Radish

After a busy week from work, I finally get back to paint. It's a good feeling knowing that I can always retreat back to my canvas and palette for a moment of peace and creativity after all the hustle and bustle.

One Winter Morning

I went to BayLand to paint this small painting with a crew of people filming me for the Full Spectrum Day (it's the annual event from my department at work, for us to engage with each other, share our thoughts, review what we have accomplished from the past, and look forward to the new year to come). The theme for this year's Full Spectrum is "The Makers". I am so thrilled to be chosen to film the oil painting that I love to make.

So I did this outdoor painting in 1 hour with 6 professionals around me - they managed the light, the sound, the video, etc. They are fantastic with tremendous patience. I will share the video clip with you once it's ready.

Three's Company

Three friends stand by each other - have fun!

Eggplants

Purple is my favorite color and I love the deep purple color of the eggplants. It's quite satisfying to paint a simple still life in early Saturday morning.

Red and Blue

This is a traditional still life setting. I found it quite interesting when I added a few blueberries in the setting as I could use the red and blue colors left from painting the apples and mug for the blueberries (and the tulip).

BTW, I have registered the Silicon Valley Open Studio 2011, and will be showing my paintings to the public in the first and third weekend in May. From now till May, I will be painting more :)

Breakfast time

This is the painting I did last night with my artist friend. It was her idea of setting up a breakfast scene.

First I thought the setup was OK, but when I started rendering the subjects - a peanut butter jar, some walnuts, a slice of wheat bread and a spread knife on a white plate, I then found the fun and beauty of painting them. It's the same elements of painting any other "exciting" subjects - color, value, composition, edges, and drawing.

Ready to Cook

This is the first still life painting I did in 2011. I tried to setup a scene that's warm and cozy to compensate the unusual wet and cold California winter.

As this is the beginning of a new year, I promise I will study, practice, and think more when I'm making art, and hope you will come back more often to share your thoughts with me.