Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

Beautiful weather and went back to the Rose Garden in San Jose with a group of locacale artists.  This 5.5–acre Municipal Rose Garden is in full bloom with thousands of roses. It is named "America's Best Rose Garden." I have been here to paint a couple of times as I remember.  I hesitated to decide what to paint in such a lovely place.  I did a water fountain painting and the flowers arches before.   Saw another artist passing by, after chatting a little bit with her, I made up my mind to paint the artches again, and put her into my work. It still felt a little chilly in the shade while I was painting.  Another painter I just met named Allen was giving me a little feedback.  Always nice to hear other's opions. I wonder why I feel tired easier, the pollen made my eyes itchy and sensitive, and my whole body was fighting with it even though I was well protected with mask and sunglasses.  Finished around noon.  (May 13 2024)

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...

Drove through a narrow winding road to the location, I could see this beatiful Santa Clara Valley scene from the hill this fine morning. My first time painting at this location, though I had been there several times before, hiking or just passing by.   I didn't see the old barn that I wanted to paint; it was supporse to be nearby. Found a spot at the shore of the Grand Lake and painted next to an other local artist who was working with oil media. Old oak trees in the distance, California poppies were blooming on the hills, birds singing and catching each other, frogs in the lake... Such a gorgeous spring time, but I knew it was not my typical scene to paint.  Finished the work, walked around chatted with the other artists. Actually,  I found the old barn really was not far from where we were painting, have to come back again. (April 29 2024)