Though its themes have remained constant, the Chinese tradition of painting birds and flowers has evolved much in its long history.

In recent years, emerging painters have begun to break rules in an effort to breathe fresh life into the venerable art. Jia Guangjian is one of them.

"Jia Guangjian's paintings of birds and flowers remind me of a lecture from the renowned painter Huang Binhong, in which he asked his students to learn from ancient and contemporary artists as well as from nature," said Long Rui, honorary director of China National Academy of Painting.

"Jia Guangjian is such a learner who made success from constant practice," Long said.

Long believed that it's better to stick to the tradition than randomly make your own innovation and for Chinese painters today, it is worth thinking deeply about.

For a bold painter like Jia, his attitude is somewhat "old-fashioned", Long said. Most of his peers like to talk about the changing elements of contemporary Chinese painting instead of the old traditions.

"Jia understands that as long as you can capture the unchangeable feature of the Chinese painting, you can make good innovations on the basis of the traditions," said Long.

"Jia seems to get the essence of traditional Chinese painting," Long said.

A graduate of the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts in the early 1990s, Jia has practiced the art form for several decades. His passion, faith and his own unique philosophy for arts have brought his works to famous galleries around the country.

Jia said the reason why art can last from generation to generation is because of its spirit, not appearance. The appearance of art can be observed but the essence of it can only be understood through thoughtful reflection.