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 )

A quiet Friday morning.  Came to paint sunflowers. Remembered that I painted at the same garden in winter. Now there are more plants, many of them blooming. But I know that I came for the sunflowers. Met the lady that worked there, her name was Rachal. She was doing great job which attracted me to come back. Actually it is not a good idea for me to paint too near many flowers. My eyes hurt and my nose was running, but I did it, and moved the objects around a bit to make a more pleasing composition.  (June 11 2021)

I didn't plan to paint at Pigeon Point, instead of going to meet other artists at Pescadero Village. Driving on the Highway #280, listening to the Mozart's Piano #21 in C concerto on the Classical music channel KDFC. I enjoyed the scene so much, especially on such a gorgeous day, white clouds floating on the blue sky, there were dry golden yellow, bold hills against the blue and white. Clouds here are precious, we usually don't see them for half the year. Thinking of how beautiful the state is that I live in! It took very long time to like it here, I believed that I had started to love California after I learned to Plein Air. Four years now, and I had found out so many unique and beautiful places nearby, felt very grateful... I had to turn the radio off for not hearing the clear sound and kept driving... I only saw a few cars, seemed like I was the only one driving on the Highway #1. And my car GPS told me that I arrived at Pigeon Point. Well I decided to walk around...

🙏Say a prayer for those killed at the shooting in San Jose today! Planned to paint at Pigeon Point Lighthouse for a while now. Because it is always super-windy, I kept checking weather report, my instincts told me many times not to go. Quickly checked it again this morning and it was OK to paint during my usual Plein Air hours. First my car wasn't fully charged, but i had enough juice to cover the miles. Loaded my painting gear into car. Then my car GPS directed me to an unusual way, seemed a little bit further. It was not a big deal. Only myself driving on the dappled sunlit road, I enjoyed seeing all the beautiful redwood trees. Only a person in front of me drove super slow later, and I had to pass by when I had the chance. Enjoyed the magnificent ocean scenery. Finally, got into a big line waiting for the road work only 2.8 miles before arriving at the Lighthouse. No matter how much I wanted to start my painting earlier, I had to wait patiently... It was cold and windy, only ...

I saw beautiful waterlilies near Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve during the weekend. Planned to paint there this morning. Thought how I should paint today, didn't pay too much attention and turned into the highway... I guessed that helped to change my mood. Even though the water lilies were so beautiful, I decided to paint the landscape, where I painted last November and saw a couple of coyotes on the hill. Lovely morning being outdoors and painting. After my work was done, went to visit all the gorgeous water lilies, most of them were blooming... Each media has its challenging part to deal with. Watercolor paper dries too fast in warm or hot days for sure, and it takes too long to dry in a wet or cold day. How to adjust the outdoor painting time during the different weather conditions takes life time to develop I believe, though I have been painting almost twenty years, only have four years experience being a Plein Air painter. But feeling lucky I can be in the nature often...

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 ...

Decided to paint something different. I saw many gardens have been growing vegetables since the pandemic, thought it was a different subject to paint. So drive around and found one. Set up my workstation and found I did not have any paper with me. Drove back to get the paper. Set up my painting station again, and I didn't bring any water with me. Hahaha, I guess that is a sign of getting old and forgetful. Luckily, there was a water hose nearby. Sun was out for a short time, mostly it was gray. There were flowers still blooming, vegetables, like pees, luffa hanging on the fence, and other greens still growing. We really are spoiled by California's good weather. Inspiration and paint how I feel are more important than copy what I see exactly. That's why I keep painting loose. Moved the pot under the sunflowers, we all needed the positive feeling in life, especially during the current situation. (Jan 12 2021)

Jan 10  Yesterday, Saturday I went to paint @ this beautiful location and met a new painting friend in the afternoon. It was close to sunset time and wasn't warm. My watercolor paper refused to dry. But the scene was magnificent! After I got home, the paper was still wet. Learned not to paint outdoors under certain degrees temperature for sure. So, I stayed at home and joined a zoom "portrait party" today. Several drawings I did and shared here, they were all minutes sketch starting with one minute only, great to practice.  

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...

Raining Monday morning, back to work. Could not paint outdoors, but joined zoom minute drawing sketch. Sharing several drawings I did.

Dec. 8 This is one of those places I have passed by so many times, and each time I told myself that I should come back to paint. This location wasn't as close as I thought, but it was warm and sunny today. There was no fog or steam rising up so it didn't have that mysterious feeling even though the landscape was still beautiful. Beside a small parking area for several cars, the roads and freeway nearby, cars were driving so fast, it was dangerous to cross the street. I got a spot to set up my painting station. Suddenly saw my socks were not matching on my feet, I was in too big a rush out of door. Hahaha, who cares right? Only two Mexican guys told me that they liked my work from a passing truck window. Otherwise, on the other side fewer vehicles were passing by.

Rainy season keeps delaying in San Francisco Bay Area. I thought that I'd better paint outdoors as the weather allows me. After checking the weather report around, I decided to go to Capitola, one of my favorite charming small towns not too far away. Caught the road work on Route #17, it was about half past ten when I arrived. There were so many subjects I would love to paint at the location, and it was a perfect day, about 70 degrees. Flowers were still blooming, birds were hanging in the bushes. Still felt like during spring... Less people on the pier, of course that was my final decision to set up my stuff and started to work. Met two people, one was Len, he walked on the pier back and forth several times. And Bob was tricycling around with his super large surf board, waiting to meet friends. Got many compliments from people passed by. Walked around and took many reference photos after my work was done. Tired when I returned home but enjoyed such a lovely long day!  (Dec. 7 2020...

Dec 3 Another gorgeous day. My second painting is at this historic location. Almost every angle was paintable, I had tough time to make up my mind. The alter was very old, two centuries old at least I guessed. I tried to design my work to have a strong focal point, painted a mother helping a girl going up the stairs, by combining the alter and people to make a story. Overpainted the alter. Jane, the organizer gave me great feedback. Finally, I had to erase the darker alter to balance the painting, but I am not happy with the result so far.  Painting loosely was not easy.

Nov. 18 Came to one of our favorite trails to paint at a time when there was predicted little chance of rain. I couldn't make up my mind where to set up. Just because all the angles looked so beautiful at the time because of all dramatic lighting in the clouds. I knew there was no public restroom nearby and so had to limit my painting time. The hills here we had hiked countless times. There are only clouds here during the rainy season so it is particularly dramatic now. Two coyotes appeared on the trail, then disappeared into the grass in distance. It didn't rain, but the light changed dramatically in the short time I was there. Learned my lessons, had to plan what I wanted to paint, watercolor does not tolerate too many mistakes.    

After arriving at the location, I walked around, but didn't see any other artists there. Thought I remembered the wrong day. It was a gorgeous warm day with a breeze. The mist came out of the ocean and made everything look mysterious. Set up my stuff, not sure why my Plein Air umbrella just kept falling down. I tried so many times, couldn't make it work properly. Gave it up, kept painting... Chose this unique angle, there was a lamp post next to the light house. I liked it, and painted it into my painting. By noon, the sun had changed its angle, and more people came. Just love to paint at this location, only a little bit too far away from where I live. (Nov. 16 2020)

Nov. 12 Gorgeous day but cold in San Francisco. Painted at the same beautiful landmark I visited a couple weeks ago. After my work was done, I felt so warm inside my car. Drove through such a charming city. GPS guided me up and down hills. I felt it fun to see the city views, tried to snap a couple of shots at the beginning. Then driving on the Divisadero St, there were a few steep roads, at the first couple of intersections. I felt like the car was going straight up, even stepping on the brake I worried my car would slip backwards. My hands and feet were both sweating. Later, going down, my car stopped at what felt like 45 degrees downhill. The views were spectacular in front of me. I was so nervous, did not dare to take a glimpse. On the way back, a detour guided me to an even steeper road, one seemed like a thirty degree angle looking down. I almost wanted to scream and closed my eyes, but there were people crossing the road, so I had to stop and keep my eyes widely open. What an e...

There was little traffic inside the city of San Francisco this morning. My GPS signal got lost, I had to turn around before the Golden Gate Bridge. Gorgeous day being out and painting my one of the landmarks for the first time - Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco. Walked around this stunning architecture, saw mostly local people walking and chatting or taking care of babies; different kinds of birds flying over the lagoon, which reflected this magnificent building and surrounding landscape contrasted by the blue sky. A guy was playing guitar and sang songs to the kids behind where I was painting. A couple had their sweet memory wedding photo shoot at the waterfront. Who doesn't want a decent photo here! I knew that I should not paint it too complex when doing outdoor paintings. But I couldn't help myself and tried to squeeze in as much as I could into an 11"x14" painting. Beside the falling autumn leaves, a caterpillar jumped on top of my palette. I tried to...

Over 100 miles and about 3 hours driving around trip, just because I was caught in a little bit traffic in the morning. Thinking to paint the lighthouse for a long time, it was too windy or it was raining... But today was a hot day. After my dental appointment, driving on windy CA highway route 84 in the hills, I really did want to arrive the Pigeon Point as early as I could. There was an SUV Volvo car in front of me driving only 15 miles/hr. I was very patient at the beginning, because usually I am a slow driver, always let most of the cars pass by me if it is possible. After a couple of miles, I realized that his brakes were on all the way, so I sent him flashing headlights since there was only one lane, with the occasional shoulders. But this guy would not let me pass. After a while, I started honking gently with flashing, he still drove very slow for miles... Finally he pulled his car on the shoulder, so I was able to arrive the location past 11am. Beautiful breezy day aroun...

Gorgeous morning but caught in traffic. Arrived at the location almost 10:30am. Instantly love it, another very paintable and must come back location. There were a group young age kids learning music next to where I was painting. Was fun to hear their singing, made painting go through with joy. Ended up shopping at the Stanford Shopping Center. Came home with traffic all the way too... That was why I don't like going out during rush hour.

There was an old beautiful red barn located on Tennant Avenue, Morgan Hill. My first time painting at the location. it was over 80 degrees I believe, standing next to a mint field, smelt the fragrance of the herb, felt I was overdressed. Also the Red Barn was too big and too close to paint. After I did the first painting, I started drawing a couple of Mexican working guys collecting mints in the field through the broken plastic greenhouse window. Suddenly, they had all gone, It was noon already their lunch break. So I painted a tractor in front of the distant hills. I'm not going to share that painting here though. (Updating from September 17, 2018)