Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

In the morning on the way back from my dentist, found this old factory warehouse surrounded by new buildings. Felt an urgent need to paint it, because it might be gone someday soon... I painted under the open air roof protecting machines and tools from the sun, so I kept moving to stay in the shade.  A bell rang once for several times in the distance, I couldn't detect where it came from. A guy drove by in a pick up truck and stopped next to where I was painting.  He politely asked me if he could help.  I told him that I was painting the buildings.  Seemed that he really understood as he said that we need to keep record of it before they were destroyed. All the land is getting more expensive in Silicon Valley. But this area looked so peaceful, there were orange orchards and this precious old part of a warehouse remaining.  A couple of private properties were hiding behind but I couldn't go in to see them.  (September 23 2022)

We had a couple days of rain which is not good for Plein Air. But I definitely appreciate the rain because of the shortage of water in California. The rain stopped and the clouds were very beautiful. I drove to the Sunnyvale train station, and could not find a suitable place to paint a landscape with the clouds and some building. Suddenly, I saw a water tower with interesting buildings surrounding it. Parked my car, it looked like a big factory. The water tower against the clouds looked very interesting. Set up my station and started drawing. A black security guy came to me asked what I was doing. I told him that I wanted to paint the water tower. etc. He asked me to move, because I was on the private property. I moved my station to the public walkway. Overheard him reporting back to his team that I was drawing the tower. Guessed it was OK after he left. Several workers were on their lunch break, they came by and gave me some compliment on my work. I was curious to see their name bad...

Weather report said that there was a storm coming today. The rain stopped this morning, I went out without a target for outdoor painting. Got lost in an industrial area nearby the airport, instantly I saw many interesting subjects to paint. But it wasn't easy to find a parking spot. I painted next to a camper parked on the sidewalk. The person owned it really made it looked like a home. There was a solar panel connected, and there were garden stuff, like potted plants, outdoor cook etc.  The clouds looked very unique, but they were not easy to paint on such a gray day.   Many airplanes flew overhead making a very loud sound, I wondered when I could get started traveling again?  After my work was done, I packed and it started  raining again.  Felt lucky that my painting and I didn't get a single drop, perfect timing without knowing in advance, lol...

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 )

Time flies so fast, many factories in Silicon Valley have closed down and moved to overseas.  Now there are only a few left. They look more interesting to me since I started Plein Air painting outdoors,  I found one and painted it from the across street. I didn't realize that Lafayette St was quite busy, many cars, most of them trucks passing by. Happy to see everything is quickly recovering. Before I would not have smelled the strong pollution. But allergies have blocked my nose, so I couldn't smell anything. I took the fence out in front of the buildings (and the big street and box blocking the view), and moved a couple things around in my painting.  I thought the steam was cool coming out of the chimneys. Light was too straight to shine on the buildings, I think I will be back to paint at a different time next time. I remember that my husband picked me up at the SFO with a bunch of fresh red roses twenty years ago. On the drive back to the South bay, I saw several ...

Stuck at home, still shocked by the breaking news. What has happened to this country? It seems confused and unprecedented in at least American history and reminded me why I came and became a citizen of this country in the first place. What I learned about the Constitution of United States of America 1789, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."... tears in my eyes, I missed my family and friends back to my home country, covid-19 has made us further separated, don't even know when we will be able to see each other.. Sun came out in the afternoon, so I escaped all of the mayhem and ran out the door to paint. Found this unusual subject and layout for my composition. Quite a busy area, besi...

🌲Happy Holidays聖誕快樂! "Never let somebody's drama determine the outcome of your day." - Unknown What a drama! I wanted to paint the factory nearby the Intel Campus for a long time. I sold another painting "Santa Cruz Light House", planned to meet my client at noon. It seemed like a perfect combination as both activities were nearby one and other. Drove three times around the factory, couldn't find a good spot, but the white plumes came out from the chimney flying into the cold wind looked super cool, and it inspired me to paint on such a cold morning. I saw a business door was opened, walked in and asked if it was OK to use the restroom. A guy and a woman working there told me that there was a sign "No public restroom". I overlooked it of course and so I went to elsewhere, no big deal. Ended up I found a shady spot next to a parked car next to the fence, and started my work. I heard a loud female voice yelling and I turned around, saw the...