"Special Recipe" --- Sold

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This is another large painting on a small painting surface. My experiments have gained more momentum. I have spent quite a few significant hours on it. It is a gallery level painting, but I want to see if I can market it myself. The price is different from the most of my daily studies, but I guarantee it has a high quality. The scene was from a photo I took in Kinston, NC. I was invited by a group of workshop artists for a dinner in a very good restaurant. The food was so delicious. Moreover, we sat by a window to the kitchen. I snapped many photos of the chefs working there.

In current representational art world, one of the master artists I really admire is Quang Ho. It happened several times in the past, some artists mistakenly thought I am Quang. I was flattered every time when this happened because I knew Quang and I are not in the same level. When I just joined OPA, Quang is already the judge of OPA National Shows. I really like Quang's painting of kitchen scenes. Before I paint this one, I looked and studied Quang's paintings. They helped me significantly.

“On a Hongkong Street" --- Sold

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This is a large painting, 30" x 40". I spent a week to do it.

No, I am just kidding. This one is only 5" x 7". I did this one to see if I can paint a super busy scene on a very small surface. The reference photo was shot in HongKong last December. It was very busy street, full of people, cars, and junks whoever knows. It challenges me to see if I can make a painting out of it. If you paint plein air, you must have been into similar situation. In front of your eyes, there is so much going on. You are wondering how is possible to make a painting out of this mess. My approach to simplify the scene is closing one eye and squint really really hard the other eye, then you get the basic light pattern. Use this basic pattern to generate your composition, and make sure the perspective is correct. After you get this, latter stages are much easier.

"Afternoon Light" --- Sold

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Now is my experiment time again. This is a small study I did from a photo I took in China. It is a small village called Tong-Li. Based on my previous research on grays, palette knife work, and investigation on Tibor Nagy's painting style, I am trying to figure out a procedure I can apply quickly on my plein air activities. This small painting hardly have any colors. It is predominately a value design. Landscape painting has much more freedom compared with still life paintings. There are so many abstract shapes in this painting. However, obtaining this freedom is not easy. I have spent two days on this 5" x 7".

"Demo at Granbury 2013 3" --- Sold

This is my flower demo at Granbury. You may see the composition of this painting is almost the same as the one I did at Landgrove, Vermont. I like that painting so much, so I want to make sure that getting that painting was not an accident. That is the the reason I did a similar setup. The painting turned out good. I feel satisfied. The high light on the silver pot was blindly bright. I surely enjoyed painting this one.

Now I am back to Austin. I will rest a little and prepare my painting trip in China. I'd like to set up one major milestone for every year. For 2010, I met Richard Schmid. For 2011, I quit my engineering job. For 2012, I attended AAU studying figurative with Zhaoming Wu. Now for 2013, I will lead a group of artists painting in China. I am grateful for all these opportunities, and humbled in front of all challenges. I really appreciate all of you for encouraging me on this very special journey. Thanks.

“Demo at Granbury 2013 2"

I used my second demo as a step-by-step guidance. So I selected relatively simple objects. I added leaves at the last moment using knife work to enhance the composition. The subtle colors and rich grays make the painting calm and tranquil.

"Demo at Granbury 2013 1" --- Sold

This is the first demo at the Granbury workshop. I specifically like the mysteries  of this one. I did not use much of high chroma colors this time. The abstract patterns on the copper and the brush work to the left of the copper are the parts I like the most. The transition from the abstract shapes on the left to the realistic presentation on the right is cohesive and smooth.

Due to my massive amount of traveling and teaching, my demo paintings have become a significant part of my daily painting practice and blog posts. Different from my personal study and exploration, demos have shown certain amount of repeatability. If you feel you see too many of the same thing, please let me know.

"Granbury Texas"

Arrived at Austin around 1:00 AM. I had a few hours sleep, then jumped into my car. Driving about 4 hours, I have arrived at Granbury Texas. The local temperature is 104 F. Granbury is about 40 miles south of Ft. Worth. It is a typical Texas town. This is the city hall of Granbury.

I want to thank the Lake Granbury Art Association for organizing this workshop, and thank all the artists for attending. We are having wonderful time here.

"Demo at Landgrove 2013 3"

For every workshop, I must painting some flowers. So this is my third demo at Landgrove Vermont. In addition, I really enjoyed painting the silver kettle in this one too.

Now the workshop is over. I want thank all the artists for coming and learning. I really enjoyed meeting  all of you and hope to see you again in the future.

Yesterday was a relaxing day for me. So I decided to take a walk. Vermont is a very quiet place. The entire population of Landgrove is just a little more than 100 people. I was walking on the dirt road and enjoying the nature around me. I didn't see anybody around, except the spirits who had passed before my grandfather was born (I passed two very old cemeteries, I didn't see any ghosts but imagined). Well, I thought I was the only alive soul on the winding dirt road, but a car is approaching me and stopped right in front me. A gentle man came out of the car and said to me: "You must be Chong Wong." I was stunned with surprise. It turned out he was one of the artists from New Hampshire who took my workshop at Putney a few months ago. He was plein air painting in this beautiful Vermont country.  Wow! the world is so vast, and so small as well.

"Demo at Landgrove 2013 2"

Now this is the second demo. I guided the students by dividing my painting process into several stages. Everybody has been enjoy this approach. I have seen noticeable progress on students work. We all very happy about this workshop.

"Demo at Landgrove 2013 1" --- Sold

I usually do my demos with the objects I am familiar with. However when I saw this old scale in the dining room of the Landgrove Inn, I just simply can not resist the temptation of painting it. The composition of this painting might not be ideal for a powerful design, but I have really enjoyed painting the scale.

"Landgrove Vermont"

I have been to Vermont quite a few times, Almost all my previous visits were at Putney and painted with Richard Schmid. Well this time is a little different. Now I stay at the Landgrove Inn right in the middle of the Green Mountains. People are coming from all over to be away temporarily from busy city life and to be near the nature for a while. Landgrove Inn offer many art workshops all year around. I want thank Thomas Checchia for the opportunity of teaching here. There are so many country scenes all around here. This is a photo I shot this morning of a rustic barn right outside the Inn.

"Pears in Purple" --- Sold

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Confucius said: "If I am in a group of three people, at least one of them MUST be my teacher". Now I am in a group of thousands of people. I felt very very fortunate. These a couple of days, so many of you commented on my previous post. I felt the love, support, encouragement, and care. I have learned so much from all of you. Thank you so very very much for your heart warming messages. I will keep exploring, researching, and sharing what I have  tried.

This painting I did yesterday, I did this one in front of several artists I mentoring in Austin. With this one, I balanced the realistic presentation and the abstract execution. I am in the mid-way. All the sages and wise people always teach the mid-way approach. I am learning.

This afternoon I have arrived at Landgrove Vermont. Feels so good to cool down. I will let you know more about this small town in the Green Mountains later.

"On the Red Carpet" --- Sold

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Yesterday, Song and I had a serious talk about my art. We sat in front my computer screen browsing through hundreds of my painting images. She told me she felt that my recent paintings are not as good as my older works, and some of her friends also felt the same way. Many of my recent works look unfinished and too abstract. I feel happy we had conversation like this, I agree with her and feel grateful that she kept my sanity checked. Painting really shows the artist's mental stage. We can't hide and disguise. I have to say my mind is not in a very stable and positive stage lately. Too many things happening. I have been traveling to too many places. I feel the stress and fatigue. I start to worry about future, and inevitably pay attention more on the commercial side of my art career. This is my third year of being a full time artist. Comparing with my previous engineering job, I do make less and work much more. I do not regret the decision I made in June 2011. I have been feeling happy being able to follow my heart and chase my dream. However, the real journey is rather difficult. The third year is really a test. I don't have the beginner's luck anymore. There will be more growing pain I need to endure, and more challenges need to be faced. I really want to thank Song and Jonathan for their love and support. They give me the courage to keep going.

I remember hearing a song. The lyric is like this:
"You do not know how to face it, but you have no way back.
You will stick to it until the last minute, for keeping the life going."

My today's painting is less experimental. Feels more like the good old days.

"Cathedral Rock" --- Sold

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I took many photos in Sedona AZ. It is a little funny I taught only still life painting at this super beautiful outdoor place. I wish I did plein air there. This is my first painting of the red rocks of Sedona from photo. Let me know you like it.

"Tibor Nagy Study 2"

This is the second study I did by copying Tibor Nagy's work. The progress is noticeable. My color gets cleaner, value gets brighter, and I felt a little bit freer in manipulating my paint works. My main goal of this study is trying to use simple and abstract paint works (including brush, knife, and whatever tools) to  suggesting abundant, busy, and complicated city scenes. At this moment, I am not there yet. I have not figured out a strategy to approach my task in a controlled manner. I simply "monkey see, monkey do", copying a piece of paint after another. I hope eventually I will get an "Ah Ha" moment, to achieve similar effects without copying the master.

"Tibor Nagy Study 1"

I want to do this a long time ago, but waited till this a couple of days I have a small amount of time I can control. Tibor Nagy is one of my favorite artists I want to learn from. I like his work tremendously. When I was in Scottsdale not long ago, I have seen his originals in the Legacy Gallery. I like his art even more. However, I don't understand his ideas behind his paintings, so I can't rationalize his approaches. In this situation, the best way of learning is copying the master's work, then develop your own approach. By copying other artists' work you immediately feel what is different between your own style and that of the other artist. So you are immediately in the new territory, and other peoples' success will guide you so you can pursue for long miles without getting lost.

"Sugar Bowl from Sedona"

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During my Sedona workshop, I have bought a few props from a local thrift store. I specially like this white sugar bowl. On Tuesday, I painted this one and really like how it turned out.

I have a bad news to tell you. Yesterday around 11 AM central time, my email account got hacked. A bad guy in Poland broke in my account and sent out quite a few bad spam message. if you got a message from my email, but does not sound like me, please delete it immediately and do not click the link on that message. I found out of this a couple of hours later. I changed my password immediately. Now my account is back to normal, but I sincerely apologize the damage caused by my email account. I don't quite understand why people do this kind of bad things. The world is getting more and more chaotic. So be careful my friends.

"Demo at Sedona 2013 2"

I posted this demo painting late. This was the second one I did at my Sedona workshop. Similar to my Phoenix workshop I used this demo as a step-by-step guidance to my students. Teaching is very different than painting. I try my best to improve my teaching skills to make sure my information is practical and effective. For the artist friends who have already taken my workshops, if you see anything I need to improve, please let me know. It will be a big help to me and my future students.

"Arcosanti"

On the way back from Sedona to Phoenix, we stopped by a very interesting place called "Arcosanti". It is an experiment of a wonderful concept by renowned architect Paolo Soleri of architecture and ecology working as one integral process to produce new urban habitats. I heard about Arcosanti just very recently, and very excited to visit. Like many people who have sensed the problems of our current system, I have been constantly searching for alternative places where people can live sustainably. Obviously, Arcosanti sounds like one of those ideal places.

However,  the reality is the opposite. Arcosanti looks like an ran down modern ruin to me. Obviously, this project is badly lack of funding and resources. The place is deserted. Bare concrete structures are full of deteriorated scars. My heart sunk sadly. Arcosanti is not alone. I have noticed more often recently that many of sustainable living models have been smashed mercilessly in front of the concrete economical reality. I am wondering if the endlessly chasing wealth is the only workable way to survive in this beautiful planet.

"Texas Yellow Rose"

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Came back from Sedona yesterday. I took today easy. I slept a lot and watched some TV. Song and Jonathan were very happy about our Arizona vocation. This rose painting I did it the night before I went to Phoenix, but didn't get a chance to take a photo. Now you have it. Please enjoy.

"Demo at Sedona 2013 1"

Say goodbye to Phoenix, then say hello to Sedona. My workshop at Sedona started right after the one at Phoenix. Due to some issues of Internet connection at the place where I stayed, I posted my paintings late. This is my first demo. I want to thank Sedona Arts Center for inviting me back, and thanks to all the artists for attending. I am so happy to see the beautiful red rocks again at Sedona. Song and Jonathan are thrilled to visit this super beautiful place the first time. We have climbed on top of one vortexes and felt the supernatural energy of the heaven and earth there. While an Indian quietly played his drum and flute, we have entered a deep meditation.  When you start to forget the existence of yourself, you start to feel the real happiness.

"Demo at Phoenix 2013 4" --- Sold

My workshop at Phoenix was a 4-day one. On the forth day, I did a demo that I didn't usually do. It was a landscape painting from a photo I took from earlier in China. I demonstrated my palette knife work, and recently developed skills of using grays. I have spent quite long time explaining how to get the perspective correctly. It is so important to have enough knowledge to manage perspective if you paint houses. This is a painting of a very old house. This is first time I did this kind of painting in front of many people. It was fun.

"Demo at Phoenix 3" --- Sold

I put my flower painting demo on the third day of the workshop. My approach to painting flowers requires significantly amount of patience. Slowing down and placing your stroke down with confidence is the key to give the flowers a fresh look.

"Demo at Phoenix 2013 2" --- Sold

With my second demo painting, I did a step by step guidance. I picked a relatively simple setup to make sure all students can follow me. Everybody was happy about this approach.

"Demo at Phoenix 2013 1" --- Sold

Today is the first day of my Phoenix workshop. I want to thank Li Hua Mahalik for organizing this one. Thank you artists from the Phoenix/Scottsdale area and all over for attending my workshop. It is very hot at this time in Phoenix, but we will create some awesomely cool art together. This is my first demo.

Scottsdale

Yesterday, I have arrived at Scottsdale Arizona. It is very hot here. The downtown Scottsdale is very quiet. I have really enjoyed seeing great art in high prestige galleries in this town.

"When the life is young" --- Sold

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This is another rose from my father's garden. New life is coming out of the world everyday like this rose bud. I really like the phrase "coming out of". We did not "come into" the world (like an alien). As a matter of fact, we came out of it.

"Everlasting Rose" --- Sold

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My father is no longer with us, but his rose garden is still there. He has been remembered by many neighbors as such a green thumb gardener. His roses had attracted so many photographers. Since he had been ill for many years, his garden has not been taken care for a long time. The roses have overgrown like trees, but I still found quite a few in beautiful blossom. I did this painting with one of snapshots I took in my father's rose garden. I meditate on those roses. Seeing through the illusive mortality, The Eternity is right in front of me.

Back to the USA

It was a great day in Beijing. Beautiful blue sky and cozy temperature. I left my birth place and flue back to the USA. I have arrived at Austin just a couple of hours ago.

I have received so many messages of condolence to my father's passing. I want to sincerely thank all of  you from the bottom of my heart. I feel so blessed that I have so many wonderful friends so dear to me. You give me strength to keep going.

My life will go back to normal very soon. I will leave for Arizona next week and teach two workshops there. I am looking forward to meeting you or seeing you again.

In August I will also teach two workshops. I still have some openings. If you are interest in attending, please contact the corresponding workshop organizers. The information is listed below:

Three-day basics of oil painting workshop
August 2 - 4
The Landgrove Inn
Landgrove, VT
Contact: Thomas Checchia


Three-day basics of oil painting workshop
August 8 - 10
Lake Granbury Art Association
Granbury, TX
Contact: Vickie Guthrie

Last Glimpse to the World

On June 19, I started my 10 days meditation course in Kaufman TX. I have really enjoyed. It was a very special kind of life, After I have been forced to isolate from the outside world, I felt very wonderful. I only do three things everyday: eat, sleep, and meditate. My mind got quiet down. The cool breeze caressed the quiet meadow under the hot Texas sun. The bright full moon fell to the horizon in the deep blue morning. I felt I was in heaven. .... However in this peaceful tranquility, I didn’t realize that an horrendous emotional storm was at the verge.

On the third day in the morning. I was sitting quietly gazing my respiration. The course manager whispered that he needed to talk to me. I came out the meditation hall. He brought me the bad news: my father had just passed away.

I have to cut my meditation course short. I was not ready but must deal with reality again. After a short and busy preparation. I was on the 12 hours flight to Beijing. My life is just like that, from an extreme to another, high contrast and surreal.

My father’s passing was peaceful. I am glad he has been liberated from the eleven year of suffering of Parkinson’s disease. My father was wonderful teacher to me. He has manifested right in front me what the life really is. I have been pondering my own death, and I know my life even better. I want to thank him for all the good lessons.

This short stay in Beijing will end soon, and I will be back to the States tomorrow. Yesterday, I force myself to paint. This is my father 4 months ago. I didn’t do it as an art study. It is a portrait of the truth.