Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

It seems that the rainy season is over.  The spring blosomes are beatiful but my allergies are back.  Carefully I started painting outdoors.  The campus of Santa Clara University looked gorgeous, painting the the old mission Adobe wall was on my mind. I guessed that the students and professers were in classes.  Quietly, I found a shady spot to set up my gear.  Started with a thumbnail for a black and white study, than proceeded to my work. Once in a while people passed by.  Roughly finished the painting, I will be back again soon. (April 18 2024)

Nice weather in the afternoon, I wanted to do something different and escape from my current "bottleneck" situation. But I realized half way to the location that I didn't bring my tripod. Lucky it was not far away to go back and get it. All the students were on school vacation, so it was perfect timing to paint on the campus.  And the winter lighting is always especially beautiful. Found a corner of the garden and noticed that one side looked more complicated than the other one.  I chose the easier side to paint, and focused on a monochromatic expression to see what could make it look different.  In the end I added a small amount of color to certain objects, my work really looked different.   I decided to stop, but might continue this way of practicing... Started the new year without any resolutions, but frustration that I won't able have my home studio time undisturbed, I can not get 30 minutes of meditation time in. No one is perfect for sure. Who likes having...

I didn't want to miss another nice day, and went back to the same place where I painted last week. But I moved the position of the scene a little further away so I was able to paint the pink building of the Carmelite Monastery, and the super-blooming oleanders. After setting up my work gear, I saw the red truck parking at the same spot I had missed to paint last week. I really had a moment and wanted to paint it again. I saw a senior guy pass by pulling a wagon when I started on my work. Hours later he came back again with his wagon almost full and asked if he could have a peak at my work. Of course I told him, and we introduced ourselves to one and other.  His name was Hall, and he lived nearby. Shopping with a wagon, what a great idea and healthy way to go about it. (June 29 2023)

I was attracted by the red truck and the bougainvillea flowers hanging on the wall, the color combination matched well at the parking lot of the adult school. Found a shady spot and started to draw a small sketch first. It was a lovely afternoon. Didn't check the weather carefully, and I forgot that it isn't easy to paint outdoors when it is windy. A lady was passing by, and told me that there was a painting class if I wanted to learn. She must be a passionate educator I thought. And she said that an art instructor taught two classes, one in watercolor, the other one was acrylic. I told her that I would love to pass the info if anyone I know would like to learn. But I didn't mentioned that I would write it in my blog. Because there are hundreds of visitors that visit my blog daily. Another thing I should know better after years' outdoor painting experience, is that I should paint unpredictable subjects that can move without notice, like the truck LOL...(June 20 ...

I didn't go out painting last week, because of the dog day week. There were several painting location ideas in my mind this morning, so I drove the car to check out some locations. Non of them worked, might be the gray morning. So, I set my work station up in front of the catholic church so I could paint the old adobe building.  Spent a long time drawing.  I saw a guy was standing in front of the campus wall.  He stood there for a long time, I was able to draw him into my work. I always could get inspired by the beautiful campus at Santa Clara university. There was a construction nearby, I could hear the loud noise. A lady carried a child walked by asking me for directions, felt bad that I could not help. Later a Mexican gardening guy came blowing leaves by the church. He was kind and tried to avoid the area where I was painting. Took much longer to finish and it was getting hot around noon. (September 12 2022)

Planned to paint at Brisbane marina today, but it looked like it would be too windy there. So many other places that I had in my mind to go painting, but unfortunately my car wasn't charged. Instantly, St Clare Parish popped up inside my head, because I'd painted there once before during one of the coldest days of winter, wanted to paint there again on a nice day. Arrived there, but just was not ready to do it. Saw one person running by the side entrance of Santa Clara University. That was interesting so then I set up and painted at the same spot, but in a different angle.  The church bell rang, I guess it was around noon, and it started getting quite windy, hurriedly I finished it up. I have noticed that I can't paint the way I want if my mind is set on painting something else. Painting skill really does take so long to develop, and as a creative person like me switching media is still critical. All I know is keeping practice... (May 25 2021)

Challenging weather to start my first Plein Air painting of the year. Gray, cold and wet, my hands were frozen when I was drawing and painting. Not sure it effected my brain too, I didn't follow my small sketch to paint. And I moved things around, liked the trees, etc. A student passed by, took a photo while I was struggling with my painting on the campus on such a wet cold day. Glad that I left earlier though as I caught a glimpse of the sun which appeared briefly. Finally it rained but I had already packed up and left. (January 6 2021)

Our raining season is coming soon, after that I usually have allergies for half a year for outdoors. Another gorgeous day I didn't want to miss. Went to one of my favorites locations - Santa Clara University, which is famous for the old Mission and the beautiful landscaping, not to mention it is very good private college. The old Mission wall and Spanish style buildings were eye catching on a nice day like today. It is always feels like a present each time I come to visit the campus. Painted a couple of times on the campus as well. Today's challenging part was the position I stood was very close, nowhere to backup further. Enjoyed the peacefulness, and got my painting done.

It had been raining for days. Finally I could be out painting. Came to Santa Clara University to paint the old mission. I used to live nearby it, came to walk around very often. Did a sketch and painted on my new watercolor block. I think that just because I am so familiar with this school, my work looked OK. Peaceful and quite. Only saw a few people. Suddenly big raindrops started falling, so I had to pack and run

It was gray, not a cold day. Beautiful campus at the old mission Santa Clara. I didn't realize that school started already. It took me a while to park my car. I had been to this campus many times, so I found a lovely spot to paint. Some flowers were blooming already, the trumpet flowers and palm trees in front of my eyes. Everything looked great, but I needed to go to the restroom. I tried not think about it and focused on painting. This natural physical challenge was not easy work around... I would finish this painting at my studio. Please visit my online galleries @  https://xueling-zou.pixels.com/