Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

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!

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...

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:)!

Dog and horse are the natural animals to get along with humans! They can remember people even after long separations. They have their own emotional expressions. As a visual artist, I think it is very important to capture their emotion and personal expression, just like when I do the portraits for humans, it doesn't matter which style I use in painting, but the communication is the key for success in painting portraits, I believe! They are loyal, sweet, really your most trustworthy friends. They can understand words better than expected, according to the research, and possess "excellent memories" too! They never leave you, no matter if you are happy or upset, poor or rich, they are always next to you. Just thinking of them, thinking about their best qualities of their personalities, it makes me want to paint them. Hope my paintings can really bring each viewer that kind of happiness:-)! ​Or join me at: FaceBook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest