Happy Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is the Thanksgiving. At this moment, I am so grateful to all of you who followed my blog, subscribed my painting email, supported my art, and gave me the opportunity to share. May all of you have an exceptionally happy time with your family and friends.

I am sorry I don’t have a painting for you to view today. I am sending this message to let you know that I will take a break and go away for a week. I will spend my Thanksgiving long weekend and several my personal off days to go to a retreat. In contrast to my complicated and fast paced daily routines, I will spend some time in complete silence, contemplating about life, future, and spirituality. There are many things we consider important in life: success, wealth, and good health. However, there is something more important than all those. I am sure you know what I am talking about. So, follow your heart. Follow your faith. Follow your path.

I will be back to my studio on December 3. All the paintings sold during the break time will be shipped after I return.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

"Ikebana in a Cup" --- Sold

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Ikebana is Japanese for "the Tao of flower arrangement". My wife Song is very good at it. Japanese culture emphasizes on the "Tao" of doing things. From drinking tea (chado) to sward fighting (kendo), almost everything has a "Do" of "Tao" to follow. "Tao" is usually translated as "the Way", but I prefer to translate it as "the Art". The state of art is the highest level of doing or performing.

"A Green Thingy" --- Sold

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I haven't done any small paintings for a while. So I did one last night. When I started the setup, my mind was completely blank. Our life is so complicated nowadays. We constantly jump from one project to another, which have no relationship what so ever in between. After I shoveled my engineering stuff away and pick up my art thingy, I felt really odd and empty. "You must have an art concept before you paint". That was what I learned and taught. But sometime, I really don't have any idea. I just paint.

"Old Tea Kettle"

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It surely was fun doing portrait for a change. Now I am back to my still life again. I did this one last weekend and it will be shown in the InSight Gallery at Fredericksburg, TX. The holiday season is coming. My eBay store is quite empty. I got a lot of catching up to do.

I got many feed backs on my cynical illustration of the corporation world. Oh boy, I shouldn't have "disturbed the sound of silence." Thank God that my boss has not seen my post. He could have cracked my skull open with that plastic trophy he just received.

"Study with Carolyn Anderson 3"

After I posted my portrait studies with Carolyn Anderson, I have received many great comments and encouragement. I am sorry I can't reply to all of you, but I really appreciate your support. Thank you very very much. This is my final one I did in her class. It is kind of mediocre I wish I could have the luxury of taking her class entirely, but unfortunately, I only stayed in the workshop for two days. I have to rush back to Austin to take care of my engineering job.

In my blog, I hardly mention anything about my daily engineering work. But I want to say something today. The company I worked with has developed very fast in spite of the current economic down-turn. Recently, it has been rewarded as one of the 50 fastest growing companies in Austin. At the ceremony night, I dressed up like a penguin, trying very hard to mingle with other penguins and peacocks. Wine glasses clanking, diamonds shimmering, people talking without speaking, people hearing without listening. I am humbled and mutated into a wallflower, watching the almighty Dollar dance fervently.

"Study with Carolyn Anderson 2"

This is the second portrait I did at the Carolyn Anderson's workshop. I think I like this one even better. This one is more accurate and solid. It is not as loose as the previous one, but the accuracy is more important. Don't you agree?

"Study with Carolyn Anderson 1"

Hello from Fredericksburg, TX. I am here taking Carolyn Anderson's portrait painting workshop. I like her style a lot. This is my first painting I did under her guidance. You have seen I painted many still lifes, but if you ask me what I like to paint the most, I will say portrait and figure. The reason I don't paint much human subjects is that I know it is too risky if I do that completely by myself at my current level. figurative painting has so many pitfalls if doing it incorrectly. Following the right teacher is crucially important. Carolyn is one of the best artists I want to follow. I have not decided if I will sell this painting. I will think about it.

"Seesaw" --- Sold

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Today is our anniversary. I took a half day off. My wife and I went to the Oasis, a beautiful restaurant on the side of Lake Travis at the west of Austin. I feel sooooo good, Man!!! (I try to sound like "Cheech and Chong"). You know what, I feel weird too, man. Today is Wednesday, but I am not at my cubicle typing technical gibberish. It surly feels strange, but it was a wonderful day.

Similar to the previous post, I put linear shapes and dots to give the composition more taste. I hope you like it.

"Shimmery" --- Sold

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This is a delicious one. I had so much fun painting it. I was working on shape variation. You may have heard "dots, lines, and areas". They are three basic shapes in a design. In most of my paintings I don't have enough "dots" and "lines". So those paintings are kind of plain. In this one, I deliberately placed some branches in the setup. I am glad I did.