EMBRACE

Last week was long and exhausted. There are still a lot of work to finish but I do think I need to take a break and relax for a little bit.

I took a break yesterday night after studio work. I did a quick sketch on canvas. It is memory from a trip. I miss those mountains and the sky. Once the semester is over, I can't wait to go on trips again!

MEND

I barely do painting of people, so I think I might try this time.

Not quite sure how to write about these two paintings but I like them.

REDISCOVER

This is a painting about dream.

The floating tulips
The lighting of the ocean
The reaching to somewhere

Dreams are vague and difficult to capture.

Anyhow, I am trying to like it after painting it.

ENCHANT

I have a chance to talk to one of my high school friends this week. We haven't talked to each other for almost 7 years. Now he is working in China, while I am studying in US. The phone call lasted for 3 hours, we talked about memories from high school, we talked about our life. He can remember so many stories that I can barely recall.

"There are too many things that I have to deal with now, but thinking those memories from the past make me happy." He said. He escapes to past when he doesn't want to face the reality. I feel his struggle but I can't help. The only thing I can do is to listen.

ROUND

The first one is my color palette that I use to mix and organize my colors. I have been using it for almost a year and half. I am waiting to a point when it can actually become a painting.

When I paint for this week, I am thinking the time when I went to the beach in Shenzhen. The coolness of water, the heat wave and the crowd. Even though, everything stays calm and chill.  

HOLD (ADMIRE)

I thought about water at first.

And the memory of learning swimming comes into my mind. When I was under the water, I see different shapes and all the reflections. They are fluctuating, even I don't know what they could be and I could barely hear sound underwater, I enjoy the randomness of that beauty.

After I finish this painting, I heard that the movie - The shape of water - is the big winner for Oscar. I look at my painting, and I think, this could be the shape of water.

At this point, I can hear Tony say to me, everything has connection.

ANSWER (RESPOND)

I think this music : 远方 - Distance responds well with this painting.

Last week my friends tell me that I am always really calm when I am working, they never feel that I could be possibly stress. That's not true, however, I also know that sometimes being emotionally doesn't help me to solve the problem. My parents never make decisions for me, so I have to deal with everything by myself since I grow up. Years after years, I start to know myself and I practice planning my life, so I might look calm but I can better control myself I guess.

SHADOW

The painting was as thick as usual before, but I don't like it so I scratch all the paints on the. And it turns out to be the one I like.

I am still sticking to the "ocean" theme, as well as combing the word that Tony gives us every week The painting is initially inspired by a gift that has various colors. All the colors remind me the sunrise by the ocean. The sun coming out slowly from the other side of the earth and it starts enlightening the water, the sand, the rock and the tree. If everything on earth have life, they are waking up slowly....

JOURNEY

I make something this week. I really enjoy the process and happy with this final product. I am taking Galen's class and our first assignment is making a pair of shoes. 

I am not quite sure what's the idea behind these shoes, but I guess my inspiration dates back to the history of making shoes. When we are lacking of material but we still need to protect our feet, we find material from our nature. It is an old technique, there are still some people use this method to make shoes or bags. In a artistic way, I added lots of pom-pom on the shoes, they represent all the dirt or earth or snow that this shoes will pick up when walking.

OPEN

School has been started for almost a month, but I don't feel I am ready. It has been couple weeks after different reviews and deadlines, however, I don't think I am in good pace. I probably need more time to adjust myself. Maybe life is like this sailboat, not sure whether it is the right metaphor or not. There might be land in distance and the way to get there will need lots of effort. It might encounter storm, or could lead to treasure, but who knows what will happen in the future. Whatever it comes,  it doesn't matter because everything will become parts of the journey.

TOUCH

The semester just started, and I feel I am not ready for it yet. But the music and the paint make me calm down and find inner peace. For this week, I was inspired by Swan Lake - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. I watched the ballet when I was a kid, and it was fresh memory when I heard the song again. It reminds me the beauty of the ballerina and the sadness of the story. After the performance, I told my mum that I wanted to walk like the ballerina because she was so pretty and elegant. However, I am not flexible enough to do it and this piece of memory is buried somewhere in my mind. I am glad that the music awake the story and it's a nice feeling.

Reveal

The world "reveal" can mean lots of things for me, and it always connects to the world "conceal". As something is conceal and has been revealed. Or trying to reveal something so as to figure out the answer...

During Thanksgiving holiday, my friends and I went to mission peak for a hike. It is a pretty decent day for hiking, not burn and not windy. Views are pleasant. Mounts and mounts are overlay. Colors are dissolved as it is covered by light mist.

I used to hike because I want to see the nice, sunny and clear view at the top of the mountain, but I think my perspective changes these years. Views are not that important to me, it's more about being in that environment and feel it. I used to hike in bright and sunny day when you can see everything just like those fancy pictures online. But now, I appreciate every situation, they all have their own beauty, in the rain, in the could, in the fog, as part of the journey. 

BESTOW

I wonder where this word could take me and at first I don't really know what I can do for this week. I usually don't think about how or what to paint, I would rather wait until that 'Aha' moment when I feel like this is how it should be. So I also wait this time.

On Friday, we went on a hike in Mount Diablo after a rain. I knew there was probably no views at the top of the mountain and it might be foggy and windy. But I still wanna go, who wants to always hike in sunny day? We went to top of the hill. Everything was in the mist and you could feel the moisture in the air but it was quite beautiful and mysterious. It was such a pleasant time for me. To me it doesn't really matter whether I can see San Francisco or not but more about being in the landscape and feel it. 

SHARE

When Tony told us the word for this week last time, one moment came to my mind immediately. It is dated back to last Thanksgiving. Me and some of my friends went on a road trip from Berkeley through Arizona to Utah. We rent a mini van and camp for ten days in different national parks and State park.

We stayed in a sand dune State park for one night. It was such a great experience that we were in the middle of nowhere. No service, no electrical light and we are in wild. We set up a bonfire and stayed in our sleeping bag next to it. We sat in circle and started to share our stories one after one.

I appreciate that I could have friends to go on a journey with me and these becomes unforgettable memories.

VEIL

I went to Horseshoe Cover, northern side of golden gate bridge. It is our final site for studio. It is such a beautiful place and the city is right across the ocean. It was sunny, windy and foggy. Thick fog covers the entire city and you can't even see any building outlines. Huge ship drives by with loud alarm. You can barely see the color and the details of it. The only think you can see is the large dark shadow moving through the fog, it looks like a ghost ship from the pirates of Caribbean.

I quite like the moment when everything seems to blend into each other. There is no clarity at all, which is the beauty of it.

Regain

A group of students in out studio went to LA for the ASLA Conference this weekend. Most of us came back on Sunday, but I wanna stay for the party so I came home last night.
My friend and I drove back yesterday, we took 101 instead of 5 so we could see the ocean. The views were so beautiful as the transitions form urban grids to hills, the shining ocean the golden grasses and stars and lights at night.
On the way back we stopped by Santa Monica to visit a friend and later we stopped at Madonna Inn for dinner. It was quite a long trip, but it was a good chance to catch up with my friend. We have been so busy this semester and never had a chance to sit down and talk about our life. Road trip gives us these precious moments to think and talk. We talked about people that we met at the conference, we discussed our future plans, we gave suggestions to each other. We enjoy this eight-hour road trip that bring us home. As we talk, time flies, landscape changes and we are home again.


(I am still working on my pieces, but I think it will be nice to write about it first...Painting will come tonight:)

FREE

Not sure whether this painting fits well for this week's word - FREE. It could have lots of explanation behind the word. I try to raise the question, like what does "free" represent or can something be free?  I guess I am trying to interpret the word in my mind, and I think last week drawing might also fit in this word.

I did the painting when I don't think about too much. I don't really know what could be or how it will look like but just let the brush move back and forth. But I feel delight inside and I like the set.

Save

I don't really know how I feel about this painting, every time when I look at it, I feel that there some power in it. There are some subtle feelings in there, no striking form or colors but some passion.

He used to play piano for almost fifteen years but stop after coming to Berkeley. It has been a while for him to play again. Once he enters the piano room, he doesn't wanna leave. I am sure he miss it. The art that is built in your soul can't be taken by any others. Interestingly, after he saw the painting this weekend, he ended up having a dream, dated back to ten years ago when he was in a school band with a bunch of friends, playing piano.

MEET

It is from the old memory that dated back almost 20 years ago. Here is the park that I always go with my parents during weekend. It is a pretty big park that has zoo, kids' playground, hiking trails, BBQ, and the city main reservoirs. Every fall, the park has an exhibition of chrysanthemum, where you can see different variety.  The photo was taken during one of the chrysanthemum exhibitions. All my best memories were in this park, especially the children's playground.  Even the color already faded out, I can still see all the happiness in there. However, the children's playground is going to be redevelop into a commercial area due to the fact that it might bring more money to the park. I don't think I will have a chance to visit before all the construction happen, but I do miss it.

HOLD

The world "hold" make me think about another word - "balance". Like trying to hold water within hands, if you hold it too tight you will lose all the amount. However, if you loosely hold it, you might able to hold some. So the crucial point for the balance is hard to find.

Seeking the balance in life is a task. We are always trying to adjust ourselves to life so as to reach a point that we are comfortable with.

Here is a painting that shows the sunset of pacific ocean. It was a cloudy day and the sunset was gentle. I can barley see the sun in the cloud. The ocean and the sky are almost the same color.  I quite like the moment when everything comes together.