How are you? Have you had a good weekend? Are you enjoying your new week?

Last night, when I drafted this letter, I thought of a Chinese idiom: 失之东隅，收之桑榆 Shi Zhi Dongyu，Shou zhi sangyu -- Lose at Sunrise and Gain at Sunset / what you lose on the swings you get back on the roundabouts.

Oct 24 to Oct 29, I could not go to the lesson of painting from the nature because of my health problem, but I completed my 8th Chinese Gongbi painting and I started my new Chinese Mogu Painting; I could not become a student of MFA of Missouri State University in its fall semester, 2014 and spring semester, 2015 and I had to cancelled the travel to go to Springfield, MO to offer 2 lectures on Chinese New Year's Day and on Feb 26, 2015, an art exhibition and some lessons in 2 schools in Feb, 2015, but, I will certainly give some new lectures, lessons and art exhibitions with a higher quality after completing the fifth class-year’s study in Beijing and maybe get a degree of MFA of Chinese National Academy of Arts; I cannot give my comprehensive and artistic Chinese and traditional Chinese art to my Western students as the original plan in the USA, I have started a Bible English Corner and Daily English for my classmates in my classroom in Beijing. It has spurred me to improve my own English at the first.

I have totally gone out of the frustration and the hesitation July to September and I have restarted to work, study and live in Chinese National Academy of Arts, with a positive and optimistically heart.

After painting about 500 traditional Chinese paintings in Beijing, I have often had a strong emotion to create something more. Every time, when I see a good photo over the cell phone or somewhere else in the real world, I want to paint it on my sketch book.

Days ago, I got a photo of two little blue water birds, they were snatching a fish. To be honest, I was not very interested in this kind of birds originally, when I looked at their funny style, I could not help becoming interested in them so that I wanted to paint them. But, I could not see them very clear on the cell phone, so, I checked the data on my computer. After download 1490 pictures, I started to like them and I wanted to paint some picture for them...

Then I did many drafts. During the process, I did a lot of jobs to check the data and to see how I should to abstract the most beautiful lines from the nature things, such as the water, to express our idea with a best art style... :-)

So, except Chinese painting tools, I have also bought some brushes of oil and some color of opaque watercolor painting/ gouache. Because I do think, we should not be limited to a circle that is made by ourselves, no matter what tools, as long as it needs, we can use.

Now I have had an idea to create a series of this kind birds with small size, then to create a big painting? :-)

On surface, I am not working on my dreamed of project directly, in fact, I am making preparations for working on it with a higher quality every day; on surface, I do not make any coin and I spend much money every day, in fact, I am accumulating wealth with the other style. On surface, I am giving the others always, in fact, it is the process to improve myself at the first.

Just like one of my tutors Mr. Wu Tong who is the associate head of Teaching Department of Chinese Painting School at Chinese National Academy of Arts said: Your Chinese Flower and Bird Painting should have a breakthrough this class-year. I have felt the change in my mind and in my work. I have not satisfied to learn from the ancient masters only, I am going to do something by myself with what I have learned from Chinese Tradition + Western Tradition + my own ideas. In this sense, my dream to learn Western art in some Western University has not stopped yet.

I am sure, my art study in Beijing, has not only entered the phase of research, but also it has entered the phase of creating. Along with the freedom of painting truly come to me, my project that base on Chinese Painting should have made a rapid progress.

Do you believe in it?

For filling the requirements of my classmates, as a volunteer, I have organized an Bible English Corner to learn The Story of The Bibles in English and in Chinese. While I offer a sentence by a famous artist in English and in Chinese on the white board in the classroom every day, as our Daily Chinese. The first two ones are:

" No one is free, even the birds are chained to the sky " by Bob Dylan (1941 --), American Singer - Songwriter, artist and writer

" It takes long time to become young. " by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973）, Spanish painter and sculptor.

All of participants said they had gotten so much not only on English, but also on Western culture.

The interesting thing was: I gave them 4 choices to learn The Story of The Bibles or to learn something else. They chose Bible.

I have bought some books The Story of The Bible and put them into the classroom for the participants to learn at any time they want.

People have suggested me to send my Daily English to the circle of friends via my Micro Letter. I said yes, since I have had 1200 connections in my cell phone and I am in 4 groups of Micro Letter and 3 of them are my former classmates / artists at China Central Academy of Arts, Chinese National Academy of Arts, and my former students at the art training class in Beijing...

Also, I am thinking of re-starting my own Daily Chinese Colum on my little web site since I have had 12,000 registered readers online.
In this sense, I am in fact working on my project with the other methods. It is just Lose at Sunrise and Gain at Sunset. Do you think so?

You are welcome to see the photos and their notes by click the link

How about you? Do you have anything special to share?
Sincerely,


Shirley Yiping Zhang
Nov 10, 2014 (Beijing Time)