First Show in 2015.

I am happily announcing, that three of my works have been accepted into Love, Lust & Poetry 3, hosted by Nickel Plate Arts, Fishers, IN. 

It will take place Feb.6-28. The Opening Reception will be held on Friday, Feb.6th, from 6pm till 9pm.Please feel free to invite your family and friends to this free First Friday event!

What a great way to celebrate Valentine's Day!



"Orange Fever"  pastel on paper 12x18"


"Moon Beam"  pastel on paper  13x19"


"Moon Rising"    pastel on board   22x22"


Life Drawing Fun!

Thanks to my new friend artist Charlene Brown. She's such a passionate artist with such fun personality! Charlene introduced me to this life drawing event that happens every Thursday at Sullivan Munce Cultural Center, Zionsville, IN. 
I havn't got the chance to draw from life ever since graduated from college. I was a little anxious at the first quick  sessions but managed to calm down during the 2-hour pose. 
Here is the result. Done  on plain Canson Mi-Tient paper. Cheap and wild available as is, it is still one of my favorite surfaces for my pastels. 
It was so much fun attending the event and get to know many artist in my area.  I will make sure to go next week!


Life Drawing, 16x20" Pastel on Paper
available

                                                  
 




Pears and Clouds

My recent still life works involves iconic shapes and symbols, reduced to their simplest forms. They could be a glance of an subject, a suggestive scene of landscape, or a dominate shape of fuzziness.

I started with pieces of my thoughts, or the blurry dream on that rainy night. I use different artistic language with gestural marks, scrambles, and whispers. They slip into the painting like an conversation between the voice-over and the "real" subjects. I hope this could also reflect some reality from the heart of the viewer.  


"Whispers in the Air"  pastel on board  12x12"
Available  





New Painting just cooked up.

I'v had a lot fun the 1st week of 2015. 

This painting was done on my all time favorite pastel paper Canson Mi-Tient. It might surprise many of my viewer as Mi-Tient is always considered an entry-level surface fro pastels. However I found it works wonder for detailed realistic pastel work. The smooth side of Mi-Tient gives enough support for my layers and it helps me achieve a soft and dreamy effect. 

The drawback of Mi-Tient is that it is a relatively thin paper and thus very fragile. I've tried the Mi-Tient Touch, which is a fine sanded board. It gives ample support but it's sanded so it's not as smooth as its paper version. 

So here is my experiment:
I used a piece of gator board as my support. Then I brushed paper cement onto both the gator board and the texture side of my Canson Mi-Tient. I waited for a minute and carefully attach them together. I then put something heavy on top it (my weight is a box of Christmas lights!) The cement is very strong, so I get a perfect mounted pastel board in about half an hour!

I was so excited to find it being acid-free and it's not as messy as a spray adhensive.  Here is a link to this wonderful products.

http://www.michaels.com/best-test-white-rubber-paper-cement/10061547.html#q=paper+cement&start=1

The gator board offers great support when painting. To put it into a frame is easy as a click!
"Moon Rising"   24x24" Pastel on Board


                                                      SOLD






Why Paint Realistically?

I've been heard compliment like "It's almost like a photo!" "Does the cat bite?  It looks like it gonna jump out of the painting."

I know people are trying to be nice sometimes. But I have to ask myself why I should bother to try to depict the real world faithfully, when mostly, a camera does a better job of depicting the real world, than I can do? 


Photography is an art medium in its own right. Art has many mediums. As of any other medium, it has it's only distinctive  character that is hard to set apart.  It's the new fashion of art, which I feel greatly lucky living in the new age.  However, we do still need realistic art even though it's the digital age and photography is widely available.

To me, Digital art is a sketchbook with unlimited pages and a big range of colors and textures.  A painting, a good painting, is edited by the painter's mind. I do work from reference photos and they are of great help. But I try not to be restrained by it. I love to play with composition, the light and shadow, and the air that is circulating through my subjects. Every single minute playing with these elements is delightful and exciting.  The turn-out is the summary of my personal journey through out the process. If the viewer echoes what I see and what I feel, it will sing!


Art and images of the world are not a necessity for survival. However, they are important. They are one of the things that makes us human. We have the ability to appreciate the world as is and we are trying to approach to our limit to bring out the natural beauty faithfully.   
Painting what we see will change how we look at the world. That's something no camera can teach a person. 


"Silent Hours of Night"  14x20" Pastel on Paper