Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

A few sketches I did when traveling on the train in Spain weeks ago. I really enjoyed people watching there, wish everyone could be my model. Today I planned to paint at the San Mateo Memorial Park. My car GPS didn't give the location, I only could follow Google maps, started all in red on the high way 280. Turned on the route 84, everything looked so beautiful through the dappled sunlight, especially all the tall redwoods. I enjoyed driving on the winding roads, thought that my driving skill has definitely improved since I had started doing Plein Air. An accidentally-killed dead deer's half body was left on the roadside. Inside the mountains, Google maps asked to make U turns a couple times, I knew I hadn't arrived, didn't follow. It was my first time to be at this location and I finally arrived to a sign announcing that the park was closed due to a high fire situation. Bummer... Of course it was reasonable since the Sonoma big fire hasn't been put down yet.

“This was Venice, the flattering and suspect beauty - this city, half fairy tale and half tourist trap, in whose insalubrious air the arts once rankly and voluptuously blossomed, where composers have been inspired to lulling tones of somniferous eroticism.” I am not sure who wrote it, but I felt the same when I was there. There are some my watercolor paintings to express the beauty of Venice: Here is link for viewing my watercolor gallery:  http://xueling-zou.artistwebsites.com/art/all/watercolors Or join me at: FaceBook Instagram Twitter Pinterest

We traveled from Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Chichicastenango, Xela, Coban, Flores, Tikal, Rio Dulce, and Livingston for 14 days in Guatemala last year, because the airline ticket was on sale. We did not even have more than 10 words in Spanish, and you can imagine it was not an easy trip especially during the low season. Guatemala really is a beautiful country! Unfortunately, what we saw was how hard the people have been working since they were still very young. Making a living is very tough for most families. Everywhere we went, the local kids surrounded me and called me "China, China,..." in Spanish! I wish I was able to understand a little bit more about what they tried to say. They were so friendly to me, and very deeply touched my heart...Like most of Chinese, I am not afraid eating and trying all kinds of food. Because we faced a lot of stresses with language barrier, all the bus connections, which were never on schedule and our traveler's checks did not work or