Chinese native Wei Lonewolf grew up watching her artistic father work.

“Her father is a sculptor, and he has been a sculptor all his life,” J.A. Lonewolf said, translating for his wife, Wei, in the phone interview. “The Chinese government sent him to many different countries, and he’s the one that really inspired her to develop her artwork.”

Wei Lonewolf has been in the United States for the past 10 years and has some difficulty with English.

“For both of us, English is our second language,” J.A. said. “So expressing ourselves is not as easy as it would be for an American person.”

However, Wei can express herself with her paintings. Those are on display at the Quinlan Visual Arts Center as part of its Winter Exhibitions.

“A friend of ours referred to us to Amanda (Amanda McClure, Quinlan Visual Arts Center Executive Director),” J.A. said. “She came here to the shop, saw the paintings and suggested that she (Wei) should have a time to exhibit her work to the gallery. And that was almost two years ago. But she said that they were booked up, so this would be the first opportunity.”

Wei’s paintings will be on display until through Feb. 20 at 514 Green St. NW in Gainesville.

Wei said it felt “good” to have her work on display. Most of them are paintings of people, J.A. said.

“She is extremely talented when it comes to people,” he said. “She also does great animals. I’m her husband, so it’s kind of hard to brag on her. But the people sometimes look even more realistic than the photographs.”

J.A. said his wife chooses to paint people because she is intrigued by their character “that shows on their faces and sometimes the history of the person.”

“I’m still painting for somebody,” Wei said. “Then I make some jewelry. Then I help my husband.”

And her husband is the reason Wei moved from China to the United States in 2006, J.A. said with a chuckle.

“We met on the internet,” he said.

In China, Wei attended a university for art and worked with an animation company before immigrating to the United States. Now she works with her husband at their company, J.A. Lonewolf and Sons, in Demorest.

“It’s a customized shop,” J.A. said. “We also have her paintings displayed, and she also does custom jewelry and we sell them here.”

Wei also accepts commissions for her paintings, which J.A. said are her specialty.

“A lot of people get their children or their family members or even their pet or their showcars or stuff like that,” he said. “And she does paintings for them.”