White, Brown, and Blue Color Scheme

Archways at the City Palace in Jaipur, India

   The ocean, blue skies, clean, white spaces, it's all very summery to me and with Summer coming, I feel inspired by these Summer colors. It's been amazing editing my photo collection and finding those photos that are limited to these two colors. It's like travelling to these places all over again. I can relive those experiences and look through my journals for more information about those experiences.

Jaipur Bloom, watercolor on paper, copyright Nina Leung, 2017

  The little painting above was inspired by the City Palace arches. It's a loose interpretation, like all my other pieces. I like taking little shapes and pieces and colors from each photo. More after the jump......

The Shapes of Western China

Crescent Lake #1, watercolor on paper, copyright Nina Leung 2017

  I've begun working in a bit of a different way. Since looking through all of our old photos, I'm finally discovering that I can take something from all the travels I've done in the past. I wasn't able to do it at the time of travel, but I'm finally feeling it now. It's been a revelation. I'm still interested and pursuing the idea of microbes and growth and strange crystal cave creatures, but I now have a place to find inspiration for shapes and colors. They're coming directly from these old travel photos.

Crescent Lake #2, watercolor on paper, copyright Nina Leung, 2017 

 I begin with a color scheme and then look for photos that meet that theme. After choosing them, I look for shapes I like within the photo and use them in my paintings of microbes. It's been great! I'm forever inspired and excited and intrigued. The weekly color scheme change keeps it interesting and I have an excuse to look at all my old pictures.

  The paintings above are inspired by our trip to Xinjiang province which has this amazing Central Asian culture. It's as if we were travelling in the Stans. The people are beautiful and kind and the food is so good. We loved it there so much.

Travelling in Drop of Water on the Rose-Colored Snow

If Miro's Drop of Water on the Rose-Colored Snow were a place, it would be.....

Beijing, China!

It was so clear to me that Miro's beautiful painting should be linked to Beijing. That bright, brilliant, Chinese red. Love. And, with Lunar New Year upon us, it couldn't be more appropriate. Miro even includes a star, much like that on the Chinese flag. 

Dressing in Message for Degas

Dressing in Message for Degas by ninamleung featuring Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen dress / 10 Crosby Derek Lam black sandals / Cynthia Rowley black purse / Just Cavalli safari jewelry / Acne Studios black sunglasses / Floppy hat / Oasis red shawl, $20 / Black nail polish, $14

In Turpan, one needs a good, wide brimmed hat and a comfortable pair of sandals. The heat is dry and almost suffocating. Being on the Silk Road feels so exotic and so foreign. The film, The English Patient captures that same, transporting feeling. So much of it is set in the desert, in a foreign land, with much to discover.

The dark accessories paired with a slash of a khaki dress is much like the Frankenthaler painting, Message from Degas. That darkness is like a cool river running through the desert.

Travelling in Helen Frankenthaler's Message from Degas

If Helen Frankenthaler's Message from Degas were a place, it would be.........

Turpan, China!

Turpan is a smallish city (by China standards!) located on the Silk Road in the Gobi Desert. It is a very dry, barren place with a harsh landscape. The photo above reminds me so much of Message from Degas. The smooth, stark surface interrupted by the organic flow of the river. 

The area surrounding Turpan is agricultural, focusing on grapes and melons. They are known for their raisins which are dried in huts like the one above. The raisins are so full of flavor and there are many varieties. I can easily say they were the best I've ever eaten.

Dressing with the Uyghur Artist Abdukadir Dilmurat

Dressing with the Uyghur Artist Abdukadir Dilmurat by ninamleung featuring a bezel necklace

Kenzo print dress / Mulberry / Loeffler Randall black high heel boots / Givenchy red tote bag / Bezel necklace / SCP handcrafted earrings, $19 / Cream nail polish / Dior Hypnotic Poison

I put together something a little exotic, using a richly patterned dress as the starting point and finding thick, warm textures to surround it. The area is known for textiles, particularly silk and wool felt. Animal hide is also prevalent, particularly in the mountain areas. I added a little jade as a reminder that we're in China.

Would you believe that the film The Kite Runner was actually filmed in Kashgar, China? It's a stand-in for Afghanistan. It makes sense since they are so close to each other geographically and the area is much the same. The borders don't make that much of a difference. Great film to watch for inspiration and to see what Kashgar is like.

Travelling with Uyghur Artist Abdukadir Dilmurat

If the paintings of Abdukadir Dilmurat were a place, they would be...........

Kashgar and Karakul Lake, China!!

Uyghur Week: The paintings of Abdukadir Dilmurat

Ipad rendering of a painting by Abdukadir Dilmurat

This New York Times article in the Sunday paper inspired me to choose a Uyghur (wee-ger) artist from the Xinjiang province of China. I've never heard of Abdukadir Dilmurat until now, but I am quite impressed with his paintings, especially after trying to copy one of them on the ipad, as you see above. It wasn't easy! He used every color imaginable and placed those colors in very particular places. He obviously enjoys the act of painting and the feel of the paint.

Learn a bit about the Uyghur people and I think it's pretty easy to find the symbolism of the colors. Being of Turkish decent, the Uyghurs are pretty different than the Han Chinese living in the rest of China. They look different, the culture is different, they speak a different language. They even use their own time, Xinjiang time, separate from the rest of China. These differences create a lot of political unrest in the region of which one can find resonating in the abstract paintings of Abdukadir Dilmurat.

Travelling in Wang Hui's Scroll

Mount Emei in the Sichuan Province of China is one of the Sacred Buddhist Mountains. Many people make pilgrimages here to see the various temples that ascend the mountain. The day I was there, it was quite foggy, but that only added to the beauty. Mount Tai is likely similar in that there is a steep climb from temple and temple and the mountain is rocky and covered in trees and flowers. Wang Hui may have been similarly inspired by this sacred mountain.

Objects from Rousseau's Tropical Imagination

Each of these Rousseau-inspired objects have been photographed with a printing of a fish that my boys Gio and Eamon did. It's a Japanese art form called Gyotaku. The images and colors remind me of Rousseau and they make the perfect background for the objects I've chosen.

The flounder above is pictured with a journal my sister Teresa gave me. 

A bass with a turtle pendant I bought at Anthropologie. 

A piranha with an ikat scarf I bought in Khotan, China. 

An angel fish with a wooden decorative object I bought in Kashgar, China.

Another piranha with a bowl of marbles.