"Demo at Granbury 2" --- Sold

This is my second demo at Granbury. Sorry about the blurry on the photo. I didn’t get to use a tripod for this long exposure shot. However, you got the idea. With this demo, I got everybody excited for doing roses. It was very hard at the beginning, but if you don’t give up and keep practicing. It will get easier and easier.

Demo at Granbury 1 - "Orange and Lemons" --- Sold

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This is my first demo painting at my Granbury workshop. I’d like to thank my new and old artists friends coming from all over to attend this workshop. Especially I would like to thank Theresa, the owner of the Iron Horse Inn, for organizing this event. After my previous post, she commented on my blog and retold the story about the house in the following I would like share with you:

“Briefly, this is a historic home and the original family had 8 children. The youngest was Josephine Cogdell who was quite a wild young lady - she ran away from home with a traveling salesman in 1913 when she was just 16 years old! After a few years living in California as a dancer, writer and artist, she moved to New York where she met and married an important writer and publisher of the day - George Schuyler. Sadly the family cut Josephine out of their lives after this marriage as this was a 1920's Texas family and George Schuyler was black. Despite a deputation of her older sisters to persuade her to come home, Josephine lived the rest of her life in Harlem with George where they had a daughter Phillipa who turned out to be a musical genius. She started composing at aged 5 and played Carnegie hall at age 13. She had a renowned career as a concert pianist, composer and writer, but sadly died in a helicopter crash on assignment in Vietnam in 1967. The film rights for her biography have been purchased by Hallie Berry and Alicia Keys has a contract to play Phillipa in the movie.”
Isn’t that fascinating? Please check Theresa’s site to see what is going on now at house:http://www.theironhorseinn.com/retreat.htm

Granbury

I came to Granbury TX, a beautiful small town 25 miles west of Ft. Worth. I am giving a painting workshop at the legendary Iron Horse Inn. This great house was built in 1905. The owner of the house Theresa has told us dramatic stories about this house. If you want to know what happened here, please check: http://www.theironhorseinn.com/retreat.htm and contact Theresa.

"Complementary" --- Sold

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This painting is very similar to the one of my last post, but I went back to canvas again. I don't mean to confuse you. I really like the Masonite board better, but I have a pile of canvases not being used. So you will still see I paint on canvas a lot in the future. My general attitude toward painting materials is that: "Do not let the material issues restricting your art". I am constantly being asked what kinds or brands paint, brushes, media, and canvases I use. I provide answers according to what I use at that moment, but I may change at the next moment. There is no double that the property of paint and brushes play a very important part in a painting process. However, the artist him/herself is the one who determines if a painting works or not.

"Flowing Colors" --- Sold

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I think I am back to my regular painting mode again, and I also started to explore new methods. I did this painting on a gessoed Masonite board. The reason I shifted away from canvas is that I realized that I can create more painterly effects with less paint. When I am not sure about a mix of color, I test it by mixing a small quantity with my brush, I found using Masonite is relatively easier to get an effect. But on a canvas, I need much more paint. That could be the reason that I have hardly seen that David Leffel using canvases.

"Beer and Friends"

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My workshop at Granbury TX is coming up this week. I want to make sure I still can demo in front my students. This 9" x 12" has my usual style. During the setup phase I really got excited by the orange light transmitted through my only bottle of Miller Lite. It took me about two hours to figure out this setup. It turned out better than I expected. Now I am more confident and ready to teach again.

My Uncle's Painting

Today, I want to share with you a painting that is not done by me. It was done by my uncle more than Thirty years ago. My uncle – Hongen Huang was a high school art teacher. Thirty some years ago when I was in middle school, I lived with my grandma in Beijing, China. My uncle lived in another city very far away. Every summer, uncle Hongen visited us, and he painted en plein air landscapes everywhere he went. Since he was not local, I volunteer to be his tour guide. We went to many wonderful places. He painted and I watched. It was very enjoyable watching uncle Hongen painting. Many brush strokes I use today actually belong to him. Uncle Hongen is the artist influencing me more than any artists did. This time I went back to Beijing and brought this painting with me to America.

I have not painted these several days. My jet lag turns me into vegetable in the hours I used to paint. I still wake up in the middle of the night for quite a long time. Consider I have to go to work during my daytime hours; I don’t want to get too excited during the night. I have to wait patiently for my painting chances to come.

"On the Spot" --- Sold

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Painting light is my main motivation when I approach to a still life painting. This one is a good example. Vast amount of darkness enhances a small area of light. Subtle value change in shadow gives more dynamic range to the light. I didn’t use much of vibrant colors for this one, but I really enjoy the dances performed by the values.

During my China trip and the week after I came back. I have received massive amount of emails. I am really touched by all your warm words. I wish I could reply to each of you, but unfortunately I am not able to do that any more. I want you to know that I deeply appreciate your support and hope you to understand my lack of resources to manage all emails at one-to-one basis. I think the best way to feed back to you is to constantly improve my art and bring you some happiness visually. Thank you very very much.

"Refreshing" --- Sold

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It has been the longest break time to me for being not painting since I started as a so-called “daily painter”. It has been dangerously long that makes me wondering if I still know how to paint. I have to challenge this negative momentum, and now I am back. I am still in the warm up stage, but I am back. Still with my jet lag, I did this painting from 1:00 to 4:00 AM this morning. This one is from a photo I took in Beijing. Lotus flower symbolizes effort out of a difficult situation relentlessly to achieve perfection. It sounds like a daily painter’s spirit.

Shanghai Cheng Huang Miao

Shanghai was the last stop of my China trip. Time goes fast and now it is time to say “Zai-Jian” (goodbye). It is difficult to summarize my impression about China in a few words, but I should say sharp contrast is my general feeling. On one side, Life is not conditioned well and you find many inconvenience. For instance, there are hardly any bathrooms have toilets and toilet paper. On the other hand, there are astonishingly beautiful places, incredibly delicious food, wonderful history and culture, and great potential and dynamics. Maybe covered with dust however, you will find dazzling treasure underneath. Guaranteed.

I am back to Austin now. New challenges and opportunities are in front of me. I need to take care some logistic issues and put my life under control. I hope I will go back to painting soon.

The Bird Nest

Came out of the mountain, we flew back to Beijing. Dinner after dinner, we were so busy in social gatherings and reunions. Some friends I haven’t seen for more than 30 years. Time has been materialized on our faces. We reviewed many old stories with laughter and tears. The old memories were felt so real, but the reality in front me seems like mirage.

The Gate of Heaven

I was at the Zhang-Jia-Jie Airport. The mountain behind me is called “Tian-Men-Shan” means the Gate of Heaven. You may see easily there is a cross right under the opening. I am very sure it is not a man-made structure. I am in awl with the beauty presented right in front of me. I am even more stroked by the meaning behind this holy demonstration. If you have the Faith, may God bless you and strengthen your belief. If you are searching for the Truth, may this demonstration bring you to a higher level of enlightenment.

A Piece of Cake?

We stopped a local fruit vender. She is petite lady carrying her merchandise with a shoulder pole. Jonathan (my son) always considers himself a strong boy and could not wait to experience her load. Well, it was not easy. We take for granted loading our stuff in the trunk of our cars, but hardly realize that so many people carry their destiny on their strong shoulders.

Zhang Jia Jie 2

Surrounded by the beautiful mountains, Zhang-Jia-Jie used to be a small village. This photo was taken within the walking distance from the hotel we stayed. These are typical houses the local people live. I like the old style houses and hope this village can be protected. There are many old cultures get wiped out by modernization everyday. This place could be replaced by “newer” concrete buildings anytime.

Zhang Jia Jie

The conference ended, and we flew to Zhang-Jia-Jie. We spent spectacular 4 days in this breathtakingly beautiful mountain. I wish I could assess the Internet there so I could have shared these photos much earlier with you. I am sure I will go back to this place again and spend much longer time having my painting gears with me. We hired a local guide and went to spots where few tourists can go. It was soooo great. The local people are called “Tu-Jia”. It is one of the 55 minority nationalities in China.

The living conditions were not that good there. We were frustrated and had many problems with logistics. The biggest problem was that there were too many tourists. It was very difficult to find a quiet place. This beautiful place is getting too commercialized. I sincerely hope this place gets the best protection.

Hotel on Water

My vocation got interrupted since I arrived at Shenzhen. I am here attending an international conference related to my engineering works. It is hosted in a water park. This is the place I am staying. It has a wonderful architectural design. I am back to my rat-racing schedule. What can I say? This is called BUSINESS. I got to run now.

Travel by Train

I am sitting by the window gazing the passing scene outside of the train. The lash greens faded into the mist of rain in the far field. I just had some very sweet Lichees (a type of tropical fruit) and read an article about Walt Disney from a Chinese magazine. This is the longest train ride I ever had. Having no AC for about two weeks, now I really appreciate the cozy air conditioning of the train. Happiness is not that hard to obtain. This is the kind of life I was searching for a long time. Break from constant DOING, I really enjoy this experience of BEING. That maybe the reason we are called human beings.

Si-He Courtyard

In the old days, the rich people in Beijing lived in this kind of courtyard houses call Si-He-Yuan. This photo shows the gate of a typical Si-He-Yuan. I remember when I was my son’s age (12), I had a few friends lived in this kind of places. Time flies! This photo could be me thirty some years ago.

We are leaving Beijing tonight to Shenzhen by train (29 hours). I will let you know what is going on in South China soon.

Old Beijing Hu-Tong

Beijing has changed completely from the time I left China. Ugly skyscrapers are ubiquitous. However, I am excited in searching traces of my old hometown. There are a few places have been preserved for tourists. These kind of narrow streets are called Hu-Tong. I lived in this kind of place until I went to high school (there were no “visa” signs, of course). It was a cool raining day. I feel so good to be home.

Chinese National Art Museum

This is Zhong-Guo-Mei-Shu-Guan (Chinese National Art Museum) where I got most of my inspirations when I was in high school. It has a great collection of Chinese Art. Many oil paintings, which had a tremendous influence to my paintings today. But the problem is that it does not show the collection everyday and only shows current exhibitions. I did not go in this time because no oil paintings are shown.

Qian Men Street

My wife, Song, and I went shopping at Qian-Men Street. There are many well-known old stores from silk products to Chinese medicine. I got tired pretty quickly. So I grab several snapshots while Song is in the fitting room.

Waiting for the birds

I ran into this group of photographers waiting for their idea moments. As an optical engineer, I wish I could have this kind of equipment. China used to be poor, but now the life for most of people here is much better than the bad old day.

Purple Bamboo Garden

Hello My Friends,

Ni-Hao (Hello) from Beijing. I hope this image reaches you all right. By taking the advantage of my jet-lag (11 hours) I went to this park around 5:00 AM in the morning yesterday. It remind me my childhood days. Beijing gives me better impression this time. The air quality is much better than that of my last trip here two years ago. My parents are doing well.

My parents live in a small apartment. It is so nostalgia staying my small room. My bed is actually converted from my crib. I have only about 2 square meters are to store my stuff and maybe do some painting here. I really feel I am staying in an airplane’s lavatory, but I will try to make this place work. Yesterday’s temperature was about 99 F in Beijing. My room is not air-conditioned. It feels much hotter than Texas.

I will try my best to keep you posted. It seems that I got my Internet problem under control. I need to go to bed now. The time is 3:50 AM.

Bye now

"Yesterday's Glory"

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After having a delicious Chinese meal, I cracked open my fortune cookie. It said: “being famous just likes a pig being big”. Wow! What a deep wisdom it is…. Well, I made this story up. However, the saying is rather well known. We all want to be successful, and work hard toward our goals. However, not everybody is aware that there will more work to do when we get there. It will be more difficult to keep in control. Michael Jackson died at ago 50. I felt very sad. He was very successful, but he lived a pretty miserable life for the last decade. I don’t consider myself successful yet, but I am on my way. Recently I have felt my life has changed quite a bit. I have spent more and more time on business, but not on art. I paint less and less. I feel I could do better, but there is no time and energy. Having a balanced life is hard to come by. Tomorrow, I am leaving USA for a month long vacation in China. I don’t know what I am expecting, but I will paint and keep you posted as much as possible. So long.

"Demo at Lacombe LA 2"

I came back from Louisiana last night. We had delicious beignet at the French Quarter, saw alligators in one of the bayous. It surely was a very enjoyable trip. This is my second demo painting I did at the workshop.

"Demo at Lacombe LA 1" --- Sold

I am at Lacombe Louisiana now and just completed another workshop. The workshop was hosted in a Unitarian church. I am enjoyed learning the local culture. People are wonderful here. I want to sincerely thank Barbara, Carolyn, and Chris for put this workshop together. I had a great fun meeting new and old friends and talking about art. This is my first demo. I hope you like it. Tomorrow I am heading to New Orleans and expect to have some wonderful cajun food. I will be back to Austin Monday night.

"Strawberries" --- Sold

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"Warm shadow and cool light" is a kind of rule of thumb for still life paintings. However, for this painting, I did the opposite. The setup was lit by a halogen light. It was very orange, but the shadow got quite bit of cooler reflection light into it because I was using filtered light for my canvas and palette. Some of the cooler light got into the shadows. I don't particularly like this lighting conditions, but it doesn't hurt to try one and two.

"Emptiness"

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This is my "Zen" painting. Well, be honest to you. I wasn't very "Zen" at all when I start it. I was deadly tired and the time was about 9:30 PM last night. My mind was completely blank, and I did not know what I want to paint. I scanned through my junk pile, and this small glass was glittering a beautiful blue light to me. Its chroma was so high, intense, and ptheloish (can I invent this word?). So I painted it with my 50% consciousness.

"Blue Center"

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If you have attended my workshops and demos, you might still remember that I use a piece of blue transparency to filter my light, so it produces an illumination very close to daylight. Now I put more information about this "North Light Filter" on my website: http://www.qhart.com/Still%20life/Pages/Blue_center.htm and my blog. You are more than welcome to check it out.

"Spectra of Onions"

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Onions are so colorful. On this gallery painting, those onions gave me opportunities to use red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. They are rich in textures too. Some parts are paper thin, and some parts are solid. Some parts are translucent, and some parts are opaque. I had a lot of fun painting them.