Electricity-Saving Artist Li Shengmao was born in 1955 in Chishan Village, Wanluan Township, and Pingtung County. From a young age, he loved reading comics and often used a pen to freely express his imaginative ideas through doodling. His teachers in fifth and sixth grade noticed his passion for drawing, not only giving him the highest grades for his artwork but also encouraging him to never give up on his artistic pursuits.
 
    Under the guidance of his mentor, Liu Mushan, Li Shengmao left Pingtung at the age of 14 to study under Ye Hongjia, the renowned manga artist behind the series “Zhuge Silang,” marking the beginning of his artistic journey. He also worked as an assistant to sculptor Wei Lizhi and later studied ink painting techniques under the master ink painter Shen Zhen.
 
    After completing his military service, Li Shengmao joined Taiwan Power Company as an electrician to improve his family's financial situation, a position he held for nearly 40 years.
 
    Working on the front lines, he often carried electrical wires and welding guns to remote areas, climbing mountains and crossing valleys to “lay electrical wires” for households, bringing light into people's homes.
 
    Especially during natural disasters like typhoons and heavy rains that caused power outages, he worked tirelessly day and night. He participated in power restoration efforts during major events such as the 729 Blackout, the 921 Earthquake, and the 88 Floods, with a record of working 32 hours straight without sleep. Despite the hardships of round-the-clock repairs, seeing the affected communities regain electricity brought him the greatest satisfaction.
 
    In his spare time, Li Sheng-mao picks up a brush to paint, using the daring figures of his colleagues climbing power poles as his subject matter. His ink wash paintings depict vivid scenes of power distribution with a meticulous and realistic style, earning him the title of “Taiwan's first ink wash painter on power poles.”
 
    Through his ink paintings, Li Shengmao portrays the strength and beauty of frontline workers, as well as his own experiences traversing Taiwan's rural areas to carry out emergency power repairs. His works depict the hardships faced by frontline workers in their daily struggles, earning him numerous artistic accolades, including awards at the Tainan City Art Exhibition, the Nanying Art Exhibition, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs Cultural Arts Exhibition. Each of his paintings tells a story, and all are based on his personal experiences. His paintings not only capture the earthy scent of Taiwan's rural and mountainous regions but also evoke the sweat of laborers, earning him the well-deserved title of “Electricity Rescue Painter.” From among 2,954 candidates recommended by people worldwide for the “Love for Life Medal,” he stood out and was honored with the “2022 25th Global Love for Life Medal” by the Taiwan Zhou Daguan Cultural and Educational Foundation.
 
    Our foundation warmly welcomes recommendations from all corners of the globe for individuals who embody the values of effort, compassion, courage, and achievement. (Taiwan Zhou Da Guan Cultural and Educational Foundation Global Award for Love of Life Nomination Hotline: 886-2-29178770, Fax: 886-2-29178768, Address: 3rd Floor, No. 52 Mingde Road, Xindian District, New Taipei City 231, Taiwan, Website: http://www.ta.org.tw, e-mail: ta88ms17@gmail.com).
 
Picking Sweet Potatoes: A Life Story Painted into Fame
    Li Sheng-mao is the third of seven siblings, born in 1955 in Chishan Village, Wanluan Township, and Pingtung County. His neighbor was the oldest third-class historic site in Taiwan, the “Wan Jin Church.” He joined the church and was baptized as a Catholic, which provided free formula, flour, and other necessities. Preschool-aged children could attend kindergarten or daycare.
 
    His father worked as a contractor for irrigation projects—constructing ponds and digging earthen embankments. One typhoon caused the ponds to collapse, leaving the family bankrupt. To rebuild their life, his father relied on his skills in drilling wells, working day and night until his health deteriorated. He passed away at the age of 40.
 
    After his father's death, the family lost its center of support. They relied on his mother working as a laborer on Taiwan Sugar Corporation farmland, toiling under the scorching sun to earn 20 NT dollars a day. She would divide the wages among her children, using some to buy ice cream to cool them down or rent comic books.
 
    At the time, when the Taiwan Sugar Corporation's farmland, known as “Society Garden,” was harvested, it was opened to the public for picking sweet potatoes. Li Shengmao recalled that one day during a weekend, while picking sweet potatoes among the crowd, he was recognized by his father's sworn brother, “Junzi Bo, Who was one of the supervisors? He instructed him to come over and gave him a basket of sweet potatoes to take home. Li Shengmao was deeply moved and shed tears. The young boy vowed silently to himself, “One day, I will earn enough money to support my family and ease my mother's burden.”
 
    In 1982, Li Shengmao's first award-winning painting, “The Afterglow of Spring: A Child's Heart,” brought him fame. It depicted the mother and son returning home after picking sweet potatoes, with the setting sun casting its last rays from the distant horizon, illuminating their silhouettes. This was a tribute to the land they loved and a tribute to the mother he missed dearly.
 
Disciples of renowned masters such as Zhuge Silang
    When Li Shengmao graduated from elementary school, television had not yet become widespread in Taiwan, and comic strips were extremely popular. Having loved drawing since childhood, he resolved to improve his family's economic situation through his passion for painting.
 
    He drew a small sketch and attached a self-recommendation letter, which he sent to Ye Hongjia, the creator of the popular “Zhuge Silang” comic strip at the time, hoping that ye would take him as an apprentice.
 
    To his surprise, he received a reply from Ye agreeing to take him on as an apprentice. Li Shengmao jumped for joy on his bed, marking the beginning of his career in painting.
 
    Li Shengmao's three-year apprenticeship in Taipei was far from easy. Initially, he could only do menial tasks like cleaning, mopping the floor, and washing dishes, earning just 50 yuan a month. It wasn't until one and a half years later that he finally got to pick up a paintbrush, copying characters from fairy tale books to lay the foundation for his figure drawing skills.
 
    Under the kind and patient guidance of Mr. Ye, Li Shengmao's skills gradually improved. Mr. Ye personally wrote the scripts, while Li Shengmao illustrated them under the pen name “Xiaoqing,” creating comic series such as “The Magic Shoes” and “The Squirrel's Marriage.”
 
    However, with the widespread introduction of Japanese manga to Taiwan, comic books gradually declined in popularity. To pursue his goal of improving his family's economic situation, Li Shengmao quietly left and enrolled in the night division of Yanping High School.
 
    During his studies, through the introduction of his senior classmate Guo Hua, who was studying manga, Li Shengmao began working part-time at a ceramics company in Beitou while continuing his studies. He became an assistant to Wei Lizi, a sculpture professor at Taipei Yanping High School.
 
    By chance, he met Shen Zhen, a disciple of the renowned ink painter Li Qimiao, and under Shen's guidance, he began to explore ink painting, which became the primary direction of his artistic creation.
 
    Shen Zhen's wise words had a profound impact on Li Shengmao. He recalls his teacher once saying, “When painting children, you must capture their innocent and pure essence and paint with a sense of tenderness.” This guidance led him to achieve outstanding results in his first participation in the “National Youth Art Creation Competition,” earning him recognition from judges across various fields.
 
    After graduating from high school, due to economic considerations, Li Shengmao did not choose to become a professional painter. Instead, he applied for a stable position at Taiwan Power Company and became a distribution service technician in the 28th batch, thus joining the Taiwan Power Company family.
 
Risking his life during Typhoon Morakot
    Working on the front lines, one inevitably faces a lot of negative emotions from the public. Li Shengmao describes himself as “taking things in stride,” and many of the hardships he endured are too difficult to share with outsiders. A simple phrase like “The electricity will be repaired slowly” can often defuse tense situations on-site.
 
    In 2009, Taiwan experienced its worst flood disaster in history, known as the “88 Flood Disaster.” Typhoon Morakot not only caused the worst flood disaster in history but also resulted in the highest number of power outages in Taiwan Power Company's history.
 
    After the Meteorological Bureau issued a typhoon warning for land areas, senior officials ordered Li Shengmao and other frontline maintenance workers to be on high alert.
 
    That afternoon, he and his colleagues were dispatched to the Tuzhi Mountain area to repair power lines along the road. When their vehicle reached the home of an elderly couple they had previously visited to collect electricity bills, they discovered that the fuse chain switch on the power pole had tripped.
 
    Due to the urgent situation and the worsening weather conditions, they did not inspect the power lines and immediately climbed the pole to replace the fuse switch and attempt to restore power. However, a loud “bang” sounded, and the fuse chain switch tripped again, resulting in a failed power restoration.
 
    As the sky grew darker, they began to feel the full force of the typhoon's winds and rain. His colleagues said, “Team Leader! We need to hurry down the mountain. Otherwise, landslides might block the road, and we won't be able to get out!” However, Li Shengmao thought about the elderly couple who would be without electricity for the night and how helpless they must feel. He decided to make every effort to repair the line before the storm hit.
 
    Drawing on his years of experience in frontline maintenance, he determined that there was an issue with the power lines. He followed the lines, quickly located the burned-out branch that had fallen onto the high-voltage line, and removed it, successfully restoring power.
 
    The elderly couple watched as the lights came back on, leaning against each other and repeatedly expressing their gratitude. In the midst of the stormy night, being able to provide care and service to the elderly and allow them to enjoy the warmth of the lights brought a sense of fulfillment to Li Shengmao.
 
    Li Shengmao said, “It was really close to being a disaster.” He vividly recalled the return journey in the engineering vehicle, driving on a winding mountain road in the dark night with visibility less than two meters, lightning flashing across the night sky accompanied by deafening thunder, and occasionally seeing soil and rocks washed onto the road, which was truly terrifying. All he could do was silently pray for safety, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly that they had sweated countless times from tension.
 
    After three to four hours of peril, he finally drove out of the mountainous area. When he saw the lights of the plains, Li Shengmao's tense heart gradually relaxed. The harrowing experience of the emergency repairs during the “88 Flood Disaster” remains vivid in his memory to this day.
 
Electricity Rescue Thrills Merge into the World of Ink Wash Painting
    Over nearly 40 years of ink wash painting, Li Shengmao initially focused on creating works featuring rural figures. From the rural areas of Pingtung, where he grew up, to the suburbs of Tainan in modern times; from following his mother to work in the fields to his wife helping children get their hair cut in the courtyard, all became the best materials for his brush.
 
    It wasn't until 2000, during a stormy night of emergency power repairs that a transformative moment occurred. Amidst the heavy rain, Li Shengmao and his colleagues were perched on power poles, barely able to open their eyes to inspect the circuits.
 
    Li Shengmao had a sudden inspiration: “Why not capture this arduous work scene in a painting?” From then on, he began a series of ink paintings depicting the arduous maintenance work of Taiwan Power Company.
 
    The first piece in the Taiwan Power Company series, “Glory in the Rain,” depicts the scene from the perspective of a crane, showing Taiwan Power Company maintenance workers fearlessly braving the rain and high-voltage electricity to work together on the towering power poles to clear circuit obstacles. Due to its innovative subject matter and profound character depictions, it was recognized with the National Art Award.
 
    This first award further motivated Li Shengmao to dedicate himself to the Taipower series, establishing a unique painting style.
 
    While ink wash paintings typically emphasize the expression of mood and atmosphere, Li Shengmao places great emphasis on realism in his depictions of characters, actions, tools, and settings. Each painting requires significant effort—from composition, character movements, angles, and facial expressions—all of which are meticulously crafted to ensure authenticity and profound meaning. Composition, in particular, often takes several weeks of careful planning to complete.
 
Family members assist as models.
    While diligently carrying out his daily maintenance work, Li Shengmao constantly observes the people and environment around him. If he encounters a subject worth painting, he will quickly sketch it on paper without disrupting his duties. If he cannot sketch on the spot, he will memorize the scene and ask his family to pose as models for him to sketch at home after work.
 
    Mrs. Li revealed that her husband occasionally asks family members to “act out” scenes for his paintings, making the Li family the biggest supporters behind Li Shengmao's artwork.
 
    Mrs. Li explained, “There's a painting with people pulling a rope. Since there were several people involved, it was a scene where our entire family, including the children, happened to be at home. Some were wearing raincoats, and we all pulled the rope while he sketched the poses to capture the details of the hands.”
 
    Additionally, to ensure the paintings are rich and authentic, Li Shengmao borrowed everyday tools used at work, such as toolkits and bamboo ladders, to perfectly capture the scenes of Taiwan Power Company employees diligently repairing equipment. This adds dramatic tension to his works, which already possess the rhythmic beauty of ink wash painting.
 
    Even as an amateur painter, Li Shengmao approaches his work with great rigor. He pays meticulous attention to every detail of gestures and movements, never allowing himself to be careless when putting brush to paper.
 
    As a result, not only did everyone in the Li family serve as models, but Li Shengmao himself often donned Taiwan Power Company uniforms and stood in front of a mirror, smiling, all to capture the most authentic moment.
 
    Li Shengmao said, “While my colleagues were asleep, I secretly went to the studio to take a round shovel and a cross shovel, practicing in front of the mirror and smiling foolishly. The mirror understands my heart best. Finally, the painting ‘Glory in the Rain’ was submitted to the Tainan City Art Exhibition and received an excellent award, giving me great confidence afterward.”
 
Illuminating Taiwan, Seeing Taipower
    To convey the round-the-clock, rain-or-shine maintenance work of Taiwan Power Company, Li Shengmao's Taiwan Power Company series primarily uses gray and black tones, with sleek and fluid brushstrokes to outline the lines. The delicate contours of the characters' faces still bear the influence of early comic strips. Upon closer inspection, one can discern that each character's expression and demeanor are distinct, with their movements harmoniously intertwining.
 
    The realistic depiction of tools and equipment further brings to life the figures of Taiwan Power Company employees toiling under heavy rain, strong winds, thick fog, late nights, and blazing sun, their sweat dripping down their faces, all vividly brought to life under his brush.
 
    “I still remember the first time I climbed a power pole nearly 20 meters tall, equivalent to five stories, and my legs couldn't help but tremble,” Recalling the details of his work over the years, Li Shengmao said that after years of training, he has developed the climbing skills of a “spiderman” in the movies, and no power pole is too high for him. These thrilling power distribution scenes have become the inspiration for his paintings.
 
    Li Shengmao paints scenes of himself and his colleagues working tirelessly across Taiwan, climbing mountains and crossing seas to lay power lines. His unique style has made him Taiwan's first amateur ink painter to depict power line workers repairing electricity on utility poles.
 
    With nearly 40 years of experience in power maintenance at Taiwan Power Company, coupled with his long-term service in the outskirts of Tainan, Li Shengmao's painting subjects are diverse and nostalgic. From high-voltage towers in remote mountains to power lines along coastal fishing villages, and the early days when transformers weighing over a hundred pounds were transported by shoulder or bamboo rafts, all these scenes have become the material for his paintings. The following are a few examples, each of which contains many intriguing stories about the hardships and joys of being a frontline maintenance worker at Taiwan Power Company. This work was Li Shengmao's first entry in the Tainan County Art Exhibition. It depicts Taiwan Power Company maintenance workers carrying electrical buckets through muddy terrain in the mountains after a heavy rain, rendered in cool blue and green tones.

   
    In the painting, one can see workers using bamboo poles to carry transformers and electrical barrels weighing over 100 pounds on their shoulders. Although this scene is now rare, in the early days, power distribution lines were mostly installed in remote mountainous areas inaccessible to vehicles, with no well-maintained asphalt roads, only muddy paths that were difficult to traverse.
 
    All maintenance equipment and tools had to be manually carried by Taiwan Power Company maintenance personnel. For example, transformers weighed approximately 100 kilograms, with some as heavy as 400 kilograms, often requiring three or four people working together to lift them.
 
    Moreover, when power outages occurred and repairs were needed, it was often after natural disasters such as typhoons, making road conditions even more treacherous than usual: raging streams, mud up to knee-deep, and scattered boulders. Simply transporting the equipment to the fault location could take half a day or more—these were unforgettable experiences that Li Shengmao had personally endured.
 
    One incident that left a particularly deep impression on him was when a transformer broke down in the remote mountains of Zuozhen. The Taiwan Power Company repair crew entered the mountains to carry out repairs. That day, the weather was unbearably hot, and they had to carry a transformer weighing hundreds of kilograms, walking and stopping intermittently, drenched in sweat. By the time they arrived, everyone was exhausted, with dry throats, and could only swallow saliva to quench their thirst.
 
    A young maintenance worker joked, “There's a stream right beside us; I wish we could just let the transformer float down the stream to the mountain below!” Of course, this was just a joke, but it clearly illustrates the hardships faced by Taipower's frontline maintenance workers. Without firsthand experience, it is something that outsiders can only imagine. Fortunately, Li Shengmao's ink paintings serve as a record, allowing the public to gain a glimpse into their lives. This work depicts the scene of manually lifting transformers and electrical drums onto power poles for repairs.

   
    As mentioned earlier, in the past, power lines were often located in remote mountain areas inaccessible to crane trucks. As a result, transformers had to be manually lifted using lever hoists to a height of 2–3 stories on power poles.
 
    Typically, a senior maintenance team leader would first climb the pole to dismantle the damaged transformer, while other maintenance workers operated the lever hoist to replace it. As seen in the painting, one person is operating the lever hoist at the lower left, while another is holding the electrical drum with a rope at the lower right to prevent accidents.
 
    The blank space at the top of the painting and the stark contrast with the trees below emphasize the danger of working on the tall power poles.
 
    However, for Li Shengmao and his colleagues responsible for emergency power repairs, none of this matters. Their sole wish is to quickly restore the power lines so that residents can have electricity as soon as possible. He still remembers when the power went out in a mountainous area where a duck farmer lived. He received the report and entered the mountainous area with two colleagues to repair the power lines. It was around 10 p.m.

 
    Since the power outage occurred along a mountain path with no streetlights, and it was rainy and slippery, the shadows made Li Shengmao feel even more frightened and anxious.
 
    The main repair site was a duck farm. Without electricity at night, the ducks might trample each other to death, causing significant losses for the owner. Therefore, Li Shengmao and his team had to locate the fault and complete the repairs that night.
 
    In the pitch-black mountain at night, the repair crew fearlessly climbed the power poles, using the dim light from their flashlights to carefully inspect each pole and wire, making sure not to miss anything.
 
    After a night of hard work climbing and checking, they finally discovered that the fault was caused by fallen bamboo that had collapsed and damaged the power lines.
 
    After the issue was resolved, power was restored, and not only could the ducks enjoy the warm light again, but the owner was also overjoyed and expressed his gratitude to Li Shengmao and his colleagues. Although the work was arduous and dangerous, the three felt satisfied and fulfilled for having completed this challenging repair task. This story is about a senior team leader who is about to retire from the Taiwan Power Company service station where Li Shengmao works.

 
    On the eve of his retirement, the foreman sat leisurely with his legs crossed on the transformer, wearing his Taiwan Power Company uniform and work boots. In his left hand was his well-worn work cap, and in his right hand, he held a cigarette.
 
    Recalling his younger days climbing power poles in wind and rain to repair circuits, from his youth to his gray-haired years, the ups and downs of over 40 years of work brought back bittersweet memories.
 
    Li Shengmao recalled when he first joined the distribution service team, his mentor told him he had been with Taipower for 28 years. Little did he know that, in the blink of an eye, he too had spent nearly 40 years with the company! This painting must resonate deeply with most senior maintenance staff at Taipower.
 
Tough as nails, yet full of warmth
    From Li Shengmao's robust laughter, sturdy build, and the childlike excitement in his eyes when discussing his artwork, it is hard to believe he is already in his fifties.
 
    In his conversations, one can not only sense his passion for painting and his diligent, down-to-earth personality but also deeply feel his concern for people and the world around him.
 
    Upon joining Taiwan Power Company, he was assigned to a service office near Tainan. Over the past 30 years, his responsibilities have been diverse, including power construction, troubleshooting, shift work, and other related tasks. From the early days of reading electricity meters and collecting bills to the current task of collecting overdue payments, all fall within his scope of duties.
 
    Before the establishment of the electricity bill payment system and the outsourcing of meter reading services, Li Sheng-mao often had to visit households in nearby mountainous areas to read meters and collect payments. Although this work was less physically demanding than repairs, it still required time and effort to traverse rugged terrain.
 
    Li Shengmao, who is known for his diligent and responsible nature, would meticulously visit each household, even those in remote mountainous areas where access was difficult for vehicles, to read meters and collect payments, fearing that the meter readings might be inaccurate.
 
    Li Shengmao, who is polite and kind to others, has developed a close bond with his customers, akin to friends or family. In fact, he met his wife, whom he has been married to for over 20 years, through his work reading electricity meters!
 
    Additionally, Li Shengmao recalls a New Year's Day when he voluntarily gave a red envelope to an elderly woman living in the mountains, bringing her great joy.
 
    Later, these services were outsourced, and he no longer had the opportunity to visit the elderly woman. Surprisingly, ten years later, he happened to meet the old lady's daughter-in-law while she was working in the city. She mentioned that the old lady was now over 90 years old; though her memory had faded, she still often thought about the “electricity bill collector” who had given her the red envelope back then. This touched Li Shengmao deeply, as a small red envelope had greatly bridged the gap between people.
 
    Due to his impoverished upbringing, Li Shengmao developed a warm and compassionate heart, enabling him to empathize with customers facing financial difficulties.
 
     When collecting electricity bills, he does not use the standard cold and rigid collection stamps but instead writes each notice by hand in a polite tone. On one occasion, when he encountered an elderly person who could not read, Li Shengmao utilized his artistic talent to draw a pair of scissors and a light bulb with wires on the collection notice, indicating that the electricity would be cut off if payment was not made.
 
    The next day, the elderly man immediately went to the service center to inquire and make the payment, successfully completing the collection task. This demonstrates that Li Shengmao's warm and caring nature not only influences every user he interacts with but is also clearly evident in his artwork.
 
Using art to advocate for all workers
    Currently, there are over 20 works related to the Taiwan Power Company series. Since 2003, Li Shengmao has held several solo exhibitions and participated in competitions, winning numerous awards.
 
    However, to refine his painting skills, he began studying at the Department of Fine Arts at Chang Jung Christian University on weekends starting in 2007. Balancing his busy academic and work schedules was like burning the candle at both ends, often sleeping only three or four hours a day. For Li Shengmao, this lifestyle was something he embraced wholeheartedly.
 
    In 2011, he became more familiar with other forms of artistic creation besides ink painting, such as oil painting and clay sculpture, and successfully graduated. Wearing his graduation gown and receiving his diploma, he felt that all his efforts had been worthwhile.
 
    When talking about the future, Li Shengmao does not have any unrealistic dreams. He just wants to take one step at a time, do his job at Taiwan Power Company well, and, at the same time, turn his passion into artistic creation.
 
    In terms of subject matter, while continuing to expand his Taiwan Power Company series, Li Shengmao hopes to follow in the footsteps of miner painter Hong Ruilin, broadening his creative scope to encompass all working-class individuals and authentically documenting the hardships of various professions.

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