Tsao Peng-yao (Henry) was born in Shanghai and arrived in Canada in 1967. He received his B.Sc. in Mathematics (Honours) from the University of British Columbia and completed all the course requirements for the M.Sc. program in Applied Mathematics. In 1976, he received his postgraduate degree in Accounting. It wasn't until after he became a Chartered Accountant that Henry began his pursuit of drawing and painting. Self-taught, Henry began to paint seriously. He continues to draw and paint in his favorite medium, watercolour.

An Associate member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, his work was selected for the FCA Traveling Show as well as many juried exhibitions. He had many group exhibitions in various art galleries, including:

  • Waterside Gallery, Richmond, BC (1991)

  • C.J. Herman’s Gallery, Vancouver, BC (1992, 93, 94)

  • Hong Kong Festival, Vancouver, BC (1992)

  • Wilsden Gallery, Courtney, BC (1995)

  • Asian Centre, University of British Columbia, “Impressions by Ten” (1997)

During the year 1995 and 1996, Henry was the President of the Community Arts Council of Richmond. In the same year, he was also the Chairman of the Richmond Public Arts Policy Steering Committee.

Happily retired, Henry now lives with his wife, Elizabeth, in beautiful British Columbia, where he continues to paint in his spare time.