Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

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...

To me painting still-life is difficult, I easily feel bored by staring at the same subject, prefer painting outdoors for sure. Some of my old still-lives mostly painted depending on half of my imagination. One day last month, just because I could not help myself and I picked up a wild pink lily flower (not sure the name) from the fields, put it into a cup I never used. Afternoon light made the flowers appear mysterious, I was wondering how I could express that feeling, especially because my favorite Plein air hat was next to it on the chair. Ended up I thought the shadow of the cup handle was more interesting to me - my focal point, hoped it worked out well. 🍳I had to move down to our kitchen/dining area to paint since the pandemic, because my studio is next to my husband's office and I was not used to his talking during the meetings at home all day long. Don't take it the wrong way, I think that my brain frozen when listening to all the words...Of course that was not my excus...

HAPPY Chinese New Year! The Chinese calendar rotates through 12 different animals as well as the five elements, with each year consisting of a combination of the two. February 16, 2016 is the first day of lunar year of the Dog(狗). The Chinese regard they as an auspicious animal, they are honest and loyal, they are our best truest and most reliable friends who can understand the human's spirit and obey to the masters. We all love dogs, they are one of my most favorite painting subjects too. Hopefully I will get inspired to paint more dogs soon!

"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)...