RENO, Nevada — Snow is falling and dangerous winds blasting through towering pine trees as a snowstorm hits the Sierra Nevada mountains near Lake Tahoe.

But artist Caroline "Rocky" Young, at work in her home studio in suburban Reno, doesn't let blizzards stop her from doing her work: creating beautiful paintings in the Chinese tradition of brushwork on silk — a technique more than 2,000 years old.

While the snow falls at her residence — situated in a neighborhood at an elevation of about 6,500 feet and surrounded by the Toiyabe National Forest — Young, a former Honolulu resident, is concentrating on her latest creation.

She is preparing for a monthlong show that celebrates Chinese New Year. It is set to begin Friday at the Kim Taylor Reece Gallery in Honolulu's Chinatown. (See sidebar for show schedule.) For the show, the Reece Gallery will also feature the works of Gary Hostallero, noted artist of Japanese and Chinese paintings of samurai, shogun and Hawaiian and Tahitian dancers.

Young, who lived in Honolulu for more than 20 years before moving to Reno in 1992, is recognized as a leading interpreter of Chinese legends, history and romantic themes. She says living in Hawai'i was paramount to becoming the artist she is today.

"Hawai'i will always have a special place in my heart," Young said. "People of Hawai'i gave me so much support, and still do. I could never forget them. Hawai'i is such an important part of what I am today."

In honoring the Year of the Rat, Young will be showing her new Children of the Chinese Zodiac, a 24-image series created in 2007.

"The children are fresh and spontaneous," she said. "I wanted to depict the fun-loving nature of kids with animals."

In addition to the Zodiac Children, she will exhibit a hand-embellished limited edition of "Moonrising," illustrating the tale of Chang O, the lady in the moon who becomes immortal.

Art collectors and critics have described Young's work as elegant, lyrical, harmonious and vibrant in color. She has invented her own style by blending the techniques and subjects of Chinese art and culture with the bright colors of the Western palette.

Reece, a fine-art photographer of hula, said Young depicts beautiful Chinese women and children in intricate detail. "It's really special to bring her in and share her work with the people of Honolulu," he said.

Young's paintings illustrate enchanting and sometimes mysterious Chinese myths, historical legends, great beauties, magical animals and heroic deeds.

"Through my art, I hope to help families discover the roots of their Chinese heritage," Young said. "So many generations have lost a part of their culture and their connection to these myths and historical tales."

Greg Escolta, owner of Escolta Fine Arts in Union City, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay Area, said: "Every painting she does is truly a masterpiece and is flawless." Representing Young's work for many years, the Escolta gallery specializes in Hawaiian, Polynesian and Asian fine art.

"Not only are her paintings beautiful, they are culturally and historically significant," he said.

Young's work is represented by several galleries and has been featured in various exhibitions, one-woman shows and hundreds of private and corporate collections. Her paintings are in the permanent collections of The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana and the Pacific Asian Museum in Pasadena.

Although established in Nevada, Young said Hawai'i is where she had her most important years. "Hawai'i is home to me," she said, noting that many family members and friends live in Honolulu, and she visits often.

As in one of the tales she illustrates, Young was born with her own twist of fate. At a few days old, in February 1952, she was left on the doorstep of a Hong Kong missionary orphanage.

Eleven months later, a young Chinese-American couple, Thomas and Betty Young, searching for a child to adopt, went to the missionary orphanage. But a worker there had bonded with baby Caroline and hid her when prospective parents came to visit. As the Youngs were driving away, Betty's intuition told them to stop, saying she could hear her daughter's voice calling to her. They returned, and by then the worker had let Caroline out; the Youngs fell in love with her and adopted her.

Raised in Hong Kong, at an early age Caroline clearly had artistic talent and took lessons in Chinese brush painting.

At 19, she moved to Honolulu and earned an art degree at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. During her studies, she met Lam Oi Char, a Chinese brush- painting teacher who became her mentor and changed her course in life.

"She instilled in me the art of my own culture," Young said.

Hawai'i is where Young's career began and "everything came together," she said.

Art Sundays at Honolulu Zoo in 1977 served as her first experience for exhibiting her art. Her next exhibit was at Kahala Mall in the early 1980s. Images International of Hawai'i saw her work there and asked to represent her, a relationship that continued many years.

Young achieved her first years of success painting Japanese women in fine kimono. In the late 1980s, with the release of the film "The Last Emperor" and events such as the bicentennial celebration of the first Chinese to arrive in Hawai'i, Young's heart was captured by Chinese legendary and historical subjects.

"I fell in love with Chinese culture, and my work became much more meaningful," she said.

Painting in gongbi, or delicate brushwork, fills Young with a kind of serenity.

"Every day I get to do what I love and lose myself in the art," she said.

Working on a canvas laid flat on a large table, she holds two thick brushes in one hand, laying on bright color with one brush, and then blending in water with the other brush to achieve desired hues. She applies layer after layer of paint. Because the material is so delicate, the paint is difficult to control.

It typically takes three to six weeks for Young to finish one painting, working 10 hours a day. In addition to watercolors, she paints with acrylics and gouache, often mixing her own watercolors using inks and pigments from vegetable and mineral sources. She adds several other effects on limited-edition prints, such as gold foiling, embossing and hand-embellishing with crushed lapis, malachite and gold leaf.

To see a spectrum of Young's work, go to www.carolineyoung.com. Her images are also at Pictures Plus throughout the Islands, Maui Fine Arts and Ship Store Galleries on Kaua'i.

In Honolulu, some of her work is displayed at Ciao Mein restaurant in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, among other business locations.