Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

This painting took me so long to finish! I started painting it at the beginning of January this year, then I went back to China for a visit at the end of February. Coming back to my studio it was almost in May! I could not follow up with my own feeling to continue this piece. It did help me to complete this painting after I set myself a dead-line. Camogli (Camuggi in Genoese dialect) is a small Italian fishing village and tourist resort located on the west side of the peninsula of Portofino, on the Golfo Paradiso at the Riviera di Levante, in the province of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The former fishing village of Camogli, which now lives mainly from tourism, is known for its colorful houses that line behind the beach.The colors once helped the fishermen of Camogli, easier to catch the way back to their port.

This painting " Dreaming Beneath Umbrellas " is a contemporary interpretation on this classic Chinese Feng Shui symbol of protection. Chinese umbrellas are the earliest known umbrellas used, and have existed for over 2,000 years, where they subsequently spread across Asia. In the beginning, Chinese umbrellas were made of silk, and later paper umbrellas were created. The first waterproof umbrella Oil-paper umbrella (Chinese: 油紙傘) and the first collapsible umbrella were originated from China. Eventually, paper parasols came to be associated with nobility and other high ranking officials. According to legend, at one time, 24 paper umbrellas were carried before the Emperor to protect him from the sun while hunting. The frames of most umbrellas in China were and are made from bamboo or mulberry bark, for protecting people from rain as well as sunlight. Some of them were painted too. In old days, the royal families typically carried red or yellow umbrellas while the common people

"Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature." ― Gerard de Nerval "Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning." ― Lydia M. Child "The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms. Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him." ― Auguste Rodin "Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul." ― Luther Burbank "Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and the hollyhock." ― Henry Ward Beecher

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)