On Monday 3^rd December, LICA was pleased to host a visit from Sheau-Ming Song who took his PhD from LICA in 2009. Sheau-Ming has since developed an international reputation as a brilliant trompe l’oei painter. Now an Associate Professor of Painting at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) in Taipei he returned to LICA with two senior colleagues - Huei-Ling Chao, Professor and Dean of the College of Arts and Chun-Liang Lin, Professor of the Department of Design - to discuss future teaching and research collaborations. This became a very successful day of meetings with faculty and departmental staff. Presentations on LICA’s structure, teaching and research was punctuated with a tour and a jolly Christmas lunch. Next year, Gerry Davies, who was part of Sheau-Ming’s supervisory team, will visit the College of Arts in Taipei for five weeks as a visiting scholar, at which point we hope to progress links between NTNU and LICA.

Sheau-Ming’s paintings can be seen in the flesh in the LICA staff area, and at his website.