Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Landmarks of Columbus Indiana of the United States a collection of my plein air paintings from my two week trip to the most remarkable city



This collection of my plein air oil paintings was created from my two week trip to the most extraordinary city of Columbus Indianan USA where my brother Clyde Xi and sister Lynn Zhao and their families have called home for many years. Columbus is extraordinary with a very contemporary modern appearance but deeply rooted in tradition. My two week stay there gives me the opportunity to paint en plein air the city's extraordinary landmarks created by some of the world most famous architects such as I.M. Pei also well known for his Louvre Pyramid in Paris, and Eliel Saarinen also well known for his National Museum of Finland. Columbus is also extraordinary for it is the birthplace of Cummins, an American Fortune 500 corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines , which also employs four members from my family. It is so exciting for me to paint up so close the creations by these extraordinary artists. I have left all these paintings to my brother who will find a proper occasion to auction them off to raise money for local community.























Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Brandon University Original Building Steeped in the Morning Sunshine at 11 this morning October 11, 2017

Brandon University Original Building Steeped in the Morning Sunshine at 11 this morning October 11, 2017
Reached Brandon University around 11 this morning , and after parking my car in front of the original building on BU campus , and feeding the parking meter with enough coins, i started to paint right away with a sense of urgency knowing that in a matter of an hour, the morning light will shift away from the facade of the building and leaving it too dark. It is no doubt rather a challenging task to try to finish a fair big sized canvas in less than two hours from beginning to the end. It is always exciting to me to come to the campus to paint especially when you could meet some new interesting people as well as seeing some old acquaintances. Today towards the end of my painting session, I had the great pleasure of meeting Mr. Gerald Butler who is a BU alumnus from the early 60s, who contributes financially towards BU Indigenous teachers education programs and is the owner and president of BCWB Financial Care in Winnipeg. The wind was getting worse and I had to hold the easel steady with one hand , and so glad that I was able to finish less about two hours with a sense of satisfaction.

Saturday, October 7, 2017

Memory from Childhood in Ripid City Manitoba

As the request from Ellen in the States I drove to the beautiful small town in Manitoba to paint this view to mark her 50th birthday.

Friday, October 6, 2017

Clear Lake in its autumn splendor Riding Mountain National park Manitoba Canada

Did not plan to paint this view of Clear Lake but when the colour and light from the lake caught my eyes while driving by , it was simply irresistible.