About Fan Lu
• Traveling Artist • Painter • Illustrator • Educator
• Event & Exhibition Organizer • Homeschooling Mother
• Cross-cultural & Interdisciplinary Program Curator • Creative Arts Ministry Leader
My name is 陆帆 Fan Lu. I was born in 1990 in Shanghai, China, and grew up there. In Chinese, "帆" (fān) means "sail" and symbolizes a journey of setting sail and smooth sailing. Responding to God's calling throughout my journeys, I bravely embrace an arts missionary lifestyle, guided by a clear vision from above. I have been preparing and equipping myself to relocate wherever God leads me, while also considering the family as a united whole. For nearly ten years, I have been living in various places in California, including San Francisco, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and the Oakland hills. Currently, I live in Alameda, a cozy, walkable, and family-friendly island city in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Over the years, my academic experience has taken me through China, Australia, the UK, Italy, and the United States. In 2013, I graduated from Shanghai Normal University with a BA in Advertising Science (Journalism and Mass Communication Studies). Upon graduation, I was awarded the Shanghai Outstanding Graduate, a prestigious municipal honour that recognizes academic excellence, leadership, and impactful community service contributions. In 2014, I achieved an MSc in Management and Organisational Innovation with Merit from Queen Mary University of London. In 2019, I gained an MA in Fine Art (with an emphasis in Drawing and Painting) at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
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 I got accepted. Then, I quit my very stable job at the Shanghai Natural History Museum and came to San Francisco. In 2016, my work started being exhibited in group shows in Florence, San Francisco, Palo Alto, and so on. From 2019 to 2025, I also had four small-scale solo art shows in Alameda. 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. My creative voice and expression are not from nowhere, but rather deeply emerging from the personal stories and the complex early-life experiences, including the warmth of childhood memories from family and schools, as well as the adversities I faced and overcame growing up in the formative years, from infancy into my teenage years, which is complicated and accumulated psychological and mental burdens, shaped me, with resilience. However, the awakening time gradually also heals my heart and soul.
Before fully dedicating myself to the arts, from 2010 to 2019, my non-art academic and work experiences developed my work ethic and interdisciplinary thinking in a cross-cultural context. I previously worked as a part-time translator for the China Chief Representative of the New York Festivals Advertising Awards, and I interned at higher education institutions, including China Europe International Business School and the Harvard Center Shanghai. I worked full-time in public education at the government-funded, non-profit organisation Shanghai Natural History Museum, a branch of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. I held a government-appointed position with job security and full benefits. In addition, I also experienced working as a substitute teacher, part-time working in primary and secondary education in both private and public schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Mateo, Redwood, San Leandro, and Alameda, as well as volunteering to teach at the Museum of Children's Art in Oakland. Additionally, I was raised and influenced by my family of origin in an environment with generational educators and entrepreneurs, which instilled in me a legacy of high responsibility, a compassionate heart, self-discipline, and a deep sense of self-motivation.
In 2018, after giving birth to my son and while I was still pursuing my second master's degree, we began homeschooling and roadschooling him, exploring and developing our family-owned style. It was not easy being a new mom and an emerging artist at the same time, but I managed because God gave me wisdom after I worked through many unresolved emotions from my family of origin. Since 2020, I have designed and taught bilingual art courses independently as a teaching artist, for both 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. It has grown steadily, with a current focus on the Alameda Island community.
Even my artwork conveys a warm and uplifting message, but it results from internalizing pain and restoration, transformed into an outcome of light. I first learned about the Christian Faith at the age of 12 in 2002, while attending boarding school. 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. One thing I am most grateful for is having walked a long and arduous journey to live an ordinary life. Now, the PRESENT as a gift, connecting my past and future! My continuous efforts and devotion reflect gratitude, resilience, caring, healing, and quiet strength, which naturally enable me to bridge cultures, express faith, and inspire joy.
It has always been true that I am weak and vulnerable, but also intense and persistent.
And it has had many living testimonies throughout my life stories.
"For when I am weak, then I am strong."
-2 Corinthians 12:10
Praise the LORD!
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 wrote down to represent my first period art career. 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 wrote down 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 wrote down 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 for 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: www.FGMusicArt.com