Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

My newly finished original oil painting on canvas, 36"x24"x1.5", "Jazz San Francisco", was inspired by Blues and Jazz musicians and their soulful music! I posted a basic drawing on Facebook before (https://www.facebook.com/zxling1). I am very lucky to live in the Bay Area, California.  Each year we could join many Music or Art and Wine Festivals.  We could experience the all kinds music or see many styles of art from all over the world and from the locals.  Being a part of the audience at many shows, I think Blues and Jazz music are the best.   The musicians could let us feel their souls from their beautiful and expressive playing or singing.  Slowly, I get to know more and deeper. Still, I remember that I didn't like the life here for a long time.  I was so disappointed and expressed it through my artwork "San Francisco Moments", which I created in 2012.  Far away from family and friends.  It seems that no-one could really understood my lo

(Please click the image to enlarge) I didn't posted new paintings for a long time.  There were a couple paintings, but they didn't come out the way I expected.  Still I have many ideas I'd like to try.  Why the result wasn't come out the way I want... In March, an old friend introduced her friend to me online because the new friend is coming with her American husband, their daughter and a dog to settle down in Maui, Hawaii soon. Instantly, we found a major common that we both love art.  She started learning drawing many years ago too.  I saw she posted many beautiful photo-realistic drawings online.  Simply, I started to imagine how she would like the life style in Miami since she is Chinese from Shanghai, one of the biggest city in China. Then, I saw her post that she ran six kilometers one day.  What?  I am not a sporty person, to me it is impossible.  She told me that she was runner, used to win a couple of competitions when she was younger.  Also, she p

Chinese New Year is one of the most important traditional holidays and is celebrated on the first day of the year of the Chinese calendar (lunisolar). In China, it is also known as the Spring Festival, or "Lunar New Year". 2014 is the Year of Green Wood Horse in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar, starts on January 31. Like many other cultures, horse is one of Chinese favorite animals, horse is not only a symbol of traveling, but also a sign of speedy success. The horse is an intelligent animal. Horses need to be trained to become useful to humans. Interestingly, Chinese wouldn't let horses do farm work. Instead, all the farmland jobs go to the ox. This is because Chinese believe that horses can help human to win battles. Sitting on a horses back implies that the person is from a noble or higher ranking family. So people born in the Horse year usually care about their dressing, outlook and speech. So place a horse or many horse symbols around to en

I still have the nightmares about how nervous I was during exams, how much I was afraid to fail, and how hard the exam questions were, or there never was enough time to finish what I tried to write, after I had been done with school for so long... I guess our Chinese culture trains us that we should do our best in our classes, if one failed, you could loose your own face and your family's, friends', etc.. My mother was too busy with her work, and never paid too much attention to how I was doing, but I knew if I could get straight A's, I could get to travel allowance, which I always looked forward to. I was kind of lost for quite a long time, didn't know what to learn, I mean that I didn't find any subject I had passion for. Of course, I enjoyed very much studying at school for as long as I could remember (I believe that I love the learning process, at the same time I hate all the exams, though I am not a book warm type.). So many awards I earned of Mathematics and

"Learning to walk sets you free. Learning to dance gives you the greatest freedom of all, to express with your whole self the person you are." - Melissa Hayden Lucky me that I can walk, the artistic vision and the rich imagination I have had set my thoughts free. I never had learned to be a ballerina, though it was one of the many dreams of mine. I do not think that I could stand the physical challenge of a dancer, but I do enjoy watching and appreciate deeply every single movement all the dancers make. Ballet really has become one of my most favorite subjects to paint, it has come into my dreams countless times as I am one of those dancing on the stage, and also in ancient Rome I was dancing ballet in the middle of the Colosseum! It might have made me wonder if there was a certain kind of soul that haunted me deeply inside, and this transformed into a vision I saw through my mind's eye. Reading all the novels, stories, and watching all the movies, TV series, we all

Last time when I visited Sydney, Australia, I saw this red-haired young lady on the train going downtown carrying a very large brunch of gardenias, she was almost buried by the flowers she carried, they brought such a lovely fragrance surrounding her on the train. http://xueling-zou.artistwebsites.com/galleries.html Luckily, she was looking outside of the window, so I could study her from where I sat: Her red dress was a tiny bit longer than the short black unbuttoned-wind-jacket she was wearing. Her short red hair was contrasted by the collar of her black jacket, her two lean and long legs were positioned gently and femininely on the blue covered seat... I realized that this was not the main reason to grab my attention. From my artistic vision it was the beauty of the whole package - youth, color contrast, simplicity, freshness, sweetness, dreaming... full of life, maybe some mysterious reason too since I had no idea who she was! Finally, I painted her for sharing what I had see

“What i like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.”   ― Karl Lagerfeld As much as I enjoy painting, photography is one of my favorite things to do.  Not because I have to collect enough images for my original art, also I think digital media gives us more creative space, with such a wide range of tools available for self-expression, we should update our skills, and be creative as much as possible.  So get your camera ready. During shopping time, I carry my camera sometimes too.  I asked this young lady if I could capture a photo of this cute puppy Chihuahua in her hand, of course she was happy and I was able to keep this lovely photo. (Please click the image to enlarge) I was looking for a laundromat when I traveled in Mexico.  These two dogs suddenly were running in front me.  I captured their adventure by holding my camera with one hand, the other hand was still carrying my dirty laundry... (Please click the ima

"To touch, to move, to inspire. This is the true gift of dance." ― Aubrey Lynch “Ballet is a dance executed by the human soul.” ― Alexander Pushkin “Ballet discipline: only the true believer would suffer the rigors it demanded.” ― Author Unknown  "My hope is to shed light, provoke thought, entertain, and move through dance." ― Dwight Rhoden "Dancers are not great because of their talent...they are great because of their passion" ― Unknown "Striving for connection with the audience is essential because you are in the moment; it is a give and take relationship. Catching someone's eye during a performance makes it more special" ― Aubrey Lynch "The ballet embodies the notes of music. And sometimes you almost feel like you can see the notes dance up there on the stage." ― Robert Caro “You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang

That was one of my favorite trips in Peru, though it was too short. I love Peruvian culture and people. Their unique architecture, beautifully designed traditional textiles... So much to learn and appreciate. Next one I will post photos I captured from one of the most famous ancient landmarks - Machu Picchu, I feel proud just having been there... This piece memorializes a moment from one of my travel experiences. Although we only spent a few days in Cusco, Peru before we headed to Machu Picchu , my impression remains vivid - the expression of this little girl whose mother carried her without complaint up and down the endless uneven steps in this beautiful but ancient city built of millions of stones, and thousands of steps... At the altitude it was hard enough to even breath let alone carry the extra weight of this child who was 4-5 year's-old, not a young baby. Her curious glance captured my attention and I was so touched by the mother and daughter' s relationship and their de

Summer almost has gone. May be it is over already in some other states, but I live in California, and still can enjoy it a little longer - "Indian Summer". I created a series call "Summer Delight" by expressing how a joyful female feels in French impressionist style, mostly using palette knife. They are all smaller size 20" x 16" ( about 40cm x 50cm ). Hope my viewers like them as much as I enjoyed painting each one of those... They really are delightful expressions, imaging what the result could be if they hang up on your wall, bringing happiness and joy to your daily life:)!

This piece won the 1st place in the Contest - Shoes on May 18th, 2012.  This painting was inspired by "The Red Shoes", which was first introduced to me by my mother. To me The Red Shoes has become a symbol of a career woman who has devoted her life to her job, or made some sacrifice in life. I painted this piece with my love for my mother.  Slowly I understand her more and more day after day. Happy Mother's Day! Inside and out Mom and I are so different, only one thing I have in common with her - a fast walk. She is outgoing, can make friends everywhere she goes through a very short conversation, rich or poor, old or young, higly educated person or without any education, even in different cultures, sometimes without language communication... She was beautiful and talented in theater arts, dancing, singing and acting. She was chosen to be an actress in a couple of movies when she was very young. Then she became a principal opera singer (western style) preformed o

I believe that communication is the main reason to prove that we are social animals, just like horses and dogs. I love to study the relationship between humans and animals, and create a painting on canvas to tell a story through my visual language, my imagination to my viewers. It is why I paint differently rather than just copy a photo. Also, it helps me to learn more and understand better living beings after each painting.  "A lovely horse is always an experience.... It is an emotional experience of the kind that is spoiled by words.  "  - Beryl Markham "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion."  - Unknown "A horse is the projection of peoples' dreams about themselves - strong, powerful, beautiful - and it has the capability of giving us escape from our mundane existence."