Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

Haven't painted outdoors as often as I used to do, instead spent a lot of time working on figurative painting in studio. Today I decided only drive10 miles to find a spot to paint, that way I could save a little more time instead of driving on the road. It was another factory I planned to paint for a long time. Parked my car in an apartment building next to the 7-eleven, though it wasn't a quiet spot. Many trucks drove by, airplanes flew ahead, pollution was in the air. I didn't even remember to bring my mask... After a while, I started to think positively how lucky I was to be here to paint.  Some people in other countries have to suffer from a war, they must be terrified...(February 25 2022 )

Went to the historic monastery church this morning. Painted outside this beautiful place twice last year. I drove into the quiet place, planned to paint the church architecture, but instead I found a lovely house behind it. Just because the morning light was gorgeous, shone on the pink color fence, even the garbage bin and the shadow was kind of the object I was in the mood for. Painted it loosely, the church bell rang after my painting was done. (January 27 2022)

Happy Thanksgiving! "The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see."— Mary Davis Checked my emails in the morning, one of my retuning collectors said "Thanks again! The painting arrived already today. It’s really lovely!!! My husband loves it. We haven’t decided yet where exactly in our living room to hang it but for now it’s visiting the other one (attached)" Wow, it only took five days in the mail for this painting to travel from Silicon Valley to England. I was very happy to see my two old works next to each other.  The small piece was not created yet when the larger one had moved to its England's home.  The larger piece she frame perfectly to fit my vision when I created this contemporary painting.   She reminded me that tomorrow would be the Thanksgiving Day. Decided not to go out painting, though it was a nice day. Cleaned up the house, prepared a duck instead of turkey for tomorrow. Went out and had a simple sandwich lunch with my husband. We chatted abou

Such gorgeous weather, about 70 degrees with no wind. Went to Almaden Valley, found this old barn to paint. I did one at the same location in May this year. and did another one during the summer in 2017. Slowly I have made some progress in my work. I like this spot, felt very peaceful. Next time I will try to add in figures, and will paint loosely. Just ordered more watercolor papers, the price increased again... (November 22 2021)

Good news! One of my original oil paintings on canvas has found a new home.  Today I packed it up  carefully, and mailed it to one of my returning collectors in United Kingdom.   Didn't go out to paint for several days. I told myself that I should paint outdoors one painting at least. But it was a gray day mostly. In the afternoon sun was out for a short while, the light and shadows contrasted and were very interesting at the location. Forgot that my original idea was to paint the water fountain, so I did a quick painting of the house and the front yard. Maybe I will add in little details later, because the watercolor paper won't dry at the location, and it was getting dark so quick... (November 19 2021) This original oil on canvas " Ukulele and Hibiscus Flower on a Hawaii Beach "has found a new home, prints are available.

“Creativity takes courage” – Henri Matisse  November 1 - Day 1 I was quite lucky to get an invitation to join the Capitola Plein Air Event, which I always wanted to join, but it didn't fit into my schedule in the past. Felt excited and checked the weather report constantly, but that didn't help to clear the rain. Arrived there in the morning, met the friendly volunteers, and Laurie the event chair, she was very helpful and made each detail super clear to me! Then Al checked in. He knew Capitola quite well, showed me a couple of places that had the great views. So thankful to him! After I drove to Shadowbrook Restaurant, it hadn't opened yet. I thought that I might paint there under the cover of the roof. An elegantly dressed lady told me that I had to call the restaurant manager, etc. So instead I started painting the front of the restaurant from under a tree with my trunk door open in the parking lot. Rain was slowing down a little bit. Another artist came and we met, she