Paint to Celebrate!

Fan Lu (born 1990) is a multidisciplinary, cross-cultural artist and educator from Shanghai, China, currently based in California, USA. Her academic and life experiences span China, Australia, the UK, Italy, and the United States. She earned a BA in Advertising (Journalism and Mass Communication Studies) from Shanghai Normal University in 2013, where she was honored as a Shanghai Outstanding Graduate, the prestigious municipal award recognizing academic excellence, leadership, and community service. In 2014, she completed an MSc in Management and Organizational Innovation (with Merit) at Queen Mary University of London, and in 2019, she received an MA in Fine Art (with an emphasis in Drawing and Painting) from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Since 2016, Fan's work has been exhibited in group and solo shows in Florence and several U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Alameda. Her artistic practice explores themes such as nature, travel memories, music, faith, education, literature, and daily life, using a wide range of traditional and digital media. She designs and teaches bilingual art courses for children and adults, both online and in person, and curates community events that integrate her Christian faith. Fan's early career in museum education, international education, and media shapes her interdisciplinary approach to art and teaching. Together with her husband, Dr. Samuel Bai, she co-leads a family Music Art Ministry that serves Christian communities both locally and globally. Since 2018, they have homeschooled their son, Bamboo, through a faith-inspired, arts- and science-integrated bilingual model that focuses on nurturing creativity, spiritual growth, and self-motivated lifelong learning. Influenced by early life challenges and cross-cultural experiences, her work embodies the spirits of gratitude, resilience, healing, and quiet strength. Through her artwork, teaching, and community service, she continually makes efforts to bridge cultures, express her faith, and inspire joy.

Art Philosophy

Art to inspire. Art for healing.

Paint to Celebrate!

Teaching Philosophy

Sow good seeds to the souls.

Music Art Ministry

Visit our family website: www.FGMusicArt.com

After leaving my full-time job at the Natural History Museum in 2016, I came to the USA to study painting. It was a calling for me to paint. It is an important work given to me by God. My artwork—especially landscapes—is a celebration of God’s magnificent creation in nature. The process of painting and praying has become a way for me to dwell in His presence. As I create, I find myself renewed by His word and inspired by the beauty that reflects His glory. Through community-based projects and personal work, I hope to encourage appreciation for nature, inspire gratitude for life, and invite others to seek true peace and joy in God. Drawing and painting have always provided a soothing outlet for my mind and soul. Over the years, I’ve experienced God’s healing through both art and nature. I now offer these gifts in service to others. My practice spans from tiny sketchbooks to wall-sized canvases, from intuitive expression to thoughtful storytelling. Reading continues to nurture my inner world; books have always been my companions and guides. I often draw from everyday moments, travels, and quiet reflections—integrating emotion and faith into my work. Music is another essential aspect of my life, as singing is what I love and an outlet to express my voice. Ultimately, art has become more than a personal outlet—it is an offering of love, gratitude, and healing. I choose to draw and paint joyfully, recording the little moments of happiness with gratitude.

Since 2016, my artwork has been showcased in eight group exhibitions across Florence, Italy, as well as in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Alameda, San Leandro, and Pleasanton in the United States. In 2019, I held my first two solo exhibitions in Alameda, titled "Landscape and Memory: The Traveling Series of Landscape Paintings." That same year, I also organized and curated four community-based art and music events, including "Spark Joy" and "Parenting with Art" in Alameda, as well as the "Sailing Boat Art and Music Salon" in Oakland. From 2020 to 2022, I hosted a series of online bilingual art and music storytime events for families and children. In 2024, I began designing original art products and gospel-themed gifts inspired by my illustrations and paintings. In 2025, I held my third solo exhibition, "A Blooming Joy: Walking Through Music, Travels, and Faith," in Alameda, which was displayed for six weeks. This exhibition featured a teaching event related to the theme I designed and taught, which was open to the local community. In addition to these public projects, I have illustrated educational books and created commissioned artwork on various themes, including landscapes, scripture, music, education, and more.

Since 2017, I have actively taught art in schools and museums throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2020, I expanded my practice to include online, bilingual art courses for students aged five and older, primarily from the United States and China. My teaching is deeply rooted in faith, and I believe that educators should cultivate an environment that fosters learning and nurtures each student’s unique existence and expression. I design multidisciplinary courses that incorporate various mixed media, including graphite, watercolor, gouache, acrylic, oil, ink, markers, and digital tools such as Procreate and Photoshop. In addition to my teaching, I collaborate with my husband, Dr. Samuel Bai, to lead our family music and art ministry. We serve the local community in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as international Christian groups. Additionally, we have been homeschooling, roadschooling, and worldschooling our son for seven years using our personalized, faith-based approach that integrates music, art, nature, and science into our home education. Also, these years were a challenging time for my husband, who graduated with phd in biochemistry but then decided to pursue a music career. At the same time, I gave birth to my son in 2017 while I was pursuing a second master's degree in Fine Arts. We continue to explore and grow together. I am grateful for the unwavering love from my son, who encourages me continuously.

From 2010 to 2011, I worked as a translator for the Chief Representative of China at the New York Advertising Festival, assisting with academic research, email correspondence, and translating promotional materials. In 2012, I interned at the MBA Admissions Office of China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), where I supported the organization of MBA candidate application data, helped coordinate recruitment events, and proctored exams. In 2013, I interned at the Harvard Center Shanghai, where I assisted with professional education programs, including lecture preparation, event logistics, and post-event coordination. In 2015, after passing the national public institution exam and interview, I was formally appointed to a full-time role at the Shanghai Natural History Museum (a branch of the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum) as a museum educator and exhibition area & volunteers management. My work included designing and delivering educational programs, guiding exhibition tours, teaching rotations in the education center, successfully applying for research funds, writing and publishing articles, conducting visitor experience research, and performing in the institutional choir, which won first place in a citywide competition among science institutions. I later resigned in 2016 to pursue my passion for art and further my studies in the United States.

I entered Shanghai Chuansha High School through the Zhongkao (Senior High School Entrance Examination), earning the “Three-Good Student” award in my 12th grade, senior year, in 2009. I also studied abroad in Australia. Although my Gaokao (The Nationwide Unified Examination for Admissions to General Universities and Colleges) scores were not ideal compared to my regular academic performance, I was assigned to my admitted major based on my one-time Gaokao exam result and studied at Shanghai Normal University, where I majored in a BA in Advertising Science (Journalism and Communication). There, I received academic scholarships for three consecutive years and graduated with a “Shanghai Outstanding Graduate” award in 2013. For my master’s studies, I applied to multiple prestigious UK universities and received offers from eight schools, including the University of Leeds and the University of Glasgow, etc. Ultimately, I chose Queen Mary University of London because I preferred living in London, where I earned an MSc in Management and Organisational Innovation with Merit classification. After full-time work in a museum, I then applied to only one school, the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and was accepted. I graduated in 2019 with an MA in Fine Art with an emphasis on Drawing and Painting, including a study abroad program in Florence, Italy.

I am a native Shanghainese, born and raised in a close-knit extended family in Shanghai. From six months to three years of age, while my father worked in Japan, my mother balanced her role as a dedicated schoolteacher with caring for me. My early childhood was surrounded by warmth and collective support from my grandparents and relatives. At age ten, everything changed. My father was imprisoned for a year, and shortly after his release, he divorced my mother. That same year, I ranked first in my fourth-grade class. Despite the upheaval, I remained academically strong while my mother managed our lives with the help of our extended family. At twelve, I entered a boarding school focused on foreign languages. I experienced school violence from an upperclassman—an incident that left a permanent scar on my head and heart. Despite the trauma, I excelled academically. In ninth grade, my classmates nominated me for a prestigious high school award due to my academic achievements and character, but my teacher unjustly revoked the nomination. I later earned admission to another top high school through the national exam. During this time, my father remarried without informing me. I only heard about it through extended family, and I was gradually excluded from his life, especially by his new wife, who saw my presence as a threat. My father remained silent, especially when I was excluded from family gatherings just before the critical Gaokao exam. I continued to perform well, serving as a class representative and receiving honors for academic excellence, moral character, and athletic achievements. When I was 18, my half-sister was born, though I only found out from my uncle, not from my father. Over the years, I was repeatedly scapegoated for things unrelated to me, especially those involving my half-sister, whom I have never been allowed to meet. My father chose to prioritize peace in his second family at the cost of our relationship. However, he contributed a little essential financial support, which he gave me, felt like “paying off a debt,” as if I had been a burden rather than a daughter. Incredibly, in 2025, he apologized to me for the first time. Yet I realized he sought my forgiveness not to heal the pain he caused but to ease his guilt. He still never asked how I was, how tired I felt, or what I had gone through. Even now, he speaks only of my achievements. I live in the U.S., but he and my mother, though secure in time and resources, have never visited, helped, or truly supported me through milestones like graduation, marriage, childbirth, or raising my son, now seven years old. They often offered control and blame rather than care. For a very long time, I have always felt ashamed, even though I thought like my classmates. I have a relatively warm-hearted campus life, often seen as part of a happy family. I had to internalize myself so that I could be generally positive, but I now fully accept that they never gave me unconditional love. I spent years trying to be “the good daughter,” carrying burdens that were never mine. At 34, I am finally learning to lay those burdens down one by one. I am no longer willing to sacrifice myself to gain their love or approval. Indeed, I will also cherish the fond memories of my parents in my heart. Yet I remain grateful: what they couldn’t give me, God did. I’ve learned to cultivate joy, create meaning, and pursue learning at every stage of life. I’ve earned every opportunity I’ve had through resilience, integrity, and faith. Though I was rarely seen or heard by my parents, I chose not to disappear. I became a mother who listens, an artist who expresses, and an educator who empowers others. I am healing—slowly but surely. It has been a long and arduous journey to live an ordinary life.