How are you? Have you had a good week and started a wonderfully new week? I do hope you have.

The excited thing on my side: I have found the best teacher for my future art studying after I leave school -- the Great Nature.

March 25 to April 7, 2014, I painted from the nature 25 times, for more than 50 hours.

Maybe you would guess, Shirley is crazy. Right? :-)

In fact, No, I would just like to catch the short florescence of the spring flowers in the North of China and the last time that I have still so many tutors and professors to comment my paintings and give me some directions face to face in Beijing. Also, because of the healthy problem, I will not be able to attend the last lesson of painting from the nature in the Sanqing mountain of Jiangxi Province after April 10. I hoped to do it by myself in Beijing.

I am lucky enough that the weather has been fine since I came back school, I has completed the class time that the school required 160% before my classmates leave for Jiangxi. So, from now I am going to reduce the painting time out of the door, return to my normal schedule, while to have a rest. After all, often, I suffer the ache, numb and edema; the skin of my hands has chapped as if “sand paper” already. :- )

Anyway, my heart is full of the happiness because I have benefited from learning from the nature so much.

-- My painting skill has been improved. Almost all my classmates, tutors or professors who have seen my paintings from the nature surprised of my progress and would like to give me some good directions sincerely. I have felt the respect from my new classmates more and more.

-- A” Day Dream” has jumped into my mind. Follow the directions of Professor Man Weiqi - the Executives Associate Dean of Chinese Painting College at Chinese National Academy of Arts in April, 2012: “ As a result of studying, you can think of publishing an album of your paintings from the nature. ”I am now going to create and publish a series of Chinese Baimiao Paintings base on the paintings from the nature by an art publishing house formally.

-- The most importance, it has brought me much more serenity inside. Every time, when I went into the great nature, faced the flowers, grass and trees in the sunshine, observed and painted them in their fragrance, I could quickly enter the state that did not care for anything else and did not be disturbed by any noisy things around me even though when I was by the wayside. what I could feel was just the pure and fresh, the beautiful and peaceful. So that several times, someone smiled and said to me: “You are so great and... ” I was so surprised since I did not know them at all, until they told me that they had seem my paintings behind me or went through me when I was painting out of the door...


During the process, suddenly I understood why my favorite America artist Mr. John James Audubon could keep working in the mountains for 58 years and then created the biggest book in the world The Birds of America( for getting this book, instead of visiting anywhere else, I have been to 4 art museums in New York City and went to one of them 3 times, then I found it, bought it and carried it back China even if I had to be punished 400 USD by the Airport for my luggage was overweight. :-) ) Compared with the numberless beauties in the great nature, any trouble, bad thing or displeasure in the world were really too inappreciable indeed.

When I write here, I cannot help smiling for thinking of a question that I was asked by more than one person: Why did you choose to travel 8,000 miles to work for your American students freely, instead of spending the money that you made so hard for yourself? My answer: I had found something incomparably delicious, so that I wished to share it with more people. That is so simple.

So, now, except working on my assignments at school, I am also working on both of my two publications: Volume 2 of Poetry, Painting, Music: Comprehensive and Artistic Chinese, and Shirley's Traditional Chine Paintings I-1: Chinese Baimiao Painting from the Nature (temporary name)in my study process naturally.

If there is nothing special, I will carry 2 kinds of my new series books ( I do not think I have prepared enough for my another book My American Stories yet) to go back to Seymour R-II High School; Ozarks Technology Community College and Missouri State University in Springfield Area, MO, U.S.A in 2015. To return the good education of my Alma Maters in the USA and in China, to return the nice help of the local friendly American people, to make my best effort for the progress and civilization of human being.

You cannot imagine what I am doing now. I am smiling for my Day Dream. :-)

How about you? Do you have anything special to share in the past 8 days? Do you have any day dream?


Sincerely,


Shirley Yiping Zhang
April 8, 2014 (Beijing Time)