Sky

I love sky. Day and night, rainy or shine. When I was little I wanted to become a pilot. However they only asked for male to join the air force or commercial airline. By the time they accepted female, I was beyond the age they required. So I missed. Being a pilot/astronaut is still my dream though I know I may never fulfill it. I love to imagine that I can fly over the sky, and into the space. ❤

Ocean

I was grown up in a coast city with my grandparents until school age. Me and my grandpa walked to the beach almost everyday. Back then there was no smart phones or tablets or fancy TV shows. So I spent a lot of time at seaside. I and my grandpa would pick up all kelp that was pushed ashore by waves. At the end of the day the two of us would carry more than 2 dozens of kelp leaves back home. My grandma would dry them outdoor under the sun and in the wind. Whenever we wanted to eat them, she picked one or two kelp leaves and cooked it. In my heart, ocean is part of me. ❤

Nature

Nature has it all. Mountains, desert, caves, but I love water the most, including ice and snow. I love to observe the reflection on water surface. It is fascinating. I like to visit lakes, creeks, falls and even a little pond. I hope to express my perspective of nature in my paintings. ❤

Animals/Wildlife

Every creature is amazing. From mammal to birds, from reptiles to farm animals, they all have something I like. And don’t forget the marine creatures. They are absolutely wonderful. When I started to paint animal my parents didn’t understand. They didn’t think people would want a tiger painting in their house. But now as I paint more, they tell me that they start to enjoy animal paintings more and more. ❤

Food

I love food. I love cooking and baking. I can proudly say that I’m the best cook among my friends. At some point after graduation from SUNY-ESF, I even wanted to study pastry as a career path. The problem of painting food is that I will always feel hungry and want to take a break and eat something. I know I need to overcome this and stop seeing the subject as food when it is on a canvas. It is hard…..❤

Light & Shadow

I’ve noticed this when I started to practice portraits in 2017. Sometimes it didn’t go well as I expected. After the frustration period, I dig into the “why”. I finally realized that all practice that went as expected had strong contrast of light and shadow. No matter what subjects are, my eyes are always caught by the boundary of light and shadow, including moon light or city light. I’ve tried to paint something in low key but it is not always appealing to me. ❤

Fantasy/Mythology

I love fantasy creatures and scenes. I love to read magic, legend, dragon or spirit related stories. There is a Chinese book called Classic of Mountains and Seas. It was written in the ancient time about all mythical creatures that people had “found”. However, the pictures in that book all look like what’s on the left. I want to paint those creatures in oil with more lifelike style. I hope when people see those paintings, their eyes tell them the creature is real but their minds tell them no. 😀 ❤