Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

We traveled from Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Chichicastenango, Xela, Coban, Flores, Tikal, Rio Dulce, and Livingston for 14 days in Guatemala last year, because the airline ticket was on sale. We did not even have more than 10 words in Spanish, and you can imagine it was not an easy trip especially during the low season. Guatemala really is a beautiful country! Unfortunately, what we saw was how hard the people have been working since they were still very young. Making a living is very tough for most families. Everywhere we went, the local kids surrounded me and called me "China, China,..." in Spanish! I wish I was able to understand a little bit more about what they tried to say. They were so friendly to me, and very deeply touched my heart...Like most of Chinese, I am not afraid eating and trying all kinds of food. Because we faced a lot of stresses with language barrier, all the bus connections, which were never on schedule and our traveler's checks did not work or

(Please click the image to enlarge) I just posted a new oil portrait, here is the story behind: Sunday, July 17, 2011, I went to Los Altos farmers market. A beautiful blues voice and music attracted my attention. I walked close by and saw a young girl playing saxophone, and an older guy singing... I heard the drummer playing amazingly too, but could not see anyone there from the crowd. Unfortunately, it was the last song, and the singer announced that the drummer was 4 years old. It was hard to believe, but it was true. It was around noon. I saw this little shy mixed boy was holding his mother's hand, standing under the Californian strong sun shining down on his head, while his mother was busy answering questions from other people. I tried very hard to capture the boy's face, and imagined the bright future ahead of him... Sorry I didn't get their band's name, I am sure there are a lot of other people who know:-)! Please view a better image at: http://f

What a great inspiration! Unknown in advance, I had seen the Pacific Voyagers and seven boats at Monterey Bay, California! August 13, 2011, late afternoon sun shone on the weekend Monterey beach. I saw some unusual boats, actually ancient looking boats, mostly like the boats made by Maori people from New Zealand, anchored to the beach in the bay. I was so attracted by the beauty of those boats, and a couple of handsome sailors paddling people back and forth from the beach to the boats. I didn't want to miss this good opportunity, and started shooting... A local lady chatted with me that these were Pacific Voyagers - a group of Pacific Islanders from Aotearoa (New Zealand), Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Vanuatu, and Tonga. They started in April of this year, passing the Marquesas, and Hawaii on their journey. Also she said that I missed seeing the landing, which was a traditional American Indian ceremony for welcom