Blooming with hope

 

A homeless woman stood nearby watching I painted this rose. She was so fascinated with excitement. Perhaps it was her first time seeing a plein air painter at work. She told me she had learned some art when she was in jail. She really liked it. But she had never practiced because life is too hard for her. She has no money and no place to stay. Only thing she got is cancer. My wife gave her a few dollars. She said she will go to the Dollar store and get some colors and brushes. She will make a painting before she die and will give it to her daughter who lives far far away. With her beautiful hope, she left the rose garden. I finished this small "mini pearl" painting for EPAT, and named it "Blooming with Hope".... I woke up in the night. It was cold and raining outside. I thought about that homeless woman. I hope she found a relatively warm place to stay, and art...That might be too luxurious for her. 

Plein Air Tree Study 051421

 

We went camping for 3 days at the Lake Somerville State Park. I did a few plein air paintings. You know I seldom do pure nature landscapes, I like to put houses, boats, or other man made items in my painting as the center of focus. This time I was out of luck. This park is full of beautiful trees. So I must paint some of them. This is one of studies.

“Noon Shine" --- Sold

One of those steamy hot afternoon, I painted this turquoise house in downtown Easton. It was so sweet when using those radiant colors. I felt dizzy. I was drunk. Those vibrant pigments combined with Gambsol was  so intoxicating. I want to call it "Noon Shine", for its light and for its feeling. 

It is a small painting. I did many small paintings before, especially my "Daily Painting" days. It has been a long time since I visited any "Daily Painting" websites the last time. I am wondering if there are still many artists call themselves "Daily Painters" nowadays. I am wondering if there still someone selling painting via eBay as I did before. It feels like the last century, must be many iPhone versions ago. Something goes up, and something comes down. Things move in circles. "Noon Shine" turns to "Moonshine". Besides that, nothing has happened.

"In a Hot Day" --- Sold

When it gets too hot, what do you do? It has been above 100 F everyday in Austin for more than a week now, and it looks it will be the same kind of weather for another week. It was similar day when I did this painting in Cambridge MD. To be honest with you, there were nobody under the colorful umbrellas when I was painting this one. Only the crazy artist is willing to stay outside in a super hot day.

"The Night at Wayne" --- Sold

First, Let's talk about art. This is a bad photo, but it is kind of interesting. This is my 3rd nocturne painting ever. I brought a portable light this time, but I did not realize how fast the battery fades. It was a good experience. Even under the fading light, the painting glowed in the dark night. I start to like nocturne plein air gradually.

Secondly, Let's talk about life. It is sort of like this painting: dark and fuzzy. Now we have closed our new house. The bank is empty, and I cross my finger for the future gamble. I hope it will rent fast so it pays its mortgage, insurance, and tax. The reason I don't like this main stream lifestyle is that it is totally out of control. Your fate is at the mercy of the "outside". If the "outside" says I don't like your countertop, you better change it. If "outside" says I want your arm and leg for the tax, you better give it. Just like Thoreau, I turn my direction to the woods. I love building my "Off-the-Grid" place. I experienced the entire process of human surviving. I have put a roof above my head, and I know how  to deal with black and grey waters. I spent very small amount of money to get my basic supplies. I am happy when it rains, because my rain tank gets fuller. I am happy when the sun shines. I check my volt meter to see how much energy comes to my battery. Yesterday was in the 90s, and I kept my AC running for hours to cool my small place to 82 F. I feel good about life, because the nature provides so many resources for free. I feel good about myself, because I am able to survive with my own hands and brain.

I want to thank so many good friends to encourage me. With all of you, I don't feel lonely.

"Water Lily Sweetness" --- Sold

San Angelo has an International Water Lily Garden. I have enjoyed so much painting there. I did two plein air painting there. This small 6"x8" is one of them.

"Copper Kettle and Green Apple"

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I am happy to see my color scheme change in paintings. I use to use value dominantly to create the drama for my art. Now I tend to establish dominant color tones for my paintings. I get more chances using higher chroma colors in large areas. I am in the transition from a tonalist to a colorist. Can you believe I did not use ultramarine blue in this painting?

"Demo at Easton 2017 4" --- Sold

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This small 6"x8" is my last demo on my Easton workshop. This time at Easton, I surely did many plein air paintings - 14 of them. Now I have a different feeling about plein air painting. It has expanded my art capability. I have extended from still life into landscape a little further. My landscapes still have a long way to go before reaching some sort of maturity, but I am glad I am on the path now. I hope I will have some sort of style gradually evolved from more practices in the days to come.

"PAE 2017 7: Nocturn of Last Night" --- Sold

This is crazy for me. I did not realize that we need to paint plein air in the night during PAE. I didn't know what I was doing, but I did it anyway. I was not sure what color to use because I can't see. However, I looked the painting the day after, it looks better than I thought.

"PAE 2017 6 Dover Street Sunshine"

This small painting is the only one I did that didn't sell at the Plein Air Easton Festival. I gave the painting to my hosting family Richard Caroll to think him for supporting me by offering his lovely place for us to stay. I want to thank other volunteers who helped Plein Air Easton 2017 as well. Without all those people who generously provided their time and effort during the festival. Plein Air Easton would not be possible.

"Happy Tea Kettle"

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I was told that tea kettles are always happy. They have positive attitude always. Even their butts are burning, they still are whistling.

I have this old kettle for a long time. Burning marks are all over the place. I painted it today just because those burns created so much rich color around it high light. I am more interested in colors from non-color objects like this old kettle. I am whistling with happiness.

"Three Stooges" --- Sold

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I started painting again, and this one was done last night. The three gizmo in the painting remind me "Three Stooges". I maybe too young and too foreign to know those fun jokes, but I learned about them about 15 years ago. That time I was working with two other engineers on a new machine which was designed poorly. We worked really hard, but couldn't get the job done. One said: "Oh! boy, we are working like three stooges". That was the first time I heard about those funny guys.

"Wheel of Dharma" --- Sold

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After I painted together with Richard Schmid, we had a long talk. He asked me why I paint apples and bottles. He wants me to think more how much of "me" I want to share through my art. Well, my today's painting does have that kind of info.

I have this Tibetan payer wheel for many years. To be honest with you, I don't understand much of the Tibetan Buddhism, but I am very curious about what have been taught in that mysterious place. On the prayer wheel, I see six Tibetan words. I googled them and know they are pronounced: "OM MA NI PAD ME HUM" It is a mantra, and it can not be translated literately. So I don't understand the mantra means. However, I like the "wheel" idea. It is turning, repeating. That is the characteristics of our world and our life. We see days and nights. We experience seasons. We know we live on a globe. With advanced technology, we learned the solar system. We learned the spinning galaxies. We know the vibrating atoms. We know colors of light have different frequencies. We know complicated organic systems are based on repetition of simpler chemical structures. Mathematically, we can model the world with something called the "Fourier Transform"...... We are on the "wheel". To be more accurate, we are part of the "wheel".

However nowadays, very few people have time to care if we are "turning" or not. Our mantra is: "Oh! MONEY buy me home".

"Captain's Roses" --- Sold

I am at the airport waiting for my flight going back to Austin. Recalling those days in Putney Vermont. Everything was so phenomenal. My today’s painting is another small one I did before my workshop started. Those roses were from Captain John’s garden. It is a different specie of rose I haven’t ever had before. I was stunned by its beauty. I used to get roses to paint from Walmart you know. Just like these roses, Vermont is very different from other part of the united states. When I was driving on Interstate 91, I did not see any advertising billboards. I heard there are no Walmart, Home Depot, and many other major chained stores in Vermont. In Putney, I saw bicycles you can get for a free ride and drop them at different locations after your trip. People go to those non-profit Co-ops to get their everyday stuff. Even they have their local currency. I saw beautiful farms and lovely gardens. People are so down to earth no matter they are rich or poor. I met a barefooted musician who plays beautiful jazz at the local farmers market. He used to be a medical doctor and now full time in music. I saw art all over the place. At the Putney community supper, I met people in this village given puppet shows and circus. With rustic red burns and old houses, Vermont is such a unique place.

"Peach Season" --- Sold

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This painting combines my gray study, leaf study, and my general still life approach together. The repetitive presentation of the leaves and peaches creates rhythmic composition. I want to feel the beats of the visual music.

"Taking Out"

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It is the last day of the month today. This month, I didn’t finish my quota for my on-line galleries. Officially, I am not a daily painter any more. I told myself last night: Qiang, you must paint something right now. So I did. Was it good? I don’t know, but I learned something: Never ever use a clay board for oil painting. I am short in supplies now. Out of desperation, I found some panels I bought who know when. I did this 6”x6” with it. Oh! My goodness, this board was unbelievably absorptive. I literally poured a puddle of linseed oil on the surface, and it disappeared in seconds. Every brush I putted on turned into a dry mark, no matter how juicy my paint was. All my darks lost the darkness very quickly. I lost completely the smoothness of oil painting. Usually my paintings are dry to touch in several days. For this one, it is dry to touch in minutes. I used retouch varnish trying to bring the fresh look back, but it last only a couple of minutes. Oh boy. It was a real struggle….. My life is still in a mess right now, but I remind myself again: Just do it and Never give up.

I am going to Alabama tomorrow. I will let you know how the workshop goes later.