About Fan Lu
• Traveling Artist • Landscape Painter • Book Illustrator • Art Educator
• Event & Exhibition Organizer • Homeschooling Mother
• Cross-cultural & Interdisciplinary Program Curator • Creative Arts Ministry Leader
My name is 陆帆Fan Lu. In Chinese, 帆 is pronounced /fān/ in pinyin, meaning "All is well" and "Sailing." Art was always a healing tool in the early years of my life, even though I did not receive formal training until my second master's degree. I applied to only one art school and was accepted. Then, I took a bold step and resigned from my very stable job at the Shanghai Natural History Museum and came to San Francisco. My artistic practice explores diverse themes, including nature, travel memories, music, faith, education, literature, and daily life, utilizing a wide range of traditional and digital mixed media.
In 2018, after giving birth to my son and while I was still pursuing my second master's degree, my husband and I began homeschooling and roadschooling our son, together exploring and developing our family-stylized home education on interdisciplinary learning. Since 2020, as an independent educator, I have designed and taught bilingual art courses for children and adults, both online and in person, and curated community events that integrate spiritual faith and cross-cultural considerations. For me, teaching marks the beginning of a new, deeper learning experience as an aspiring educator with a growth mindset. Since 2022, I have initiated and led our family's Music Art Ministry, which serves spiritual communities locally and globally. Now, it has grown steadily into our family's Creative Arts Ministry, with a current focus on the Alameda Island community where our family resides.
My faithful journey began when I first learned about the Christian Faith at the age of 12 in 2002, while attending boarding school in Shanghai. However, it was not until 2015—the year I was baptized in Shanghai—that my true faithful journey of the inner healing through nature and art began. It has been a long and arduous journey to live extraordinarily in an ordinary life. The best is yet to come, and God's goodness overflows, with gratitude, resilience, caring, healing, and quiet strength, which naturally enable me to bridge cultures, express faith, and inspire joy. Praise the LORD!
*Above, this is a photo of me standing in front of one of my artworks, depicting my solo travel in Norway, as I gazed out a cruise window on the way from Tromsø to the North Cape.
My Art & Teaching Philosophy | Family Creative Arts Ministry
My Art Philosophy was formed when I started to build my own brand, FanLuArt, in 2018. "Art to inspire. Art for healing" was what I formulate to represent my first period in my art career; meanwhile, how art played a role in my life before, not only as a hobby but also as a way to gradually heal the adversities I endured as a teenager.Art heals me so much in my recovery, helping me find myself again, which holds the depth, weightlessness of unspoken words in the profound spirit. While "Paint to Celebrate!" was what I developed my vision for in 2023, it represents my second stage in my art career as a professional Artist Educator, as I develop my life in God.
My Teaching Philosophy was formed when I began working as an independent teaching artist educator in 2020. "Sow good seeds to the souls." I defined that it has always been the core value in all the events, workshops, courses I have initiated, designed, taught, and launched in various formats across different settings, including churches, for all ages.
Our Family Creative Arts Ministry has evolved from our family music art ministry and now serves Cross-Generational & All Ages. Our family with God is a forever team. It has been a mission with a calling, a responsibility, and a vision that has evolved over the years of our marriage, which began in 2017. Learn More & Visit Our Family Website.
More About Me
Ministry Leadership Experience
2022-2025 | Family Art Ministry and Creative Arts Ministry
(incl. programs initiation, design, teaching, launching, and team collaboration)
Event Organizer & Exhibition Curator Experience
2025 | Ongoing events and workshops for the local communities | Alameda
2020-2022 | Online Art Events Series
2019 | SailingBoat Art and Music Salon | Oakland
2019 | Parenting With Art | Alameda
2019 | Spark Joy | Alameda
Art Freelancer Work Experience
2020-2025 | Commission and Custom Fine Art and Illustration (Music, Biblical, Landscape, Book, Education, etc.)
2024-2025 | Design Art Products & Gospel Art Gifts
Art Teaching Experience
2017-2019, 2021, 2023, 2025 | Onsite - Churches, local communities, Schools, and museums in the San Francisco Bay Area (Redwood, San Mateo, Alameda, San Leandro, Oakland)
2020-2025 | Online - Bilingual Art courses for ages five to adults (students mainly from the US and China)
Solo Art Exhibition & Art Show
2025 | Journey: Landscape and Memory
2025 | A Blooming Joy: Walking Through Music, Travels, and Faith | Alameda
2019 | Landscape and Memory: The Traveling Series of Landscape Paintings | Alameda
Selected Group Exhibitions
2018 | Art Contest Exhibition | Pleasanton
2018 | Stories on Canvas | San Leandro
2018 | Simple Pleasures | Alameda
2018 | 100 UNDER 100 | Alameda
2018 | Group show | Palo Alto
2017 | “What is not to love” | Palo Alto
2016 | Summer in Italy | San Francisco
2016 | Group show | Florence
Other Full-time Work & Internship Experience
2015 | Full-time Museum Educator and Exhibition Area Management at Shanghai Natural History Museum (Branch of Shanghai Science & Technology Museum)
2013 | Intern at Harvard Center Shanghai
2012 | Intern at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
2010-2011 | Translator for the China Chief Representative of the New York Festivals Advertising Awards
Education
2016-2019 | MA Fine Art (Emphasis in Drawing and Painting) | Academy of Art University, San Francisco, USA (2016 Study Abroad in Florence, Italy)
2013-2014 | MSc Management and Organisational Innovation | Queen Mary University of London, UK (Degree Classification: Merit)
2009-2013 | BA Advertising Science (Journalism and Communication) | Shanghai Normal University, China (Received Academic Scholarships three times in consecutive years and was awarded "Shanghai Outstanding Graduate" in 2013 graduation)
2006-2009 | Shanghai Chuansha High School, China (2007 Study Abroad in Brisbane, Australia; Awarded "Three-Good Student" in senior year in 2009)
Born
October 1990 | Shanghai, China
