"Water Lily 103019"

"Why do you want to paint?" This is the question I have been asking myself for a quite long time, but I still have no good answer for it. In my early art years, I felt the answer is no brainer. I just want to do it and felt good. Now I examine my early motivation, I know that was the ego. We all want to demonstrate that our life has a special meaning. Painting was one of the few things I could easily do better. However now, I feel the ego is so absurd. It has meaning only to yourself. To other people it does not mean much. There are so many great artists created fabulous works. If you happened to be one of them, so what. For a long time, I feel painting has been my way to make a living. Well in our monetary world, it has been proved this was a rather stupid idea. If I love money, I should have done real estates and even my previous engineering life would make more sense. Recently, I am very interested in the life of Paul Gauguin. To be honest with you, I never liked his art, but his life as an human was so fascinating. "The moon" or "Six pence"? That is the question. At this new year's eve. I think I know this life better.

Our China 2020 trip plan is almost ready

Again, we will organize another China painting trip in September 2020. Our Beijing office and myself is busy arranging the China 2020 painting and touring trip. We have identified the places we want to visit and made a Youtube video of the plan. Please check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j09CDUQeyyI Very soon we finalize the detail planning and I will announce officially the program with the dates, pricing, and itinerary. In comparison with our previous China trips, we have a few major improvements for the 2020 plan: (1) We have slow down the paces to make the trip as a relaxing vocation instead of rushing through the tourist attractions; (2) We will arrange to purchase art supplies locally and rent easels so you don't need to carry heavy art gears for the trip; (3) We will relax the dinner plans and you have more options for your meal selection. My team and I will work hard to make the China trip better and better. Please check our China 2020 webpage and I will update this page soon. If you are interested in travel with us to China in September 2020, please contact us and we will put your name on our list.

"Water Lily Study 121819"

I started painting again. I know some artists who paint same type of paintings for a quite long time before shift to another topic. I think that is a good idea. In this way you may use the repetition to get a deep understanding this specific theme, and establish the skills and enrich the paintings. I have painted a few water lily paintings. I feel I just touch the surface. We know Monet painted so many water lily paintings. There are reasons for that. I may want to do the same thing, at least for a short period of time.

"My OG Place Update 2"

I have got many comments after my previous post. I apologize I was not clear: OG stands for "Off-the-Grid". My structure is located in a very primitive location. There is no power, no water, and no septic. To make this place inhabitable, I must build all infrastructures. So my today's image is not artistic, but very engineering. (1) I have installed a 800W solar system (about $2000) so I can run a window AC, all my lights, fans, and water pumps. (2) I collect rainwaters (about $600) with 300 gallon tank space, and 4 stage filtration for water purification. (3) I installed a propane tankless water heater for a shower. (4) I bought a composting toilet (about $1000), and the waste goes directly to a small organic vegetable garden.  (5) I use a propane heater ($200) and insulated the bedroom only to save fuel (Texas does not get too cold in winter). So far my total expenditure on this project is about $8000. Lumber and other materials are from the Home Depot, and appliances and miscellaneous are from Amazon. All the DIY knowhow is from Youtube. 

My OG (Off-the-Grid) Place Update

After my final workshop was done before Thanksgiving. I have decided not to paint for a month. I spent almost all my time in upgrading my OG place. Now I can live in it comfortably. Of course, my purpose of doing this project is not to building a regular house. I try to prove a concept: You don't need a lot of money to live decently, and it can be done by a single human being. There are multiple advantages of doing this project. (1) I am in control and can change and fix everything. (2) I have my own eco system and minimize the waste. (3) I don't buy insurance for this house because it is so cheap. (4) Keep away from harmful chemicals and minimize the use of plastics. (5) Keep away from the Internet so I can have quiet time. (5) It is very affordable. I don't need to be a slave of money.

Now this month of down time has passed. I will start to paint again.

"Demo at Gainesville GA 2019 3" --- Sold

Flowers and more flowers. This is my final demo painting in Gainesville. I am in the mood of celebration. I have made another great year of painting and teaching. I am so grateful. Thank you all my art students.

"Demo at Gainesville GA 2019 1"

My final workshop teaching of the year was at Gainesville GA. Having done so many landscape paintings, it felt really good when I was painting still life again. Nowadays, my paintings get a kind of "stylish". I don't know it is good or bad. Definitely, the painting is recognizable. I am happy about that. However in a negative connotation, my painting is getting more cliched. I am not surprised this happens. As a human, I never dreamed to become a super man. I just wish I could have been smarter, so I could have not fell in traps the commercial world. I will try harder and come out of the "burn out" phase. Let us allow the art being "cliched" for a while. I will cook something new when the future comes.

Workshop reminder and my 2020 calendar

Happy Holidays my artist friends. The last month of the year 2019 has arrived. I am glad I finally have some down time. I am not traveling to any places for the entire month of December. During the Thanksgiving holidays, I got a chance working in my OG (off-the-grid) place for a few days, really enjoyable. I live intensionally for this month, writing down what I have done and will do on my notebook, otherwise, the time will soon pass without being noticed.

My friends, I want to use this time to remind you that my January workshop in Austin will start in exactly one month from now. It will a fine event to kick off the special year of 2020. We will improve our vision to art and to life, at least our mind's eye will have a 20/20 acuity. Please check: http://www.qh-art.com/qiang-huang-2020-still-life-workshop.html for more info and sign up.

I am also excited to announce that my 2020 painting calendar is ready to order. It has documented pieces of my artist life of this year. I hope those painting images bring you joy for the coming year. It also makes a good gift to your friends and relatives. Please visit: http://www.qh-art.com/calendar-2020.html to order or browse my art images. Thank you so much.

"Demo in Huntsville 2019 4"

After En Plein Air Texas, I really feel good about painting water lilies. I want to paint more of this topic. Maybe doing a few large ones. This one is a demo showing using multiple ref photos to do one painting.