Fleeting Moments in Life Never Repeating

“What i like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.”   ― Karl Lagerfeld

As much as I enjoy painting, photography is one of my favorite things to do.  Not because I have to collect enough images for my original art, also I think digital media gives us more creative space, with such a wide range of tools available for self-expression, we should update our skills, and be creative as much as possible.  So get your camera ready.


During shopping time, I carry my camera sometimes too.  I asked this young lady if I could capture a photo of this cute puppy Chihuahua in her hand, of course she was happy and I was able to keep this lovely photo.

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I was looking for a laundromat when I traveled in Mexico.  These two dogs suddenly were running in front me.  I captured their adventure by holding my camera with one hand, the other hand was still carrying my dirty laundry...

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Sometime we might not capture the subjects we planned to.  Weather could be one of the issues, or there might not be the perfect light or shadows to contrast the subject.  Timing and environment could effect the result too... many times I've found it really depends on one's luck.


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I know that I have missed so many amazing moments which I would have captured if possible. For that reason I love to have my camera handy.  It doesn't mean that we have to leave where we live either; some lucky moment could be just nearby in our daily life, really!  They do not have to be just the perfect timing capture or a challenging shot.  They might be the little details which many of us would rarely pay attention to but which make an image interesting and unique. Remember that the fleeting moment in life is rarely repeating, so keep your camera handy.

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For example, I wanted to photograph this Swallowtail Butterfly for over a year.  Though she flies around our neighborhood, I never saw her rest.  Maybe I didn't have the plant she liked.  One day, after I taking photos of my paintings outdoors, I thought I should bring the garbage bin and recycle bin back in from the front street, so I didn't have to have another trip later.  Before I pulled in the bins, I saw this butterfly just landing on a plant nearby the street.  Very lucky I had my camera with me, and I captured this beautiful insect which I wanted for so long.  Of course, the background was not pretty, I was able to fix it with one of my favorite softwares - Adobe PhotoShop CS5.

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The photo above was taken at a local pet store.  It inspired me to think out of the box(es) being an artist. Hope every artist can get the same inspiration:-)!

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In one exiting moment I saw and immediately snapped this photo of a bird carrying food while walking on waterlily petals, when I was in a boat near Rio Dulce in Guatemala. I did research that this bird names as jacana.

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One day while exploring a beach of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, a very pretty topless village girl suddenly jumped in front of my camera and surprised me with her big sweet smile...

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It was so interesting what I saw nearby where I live! I had to capture it and share with everyone, again I had my camera handy during a lunch walk.

I have photographed many photos, and will keep posting them to share with others.  Please visit my online galleries at: http://xueling-zou.artistwebsites.com/galleries.html

Storytelling artist Xueling Zou who works in ♦️ watercolor & ♦️ oil mediums on ♦️ original art Plein Air paintings. Ship worldwide since 2010 @ https://about.me/xuelingzou@ about.me/xuelingzou or http://xueling-zou.pixels.com

Original Art Story

Original Art Story - The Colors of La Boca Argentina

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Colorful La Boca grew to become an Italian (mostly from Genoa) district of Buenos Aires, Argentina in a very short time in mid-19th-century. It used to be the area where Italian immigrants arrived, and settled in the poorest of conditions. Their houses were built by the leftover corrugated iron and other waste found in the nearby harbour and industry on the Riachuelo river. In order to make the neighbourhood more interesting, they decided to paint their houses in bright colors by using the leftover paint from boats - hence the many different colours that can be seen. Where first a small river flowed, the area that now is Caminito had tracks installed, and when those were not used anymore, this developed into an ugly, abandoned part of La Boca. There were several museums with paintings portraying its hard-working inhabitants in the shipyards and on the docks. Local artist Quinquela Martín painted the walls of the street, which now we know as Caminito (which means little path in Spanish)...
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Short-pose live male model drawings

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Always look forward to drawing nude models for their short poses. But I felt it was super challenging to draw this one. His body proportions were unique, long and slim. He posed in many twisty positions while standing, I only could try my best, many other artist said that they felt not easy to draw him too. Felt better by knowing I was not the only one that had a hard time. Hahaha... (April 26 2022)
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Paintings with Auspicious Symbols V - Peacocks 孔雀東南飛

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I was inspired by the Chinese traditional folk art style to create a couple of peacocks with eight peony-flowers oil painting on canvas recently, which I named "Peacocks Flying Southeast 孔雀東南飛". "Peacocks Flying Southeast" is well-known to Chinese and is a phenomenal poem in Chinese literary history. It is one of the collections of the Music Academy (YueFu) formed by the Han Dynasty (196—219 AD) courts to gather literary works created largely for the common people. It was about a tragic love story between a young couple, who promised to love each other forever. Perhaps the morbid mother-in-law could not stand the daughter-in-law coming between her and her son. Eventually she broke up the marriage when her son was working out of the town. The young couple’s dream and promise of living together was shattered. Both their families forced them to marry someone else. So this young couple took their own lives, fulfilling their commitment of love in a different world....
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The Old Man and The Sea - Original Watercolor

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This original watercolor painting was inspired by Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and The Sea.  It is one of my favorite watercolors, and a great gift for Father's Day. (Please click the image to enlarge) I read this book in Chinese a long time ago, then I read it again in English when I was studying in Australia. Back to my overseas studying time, I had to take the ferries from the place I lived to school each day for a while. Not mention the terrible home sick I had, the ending of relationship with my first boy-friend, when I struggled with every single little detail in life. But nothing could stop my love of the ocean and I enjoyed taking ferries on beautiful and stormy days. Watching the sun-rising or sun-setting, sailing by the magnificent city landscape and the awesome boats out on the sea, I promised myself that I knew I would overcome the difficulties... Years later, I started painting watercolors after moving to Bay Area in California, and the first one in m...
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Chinese Moon Festival II - A Classical Poem and Homesick 中秋节思乡

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Dream in the Night — Interpreted by Xu YuanChong Abed, I see a silvery light, I wonder if it's frost aground. Looking up, I find the moon bright; Bowing, in homesickness I'm drowned. 静夜思 — 李白 床前明月光， 疑是地上霜。 举头望明月， 低头思故乡。 (Please click the image to enlarge) This poem written by Li Bai (701 – 762) who was a major Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty poetry period  - China's "golden age" of classical Chinese poetry (  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Bai ). It was one of the first classical poems I was taught before my primary school. Of course, I would not know the meaning at that young age. The older I get and the farther I live from home, the deeper I feel this poem, which is more often appearing in my head. Hiding my tears used to be part my character. But now, I can no longer control it behind my eyes whenever I think of it... Another Mid-Autumn Festival is coming again, which is a popular lunar harvest festival celebrated by Chinese...
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Plein Air @ Allied Arts Guild Menlo Park CA

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I have been thinking to paint at this location for a while. Today was perfect weather for outdoor painters, and I went there to paint with other local artists. Such a gorgeous place.  Each time I had a  hard time deciding where to start my work.  I even went upstairs to see the whole garden from above.  Almost every angle was paintable. Actually, I saw a guy who was doing flower arrangment on his knees.  I asked for his permisssion to take photos. he told me that he did this each Wednesday.  I would love to paint him someday in my studio.  Finally, I decided to paint from a similar spot as my first time painting there. Just like many years ago, there was a class of younger age children singing.  Tlhe teacher kept repeating the same song over and over... I thought I could remember the song, but I only remember the "miao miao miao" of the cat... LOL Some artist started earlier, and some of them were fast painters, they started theirs a little bit e...
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Plein Air @ Jose Higuera Adobe Park Milpitas CA

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It has been unusually cold and rainy the past few days here. Decided to do a first Plein Air work in the month May. My first time visiting this historic park.  Only saw a few people, might be because of the cold and gray morning.  Found a spot and started my work.   I had to put an extra jacket on, and my work took a longer time to be dry enough for putting on the second and third layers.   Not the best work I've done, but it is a good start for the month. (May 10 2023) Or join me at: FaceBook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest
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Plein Air trip @ Carmel by the sea, CA

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Four-day-trip, it wasn't long, especially when we painted at the one of most beautiful places, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. Three artist friends together, we made progress from May 3 to May 6. It was a nice and clear afternoon when we checked in Hyatt Carmel Highlands - Hyatt Inn.  There was an amazing sunset view overlooking Big Sur Coast from our room every dawn.  Bought enough food from Safe Way.  We cooked and ate branches, and late dinners, went out painting about six hours each day.     Weather was unpredictable, it changes dramatically all the time, from warm sunny to windy foggy in one hour.   First day wasn't easy, didn't know how to handle the fast changes.  Then started to learn and improved...  I did two watercolor paintings, one sketch on the first day. After dinner, one of the artists suggested painted another still life after I arranged our food on the table. Next day, we painted at Garrapata State Park. T...
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Plein Air @ home before sunset Bay Area CA

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After a hot summer, suddenly the temperature dropped down, felt like autumn this week. This is scene I see daily. After over a decade I finally decided to paint it. Setting up my workstation, I just drew what I usually saw, then started to paint with watercolors. Because summer was still in my mind, I used a little too much water at the beginning, so the paper kept wet for a long time, especially after sunset. Liked the vegetation over the fence, it was the overrunning green. I thought it could be green plants climbing over the fence. I could not complete the painting, not only was the paper too wet, also I felt cold and it was getting dark. The next day, I did my final touch and finished it. Maybe try another one again in the future, such a convenient spot. (September 19 2024)
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Short-pose live male model drawings

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Seems that working in the studio and Plein Air outdoors are quite different in many ways. Went to Carmel Plein Air painting with my friends for four days, missed the last session for short-pose live model drawing. So I found that I had difficult time to draw. No matter two minutes, five minutes or ten minutes, I could not draw fast and correctly enough, didn't have time to draw a leg or arm. This model was good, he worked very hard, I saw his body shaking during the pose. Of course we all pay good tips to our models. (May 10 2022)
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