Jian Wenming， whose pseudoname is Jian Yao and styled name Houtu， is born in Tianshui， Gansu province， China. He graduated from Department of Sculpture， Xi'an College of Fine Arts， and engaged in advanced studies in Department of Environmental Arts of China Central Institute of Arts and Crafts. Now he is an accredited National Level II landscape designer， member of China Painting and Calligraphy Artists' Association， member of Tianshui Peony Painting and Calligraphy Institution， and member of China International Collection Artists' Association. He learned from Teacher Ma Zhijian （Ma Jian） at Jintaiguan Temple and gained guidance from Teacher Xiao Kuan after coming to Beijing. As a sculptor， Jian showed exceptional passion towards mountain-and-water painting and had learned from famous painters in Tianshui like Lei Zhenyang and Su Dongyou. Recent years in Beijing he has made great progress under the guidance of Teacher Bai Chongran and Teacher Chen Guojian. His mountain-and-water work Drink from the Source won Honorable Award at the art contest commemorating the 57th Anniversary of the Founding of New China， work of Loess Plateua after the Northwest Wind won the Second Class Prize， and work of Ming Tombs under the Setting Sun won Outstanding Award at the art contest commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of New China.
　　Earlier in school， he spent as much time in mountain-and-water painting as in sculpturing. In his past time， Jian imitated masters' albums including those by Li Cheng， Fan Kuan， Shi Tao and so on. Recent years， he came to Beijing to learn from noted masters and undertook systematic research and imitation of the mountain-and-water works of the "Four Big Masters Surnamed Wang"， from which he gained enormous progress. In his leisure time， he often went out to paint from life to experience "art comes from life and nature"， as a way to further enrich his life.