree in studio art from the College of New Rochelle and her Doctor of Education degree in curriculum and instruction from Liberty University; when she’s not painting, she teaches Mandarin at the Warwick Valley Middle School and high school.
She uses small (about 5-inch square) paintings of everyday objects, labeled with Chinese characters, as visual aids for her students.
Ping hopes that, through her art, Greenwood Lake will reach a wider audience of people who will come to love the picturesqueness of the area as she does: “Such a beautiful lake!”
For more of Dr. Ping’s work, visit pingsgallery.com.
