Happy Chinese New Year!

How are you? Have you had a good week? Are you enjoying your weekend? I do hope you have and you are.

This Thursday and Friday is the Eve of Chinese New Year and the Chinese New Year’s Day American Time.

It was for many years, I worked by my computer to introduce something about Chinese New Year’s Day at the important time.

This year, instead of writing about Chinese custom as usual, I spent these important time with my painting, poetry and music. I have bethought of the poem that I had realized in my last painting and I have re-translated the poem, re-written the article and re-played the music and I have re-sung the poem song in Chinese and in English.

To be honest, since 2005, I have written a piece of music for it and corrected it 5 times. Since 2007, I have created more than 10 paintings to match it, and I have written several comments for it. Also I have sung it more than 30 times in the public occasions and I sang it three times in the Eastern Kentucky Broadcasting Station May 10, 2013. However, until this Thursday, after I completed to re-write the comment for the second volume of my series book: 《诗。 画。 乐： 综合艺术汉语》 Comprehensive & Artistic Chinese: Together with Me, to Learn Chinese Culture and Language by Enjoying Paintings, Music and Poetry , just I felt I had really started to understand it.

Now I realize: a classic cannot be totally understood by studying just once or twice. Many allusions are hidden in the ancient classics, if we stopped after getting a little knowledge about them, then we would not truly understand the core of truth. Then I just realize why many Christians study Bible for whole of their lives instead of just reading once or twice. Because, Bible is just a classic. Right?

With a respected heart, I went to study Bibl Friday night and the content in Matthew has really helped my a little bit mess brain recently got clear and totally went out of the frustrations.

Right now, I have totally recovered into the former peaceful heart and a normal emotion.

You cannot certainly imagine, instead of buying one bunch of flowers as usual, Friday afternoon, I I bought three branches flowers for my apartment in the temporary apartment to celebrate Chinese New Year’s Day in the USA. In the sweet smell, I have also completed another new paintings. I have spent a special Chinese New Year’s Day among the flowers, with my cross-culture and comprehensive art dream and the actual work down to earth in the USA.

I will re-think of many things and my own orientation. To find a road that can help more people while makes myself in a happiness by making the value of my long-term work and effort to be maximized. .

Many people thought that I am working on too many things and make the things too complex so that what I am working on an “ industry ” instead of a personal job. I am thinking, maybe it is just my character, if people think so, that is right. What I want to do is really not a personal job, but a career should have many people to work together. I am just studying, researching and creating a model for this career.

Maybe now, it is still not the time for me to be a pure artist to work just on painting or writing yet.

Maybe after studying and working on the pure art jobs for several years, it is the time to back to my old road, to make arts as my hobbies, a hobby on a professional level, but use my time much more to found an economic entity . Then what I am doing will be able to have the true future.

After my new “ career” was run well, then I will be able to return back to be a pure artist.

Since I have been in the anxiety on where I should develop myself? In America or in Australia? Why don’t I think of founding an international company? Then the problem will be re-solved?

How do you think of my idea? Can you give me any suggestions?

The photo with this letter is the post of Ozarks Technical Community College did for my art exhibition, you can click it to see the time and place.

Also, you can click the link to see the big size photos of my American Stories and the Post.

You are invited and be welcome to attend my art exhibition in OTC at the art gallery of OTC on the third floor of the theater in the Downtown, Springfield, MO, USA.

How about you? Do you have anything special to share?
Shirley Yiping Zhang
Feb 1, 2014