Doodles and Hobbies

Doing something with my hands, such as doodling, sewing, or knitting, while watching Friends has become an all-time favorite of mine. I'm definitely not the best of any craft, but being able to enjoy these hobbies when time permits has been a blessing :)

Here are some images of my artwork that are posted on the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts website (http://www.chineseperformingarts.net/). 

When I was younger and first started Chinese brush painting, I loved how vibrant green leaves looked especially with white or yellow flowers. Don't get me wrong, that is the foundation of scenic flower scenes, and I still paint those to this day. But in high school, I finally reached an artistic maturity level and perceived that I could paint whatever popped into my mind. I realized that my previous art pieces were essentially the same – bountiful flora scenes, beaming with life. Not only were my art pieces essentially the same piece, but my competitors' pieces were also essentially the same as mine. I set out on a journey to document and research the other half of the life cycle of flora: decay and hibernation. I quickly learned that brown wasn't the only color that could illustrate decay. I used so many hues of yellow, tan, coffee, sage, moss, and more. My two-panel piece took longer than any other piece I had ever painted. Not because it was two panels, but because there were so many different nuanced colors I wanted to use to make it realistic. I absolutely adore scenic paintings, and I even tried my hand at adding humans into the equation. The idea I told my art teacher that I wanted to convey to my viewers was that humans can live in equilibrium with nature. I ended up painting a lady peacefully resting and enjoying the surrounding landscape. It seems like I was meant to be an Environmental Science major.