Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Oil Painting "Upstream" Goes to Seattle

Last week, I shipped to Seattle my 2008 oil painting, Upstream, which has been selected for the juried show, 2014 Evergreen Association of Fine Arts (EAFA) Open Exhibition, at EAFA Gallery in the Seattle Design Center (5701 Sixth Avenue South, Suite P292, Seattle, WA 98108).

This modest painting, measured 24" by 18", semi-abstract in style, clearly influenced by Chinese ink painting, depicts a fish or two struggles to swim upstream, against the current.  It is fitting for the painting to travel to Seattle, because it was in that city when I witnessed an amazing salmon run in Chittenden Locks Fish Ladder several years ago.

 Upstream / 逆流 / Gegen den Strom

This painting was not a frank documentation of that fish ladder scene; rather, when I painted it, I was trying to capture a free spirit, a spirit to overcome adversaries.  I deliberated chose a black and white color scheme, and a bold, almost abstract outline, as I was mostly interested in something elemental, less representational.

This work surely has a charmed life and earned a fair bit of recognitions - in 2009, it was published in The William and Mary Review by The College of William and Mary, Virginia, Volume 47.

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Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Orange Celebration in San Francisco Civic Center

Though I am not a baseball fan, I appreciated it when San Francisco Civic Center dressed up in glowing orange, the color of San Francisco Giants, which is playing in the World Series, particularly in the Halloween season.

Last Saturday, when I attended a performance at San Francisco Opera, I was quite enchanted by the orange civic monuments, such as San Francisco City Hall, Opera House and the Symphony Hall:

DSCN7862  - San Francisco City Hall in SF Giants' Orange Glow - 500m
City Hall

DSCN7868 - San Francisco City Hall in SF Giants' Orange Glow

DSCN7863 - San Francisco City Hall in SF Giants' Orange Glow

DSCN7869 - San Francisco City Hall, Opera House, Symphony  in SF Giants' Orange Glow
City Hall, Symphony Hall and Opera House

DSCN7870 - San Francisco Opera Housel in SF Giants' Orange Glow
Symphony Hall and Opera House

DSCN7880 - San Francisco City Hall in SF Giants' Orange Glow DSCN7879 - San Francisco City Hall in SF Giants' Orange Glow

DSCN7878 - San Francisco City Hall in SF Giants' Orange Glow

DSCN7877 - San Francisco City Hall in SF Giants' Orange Glow DSCN7862  - San Francisco City Hall in SF Giants' Orange Glow - m

DSCN7873+4 - San Francisco City Hall in SF Giants' Orange Glow - 700

DSCN7875 - San Francisco Opera House in SF Giants' Orange Glow
Opera House Balcony

DSCN7876 - San Francisco Opera House in SF Giants' Orange Glow

DSCN7881 - San Francisco Opera House in SF Giants' Orange Glow
Inside the Opera House

DSCN7883 - San Francisco Opera House in SF Giants' Orange Glow


Inside or outside the Opera House, the orange color really sparkled.

PS: Many years ago, when I first heard of the concept of World Series, I asked which countries were playing the tournament.


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Friday, October 17, 2014

More Impressions of Austin, Texas

In this final report of my trip to Austin, Texas in the past June, I'm going to round up the fine impressions it made on me.

St. Mary's Cathedral - it was not very big and grandiose; it impressed with its fine details contained in its intimate interior - well balanced and nothing was amiss:

DSCN0421 - Central Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas

DSCN0428 - St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas DSCN0429 - St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas

DSCN0425 - St Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas

DSCN0656 - St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas  DSCN0653 - St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas DSCN0649 - St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas

DSCN0626 - St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas DSCN0647 - St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas

DSCN0624 - St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas

DSCN0621 - St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas

DSCN0619 - St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas DSCN0640 - St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas DSCN0630 - St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas

DSCN0628 - St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas DSCN0614 - St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas

Architecture - there were many impressive building in downtown Austin, and besides the already reported State Capitol and Driskill Hotel, below are a sample of some impressive buildings, in broad styles ranging from neoclassical to ultra modern:

DSCN0247 _ 6th & Colorado Streets, Austin, Texas DSCN0241 - Littlefield Building, Austin, Texas DSCN0163 - N. Congress Avenue, Downtown Austin, Texas
6th & Colorado Streets, Littlefield Building, and N. Congress Avenue

DSCN0601 - Omni Austin Hotel Downtown, Austin, Texas
Omni Austin Hotel Downtown

DSCN0565 - Omni Austin Hotel Downtown, Austin, Texas DSCN0161 - Downtown Austin, Texas DSCN0156 - Frost Bank Tower, Austin, Texas
Omni Austin Hotel Downtown (l), Frost Bank Tower (r)

DSCN0943 - Frost Bank Tower, Austin, Texas DSCN0062 - Convention Center, Austin, Texas
Frost Bank Tower (l) & Convention Center (r)

DSCN0908 - Convention Center, Austin, Texas
Convention Center

DSCN0143 - United States Federal Courthouse, Austin, Texas
United States Federal Courthouse

DSCN0864 - Austin, Texas

DSCN0595, Austin, Texas

DSCN1453 - The University of Texas at Austin DSCN1454 - The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin

DSCN1007 - Parking Garage in The University of Texas at Austin
Parking Garage in the University of Texas at Austin

Museums - besides the impressive Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, I visited several other museums in Austin.

The Contemporary Art Museum had no permanent collections but the small exhibition was engaging enough, though the long last impression was made rather by its interesting façade:

DSCN0831 - The Contemporary Art Museum, Austin, Texas

DSCN0923 - The Contemporary Art Museum, Austin, Texas

DSCN0925 - The Contemporary Art Museum, Austin, Texas

I stopped by the Bullock Texas State History Museum briefly while waiting for the Blanton to open, mostly admiring the building, particularly its rotunda:

DSCN1082 - Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin

DSCN1038 - Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin

DSCN1043 - Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin DSCN1046 - Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin

Near the Convention Center where I attended the DrupalCon, there were two small museums each resided in a modest historical house - the O. Henry (William Sydney Porter) Museum and Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Hannig Museum.

I like the period decorations inside O. Henry Museum and I was very delighted to see some of his unpublished manuscripts on display, and it was fascinating to hear the author's recorded voice.

DSCN0741 - O. Henry (William Sydney Porter) Museum, Austin, Texas

DSCN0750 - O. Henry Museum, Austin, Texas

DSCN0752 - O. Henry Museum, Austin, Texas DSCN0749 - O. Henry Museum, Austin, Texas

DSCN0758 - O. Henry Museum, Austin, Texas

DSCN0744 _ Unpublished Manuscripts, O. Henry Museum, Austin, Texas
Unpublished Manuscripts



The official website of the Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Hannig Museum informed us that: "The 1869 home of Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Hannig was saved and deeded to the City of Austin in 2003. Joseph Hannig built this home in 1869 for his new wife, Susanna Dickinson. She survived the Battle of the Alamo and carried the news of its fall to Sam Houston, which ultimately led to Houston's defeat of Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto and won independence for the Republic of Texas. For this deed, Susanna Dickinson became known as the 'Messenger of the Alamo.'" Below are a few photos I took at the museum:

DSCN0740 - Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Museum, Austin, Texas

DSCN0737 - Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Museum, Austin, Texas

DSCN0764 - Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Museum, Austin, Texas

DSCN0738 - Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Museum, Austin, Texas

Downtown Austin was full of clubs, bars and restaurants in its multiple "Entertainment Districts", and strolling along these historical streets was very pleasant, be it in quiet morning or at exciting night:

DSCN0113 - Entertainment District, 
Downtown Austin, Texas
Entertainment District, Austin

DSCN0929 - Downtown Austin, Texas

DSCN0663 - Entertainment District, Downtown Austin, Texas



Austin was also a very "green" city, manifested in its convenient public transit systems, shared bicycles, and colorful rickshaw taxicabs, which can be seen in the video above.

DSCN0599 - Shared Bicycles in Austin, Texas 
Shared bicycle station in Downtown Austin

DSCN1083 - Shared Bicycle Rack near the University of Texas at Austin 
Shared Bicycle station near the University of Texas at Austin

DSCN1460 - Bicyclists in Austin, Texas, June 2014
Bicyclists in Austin

DSCN0094 _ Metro in Downtown Austin, Texas
Metro

DSCN0967 - Metro, Austin, Texas




More on Austin, Texas Trip, June 2014

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