This "Pink Lilies" painting was exhibited in the "Art in Bloom" fine art show in New Braunfels Art Gallery in March 2010. It received a honorable mention award. Here are the judge's comments:
We took a 5-day plein air painting trip with a well-known artist, Ron Rencher, to paint on Catalina Island in March 2010. Catalina is located outside Los Angeles about 90 minutes ferry ride from Long Beach. We spent 4 days painting the town of Avelon and one day in Shark Harbor which is on the west side of the island. We rode in a van from Avelon going through the winding mountain roads (16 miles) to Shark Harbor. Along the way the mountains and rolling hills were covered with grass and trees in the gorgeous, lavish greens. The air was so fresh and crisp. People said it resembled the landscape of Irland. The Shark Harbor is a charming place surrounded by big rocks, cliffs, sand beach, and with a beautiful backdrop of rolling hills as shown here in my painting.
My favor guy - Clifford. I painted this one using loose brushstrokes to show the muscular forms of a male figure. You guessed - he likes it. I really enjoyed this style of painting - using big brushes and some palette knifes. It gave me a sense of freedom to express my artistic skills.
A group of us along with the artist, Don Ward, did a 5-day plein air painting in April 2010. We painted 4 days along the Bear Creek that is located outside New Braunfels in Texas. We were so fortunate being able to see this beautiful part of Texas hill country in a private ranch. This painting was done on site along the road called "Bear Creek Trail". This is a lovely country road curving down from the hill. A red house pricking out from the trees plus the fenced-in meadow yeilds a lovely picture. It reminds me of the song "country road... takes me home...".
I painted this dark red zinnias in a glass jar a few months ago. It turned out pretty lovely.
I saw this charming window in an art gallery in Santa Fe, NM. The picture presents a nice warm color of harmony. The artistic tree branches and the scarce autumn leaves tells us it is the season of fall. 
It was a misty early morning when our ship arrived in Icy Strait, Alaska. I opened the curtain and saw the peaceful coastal line in front of me. With my PJ still on I grabbed my camera and stood on the balcony to quickly capture the moment of tranquility. The misty mountain in the backdrop and the sailboat in the foregound, I wonder who is living in that blue house?
Look at the mommy duck and these baby ducks swimming happily in the sunny stream. The falling leaves in the water make a nice decoration for them. 
Yes, we can have a cold winter as well in south Texas. This winter (late 2009-early 2010) has been a long stretch of cold and wet days. The trees were showing the bare bones and water is cold. One bright side of this wet weather is that it nourishes the soil and will bring lots of beautiful wild flowers and bluebonnets in Texas soon in the Spring. I can't wait to see its arrival. 
We took a one-hour boat ride from Lido Island, where we stayed in Venice, to the picturesque Burano Island. Every one of the buildings and houses on this island are painted in the cheerful bright colors. This is an island of fairy-tale. It has canals crossing through streets and beautiful water ways reflecting the colorful buildings. This little fishing village has certainly made a mark in my traveler's journal.
After staying in Taos, New Mexico for a 6-day painting trip we were heading home to Texas. On the way from Taos to Santa Fe we stopped by this beautiful stream flowing down from the Taos Mountain. It was a bright sunny morning. The lights were shinning beatifully on these cottonwood trees.
I painted this yellow rose for my lovely niece, Jinyi. She came to Texas from China when she was 5 years old without knowing much English. Throughout the years she has become an outstanding achiever in academy and music. She was a drum major for the marching band in her high school and also graduated with a high honor of salutatorian. She headed west for her college, graduated from USC in California and returned to Texas in 2008 to continue her study in Bayler Medical School. She is an intelligent lady and a hard worker. I know she will be a great doctor. I gave her this rose to welcome her back home in Texas.
Every winter many people migrate from north to south Texas to spend time in the mild climate. They form a nice friendship and visit the New Braunfels Art Gallery often. People in Texas called them "Snow Birds". Here is a painting for them.
The Denali National Park offers the most beautiful autumn colors in September. The hills were covered by the bright red fireweeds with a backdrop of blue/purple mountain and the green spruces in between. You get the picture. We were so lucky to have a nice weather when we arrived in Denali National Park after a 4-hour train ride from Anchorage. Visiting Alaska opened up my eyes and heart to the nature. Alaska has the most fabulous and beautiful landscape with mountain, rivers, trees, glacier, and wild animals. We experienced the fear of possible encounter with bears and wild animals while walking in the trail. Yes this land is their land too.
Tai Lake is the second largest fresh water lake in China. It is about 2 hours driving from Shanghai. This bridge is called "Long Live Bridge" meaning you live young and healthy forever. We sure hope so. Other than fishing and transportation, the Tai Lake is also a place to raise fresh water pearls. I bought a nice pearl ring from one of the show rooms by Tai Lake.
We were on a boat cruising down the famous Lijiang River in Guilin, China. Guilin is rated one of the most picturesque sites in the world. Lijiang River winds along thousands of picks that have very interesting and unique formations. Cruising down the Lijiang River and seeing the beautiful hills passing by us it gave us a feeling out of this world. It brought me a great deal of serenity and an extreme feeling of "zen" quality. Lijiang River provides daily lives for many people live close by. You would always see fishermen sailing on a bamboo raft using a bamboo stick to move on the river. The sunset on the river presents an amazing picture.
The dark sky and moving clouds are over the beautiful New Mexico landscape. The storm is approaching. We need to find a shelter to wait for the rain passing by. 
When we have good rain in the winter and early spring in Texas, you will see the most beautiful landscape that is covered by blue bonnets in the hill country. This painting of a blue bonnet field is a view in the City Loop by Fredericksburg. City Loop is a famous driving trail for people to enjoy the most scenic pictures of blue bonnets. There are some web sites particularly reporting the blooming status of blue bonnets every year.
In my birthday party a dear friend of mine, Joyce, gave me 5 dozens of red roses. They were so beautiful and were overflowed from the vase. I set some of them up for various compositions for my still live paintings. Here is one rose placed on my son's guitar. What a lovely subject to paint. Does it give you a romantic feeling?
We watched the dance performance in the Plaza of Santa Fe, NM, on Oct 10, 2009 after finishing our lunch in a nice restaurant. Their beautiful dresses and cute dance moves caught my eyes. Here they are - dancing on the stage with the backdrop of autumn colors. I hope you feel the dance moves from these little cuties. This painting is in exhibition in the "Art for the Holidays" show in New Braunfels Art Gallery - Nov 18, 2009 ~ Jan 2, 2010.
I started a tradition last year - I would paint a holiday painting each year and give it away to a dear friend or a family member. Last year I painted 2 cute kittens sitting in 2 red buckets (see this one in my blog posted in Jan 2009). I then sent the painting image along with my greeting messages to my friends to wish them a happy holiday season. I've received many complements last year. My dear friend Joe replied: "A great painting, but do a dog next year!" Well Joe, the dog is here now to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a fabulous New Year! A lucky someone will receive this painting as a Christmas present from me this year.
We drove to Taos Ski Valley hoping to catch some fall colors as our painting materials. We saw this cute house sitting in the forest by a creek. What a lovely place to enjoy life!. This painting is in exhibition in the "Art for the Holidays (Small Works)" show in New Braunfels Art Gallery - Nov 18, 2009 ~ Jan 2, 2010.
Autumn is my favor season. It reminds me that the end of the year is approaching and the holiday season is around the corner. I love to paint aspens in their autumn colors. It has the most beautiful color values. I painted this one using a photo I took at Jerry Peter's Museum in Senta Fe, NM. I like the warm and cool colors plus the turquoise sky pricking through the aspens.
It was after the rain one morning when we were in Taos, so I decided to paint the big sky of clouds. I painted it by setting up my easel in the garage of the adobe home where we stayed in Arroyo Seco for 6 days. The house, named "Casa Coyote", has 3 bedrooms, one large living room, one big kitchen, and one dinning room, plus big windows that presents us the splendid view of Taos Mountain. It was a lovely place to stay. We had wonderful time in this house and painting trip.
Four of us artists took a painting trip to Taos, New Mexico in mid October, 2009. We painted in the Cous Museum one morning with Ron Rencher, a famous artist. This painting is a side view of the front entrance of the museum. E.J Cous settled in Taos in 1920's moved from New Year. He was one of the "Taos 7" artists in his time. Burney, the husband of Cous's granddaughter gave us a tour of the museum. We got to visit all the rooms including Cous' studio, workshop, etc. It was amazing to see the original studio setup of an old master. Yeap, he did have a big northern window with lots of lights in his studio.
