Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

Went to the beautiful Sikh Gurdwara located in South San Jose. My second time going there, not for Plein Air, this time I wanted to try drawing people indoors. The kitchen opened and served food when I arrived. I wore my black hat with a scarf over my head and shoulders.  Found a carpet to sit down on, where I could a better view of other people, mostly Indian I think.   I haven't practiced drawing people with clothes on for a long time, had noticed that Indian clothes were harder for me to draw since I never wear them, have no clue how everything connects on the body. And drawing professional models no matter for 2 minutes, 5 minutes or longer, they are trained not move.  But those people came to kitchen for food and socializing.  They moved their the hands, bodies, heads all the time, and never stop.   I had to draw them by memorizing.  Lucky I brought my favorite brush pen, it helped me draw better after I found it in my bag. A guy came out of kitchen and asked me what I was d

It was a beautiful and warm day, first time I drove to this amazing Sikh Gurdwara in San Jose up in the middle of the hills after passing downtown San Jose.  From Google Search: The Sikh Gurdwara of San Jose is a gurdwara located in the Evergreen district of San Jose, California. It was founded in 1984 by leaders of the then-rapidly growing community of Sikhs in the area. It is the largest Gurdwara in the world outside of India. I could spot the domes through the trees on my way up the hill, the Gurdwara is nestled in the hills and I  really wanted to stop along the roadside to paint it from a distance, but I kept driving up to the location. When I arrived, I saw three generations of families in traditional dress, woman wearing beautiful saris and men wearing turbans together with their children.  While I was there, I walked around and got to say "hi" to some new and old artist friends.  I found a nice spot to the side and started working.  Took a long time to finish because

Painted Plein Air for the first time in a while, I really missed it. Today I went to Carmelite Monastery Santa Clara CA to paint this church building, which has been on my mind for a long time. It was a peaceful place, only saw a few people, including a nun who walked into the church from the side door. Drawing the architecture took me for a while, then painted the clouds with care. Because we don't usually have clouds besides during winter. Not much light and contrast. Then spent a lot of time for the details on the building. After that I realized that the details were too small and there wasn't any reason to include them in my Plein air work. Church bell rang twice during the time I painted there, it brought a lot peace. Hope it expends to the whole world....

Went to the historic monastery church this morning. Painted outside this beautiful place twice last year. I drove into the quiet place, planned to paint the church architecture, but instead I found a lovely house behind it. Just because the morning light was gorgeous, shone on the pink color fence, even the garbage bin and the shadow was kind of the object I was in the mood for. Painted it loosely, the church bell rang after my painting was done. (January 27 2022)

I was a little bit behind schedule, arrived the location about 10:40 AM. This was a place I wanted to painted for a long time. It was closed to the public since the pandemic. Happy to see the gate was open, but I decided to paint the front gate. The neighborhood was quiet in the morning. I was standing in the walkway in front of the house under a tree. The lady lived in the house was nice, she was busy in and out. First drove her car back with groceries. I guessed another women was her daughter and grand daughter. Then put her helmet on and went bicycling nearby. Later, she and a guy went for a walk. They both were not young, how could she have so much energy? Each time she was checking out my painting. The bell rang many times, the sound brought my feeling back to the old days. I painted until a guy came out to close the gate, and the road started to get busier. Before finished up, the nearby restaurant owner came by to introduce himself and see my work. He told me tha

Happy Mother's Day! Especially for those loving and caring for others unconditionally! Went to paint at the Japan town a little late this morning, just wanted to be close to a temple or a church for saying a prayer for my ancestors, especially for my two grandmothers and my father, since I couldn't visit their graveyard for the tomb sweeping day in China. Found a shady spot across the street, started to paint and think... Because of the COVID-19, I haven't see my old mother for two years now. Mother's Day is coming, even though I have my vaccination done, I still am not allowed to go to see her in China. Then I started felt quite sad about my situation... A guy came by and told me that he saw me crossing the street this morning and wondering what I was doing. Seemed like people were quite alert regarding their neighborhood. Saw two red-vested people walk by, looked like they were helping older people walk around. Before I finished my work, one of ladies wearing a red ve

It was a beautiful Easter Friday, I thought that I should paint something related to the Easter spirit. Suddenly I remembered that I wanted to painting this old historic building each time I passed by for many years.  Drove to the location, just couldn't find a good angle in front of the Adult School to set up.  Either it was in the drive way, too close to it.  There was a bus stop there, I saw the building angle I wanted to paint, but I had to see it through through a honey comb kind of block wall.  It was challenging, I had to walk a couple steps to see better because there was a young tree, a car and a trash can all in a row, not to mention the "bee hive" wall.  Well, it took me a little bit longer, but I did it on this lovely Easter Day.  (April 2 2021)

Sister Wendy Beckett (born 25 February 1930) is a Catholic nun, who was born in South Africa and educated in Oxford where she was awarded a first class degree in English literature. She has lived a life of solitude for almost thirty years on the grounds of a monastery in England. I never knew about Sister Wendy until I started painting in 2001. Our local library carries a very decent amount of books and DVDs. So, I go there and check them out often, I have found many art resources. I did not pay too much attention to the stories behind each masterpiece before. I was more interested in learning the composition or techniques, etc. One day, I saw Sister Wendy on a cover of a DVD in the art section and just out of curiosity I brought it back home to watch. That was the most remarkable experience I had ever had. I was totally moved by her eloquence and charm, her profound spirit, her passion in art, her rich knowledge and outstanding description of sharing her views on each masterpiece

Knocking on Heaven's Door I saw this nun walking against the beautiful ruined wall the day I just arrived Antigua, Guatemala in February 2010. So, I followed her in the street and took 2 photos. I painted it after I came back my stedio. The title was inspired by one of the most famous song of Bob Dylan's. Because the way she knocked was very mysterious. Confess...  This is the story of how I was inspired to paint "Confess..." When visiting the extraordinary ruins at Qoricancha (Golden Temple) in Cusco Peru, I followed a guy entering a huge gate into a quiet area, I found myself in the beautiful baroque church of Santa Domingo (I found out later). First I saw a statue of the praying Virgin Mary, illuminated and radiant in front of the alter; second, I turned around and saw many golden arches with painted angels near the ceiling. At the same time I realized that a few workers were doing minor construction. Third, I heard a loud voice in Spanish I couldn't un

To me that it is a long process to get involved in creating art and at the same time gaining balance in life! There are some art works I have done and the stories behind them I would love to share with you in this blog. Art, like dance, music, painting, poetry, sculpture and visual art really can help ourselves, others, community and the earth to heal. If our body, mind, spirit are out of balance, we all can get great benefit from doing art, it really depends on what we have the most passion to do! Religion and the spirit world probably began about 50,000 years ago. Religion is considered to be a universal cultural trait, common to all human cultures worldwide right throughout the history of humanity. ST Patricia This icon I copied from one of Ravenna's splendid mosaics. I love being creative, so I named it as 'St Patricia', because the dark color hair, long nose, big eyes and the sharp chin look just like my mother-in-law, who is half Italian, but she has beautiful gree