Morning In Yarnell

oil on canvas, 14x18

This is painted from one of the pictures I took a year ago. For some reason I liked the composition even though it's somewhat unconventional. The perspective is good here.

I feel that, for landscape, the most important aspect is the composition. Whether there is a focal point or not is not as important, unlike a still life or a portrait where the source of light tells you everything.

Yarnell is a beautiful town about two hours of drive north of Phoenix. On highway 89 to and fro you can see cottonwood trees gather here and there along the creeks and mountains rising and falling in the distance and near. I love it's openness, crispy air and quietude. It's truly picturesque in every way.

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Please email me if you have questions or visit my website 

to see other paintings.

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To purchase this painting, please click here

Thanks for visiting!

"Desert Mountain"

Oil, 12x9

I painted this Alla Prima today from a picture, courtesy of my workshop instructor, Linda Glover Gooch, a wonderful painter and teacher. I liked the blue mountain and the warm/cool relationship with the foreground. So distinct in the "Kodak Moment", I almost wanted to do an abstract study. But I got into painting it this way. 

I believe this is the Superstition Mountain.

Painting quickly works better for me because often times I would paint a painting to "death" by over doing it:) It's really better just keep painting - paint the next one!

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 Please email me if you have questions or visit my website 

to see other paintings. Thanks for visiting!

A Desert Trail

Oil on Canvas, 9x12

Desert is pretty. It is nonchalant and carefree.

In an effort to be more disciplined, I bought a pad of real canvas and decided to paint a painting a day. So here it is one of the three I've done. I hope I'll come up with more worthy ones to post here, and often. With a picture in hand or something in front of me to paint, it is so much easier than to paint the abstract. So, this is a welcomed change for me.

I painted this from a picture I took two years ago at the Red Rock Crossing, Sedona.

It was probably in February and there were a lot of trees without leaves. A little desolate. But come to think of it, it has always looked like this no matter when I visited it. There are green trees along the creek during the summer and later, as I remember. Perhaps it's time to go back, again.

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 Please email me if you have questions or visit my website .

to see other paintings. Thanks for visiting!

"Reflection in Red" by Li Hua Mahalik

Mixed Media, 24x24

This is one of the three paintings still in progress. I feel like I need to define the forms, big and small, a little better with lines and saturated colors. But an abstract like this is a work define by when the artist decides it's done. Before then, the image on the canvas can come and go like clouds in the sky. The more you can preserve, the closer you can call it finished. 

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I'm showing 21 paintings of mine in the Grinder's Coffee Shop at Central and Dunlap in Phoenix. These are a mixture of traditional and abstract paintings;

they are great gifts for any occasions and priced reasonably

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So, please come visit and enjoy a great cup of coffee and sandwiches. The show will last till 6/6/12. 

My friends, painters, Gloria Cuadraz, Vanya Allison and Sven Helle will be showing their work separately in July, september and December. I'll keep you posted.

Please also visit my blog and website. Thanks!

Issak Levitan's Artwork

Issak Levitan, oil on canvas

Issak Levitan, oil on canvas

Isaac Ilyich Levitan (Russian: Исаа́к Ильи́ч Левита́н; August 30, 1860 – August 4, 1900) was a classical Lithuanian-Russian landscape painter who advanced the genre of the "mood landscape". (Courtesy from Wikipedia landscape search)

Today, while trying to find out where my favorite Russian painting site was, I bumped into Issak Levitan's many wonderful paintings. I felt very ignorant not having even heard of his name before. I thought I'd share them with you. His many other paintings are shown here:

http://www.adolphmenzel.org/artist-Levitan,%20Isaak-01.htm

Enjoy it!

Li Hua

p.s. 21 of my paintings are being shown and for sale at the Grinder's Coffee Shop at Central and Dunlap in Phoenix. Priced reasonably, they are great gift for any occasions! Thanks for your support!

"Untitled T1"

Oil on wrapped Canvas, 24x24

Recently, I was led to an amazing and interesting online tutoring website, www.kahnacademy.org. In it, it has all kinds of subject matters that you've probably known or have take in high school or college. I wanted to see how much of the Calculus I remembered. Subsequently, it led me to the creation of a triptych, and this is the first of the three.

Cy Twombly is one of my favorite abstractionists. I love his scribbles. Looking at his work, it inspired me. I forgot how to talk gibberish, mathematic equations as scribbles seem natural, that is, if you don’t think too much.

More to come, later,

Li Hua 

Email, Website

Time moves on

Qiang Huang, Artist

A busy week. My Austin, Texas friend and teacher Qiang Huang (pronounced Chong Wong) came to town to show his work in the Legacy Gallery. Qiang was part of the Richard Schmid's Putney Painters of Vermont exhibit. The art exhibits and workshops were all filled with new ideas. Please visit Qiang's website and read his daily blog. Qiang always has an interesting view on life.

Now I'm off to an abstract workshop that uses tissue wrapping paper as an element of surprise. Wish me luck.