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:)