Pin's arts and thoughts

Wow.. where did the time go?

2011-10-31T21:06:00.000-07:00

1st November, my 2nd post for 2011. Seemed like new year resolution failed terribly. (initial plan was to blog more often... ) The pup facial expression said it all. Aged and confused. :) Now she is still a pup, 4 months old and weigh 13kg! She is not mine... belongs to a good friend of mine. We just took her out for a photo shoot. Now I can assure you she had a blasting good time. She was running up and down a tiny hill, enjoying the greens and outdoor.

So much things had changed since my last entry. Even msn updated their blog templates and more features. Am still trying to figure out adding functions and all that stuff. Tomorrow is an important day at work. Thus would update more after the fact.

2011

2011-01-02T07:35:00.000-08:00

Hello friends... I think its time again to write something on my blog and I hope to get this blog active again this year... hopefully with artworks too. Work took up most of my time in 2010. Another 20-30 % of it was spent on making sure I have my exercise. A habit I start to cultivate since 2004. It started with only 20 min, 3 times a week and now its almost daily and span from 1-3 hours. Depends on my energy level and the time I have to spare. I didn't do any traveling this year. Just 2 short trips to KL to meet up with my in laws and friends. During this past year, I got to know some really nice colleagues. On the other hand, some friends seemed to be going different paths in life and we sort of drifted apart. I try to maintain the friendship but maybe I didn't try hard enough. It's sad but that is part of life I guess... this year I vow to become a more understanding person towards my hub, family members and friends. Be more understanding and not to take things too personal.

As for my personal growth, I have to go back to art, maintain my workout, tweak my diet for the better and aim to become a better teacher... not just Physics but as an educator. Be a good example to my students and try to understand my students more...

I am grateful and truly thankful for a wonderful 2010. No bad news... family and friends, in good health... :) I had some minor sickness but all in all it was a good year. I am looking forward to 2011. Jan is quite an important month for me. 1st of its my birth month, 2nd my students results would be out, 3rd bonus and increment announcement from my college and hmmm anything else... guess not...

I am going to take half day off on my birthday and buy myself something I have aim for in 2010. Its part of my motivation to work again. I would take pic of it later when the time comes... :) stay tune... not too far away... there are some changes in my teaching schedule. The program has been shortened to a year. Thus its another challenge for us. I am praying hard that no one sign up for the new Australian matriculation. That way it gives me more time to focus on the changes of the existing program. There are a few things I would like to maintain or maybe pump it up a notch... my workout duration.... hopefully to maintain or possible add it up abit or change my routine slightly. Its good to tweak here and there.. what am I going to change in my diet.... hmmm less bread and nuts. more fruits! Shall see how it goes... I want to cut down my snacking too.

I hope 2011 I can manage my time better and do the things I wanna do... there are things I have to do and there are some that I love to do. Sometimes life is not all roses. It would be nice if the things I have to do and love to do were the same. :)

It's almost NOVEMBER!!!!

2010-10-28T01:52:00.000-07:00

Hello friends... with a blink of an eye, it's almost month of Nov 2010. I was looking at my blog and just realized my last post was way back early of JUNE! What happen to the months between june and nov, you ask???? Well ... most of my time have been filled with work and working out at the gym. Students are now in the midst of their external A level Exam. I am excited for them yet at times worry too. Wonder how would they do and how are the questions this round???? hmmm anxiety...

Haven't been doing much art lately. Come weekend after a week of work, I just want to laze around and do nothing. Be a couch potato and a drama series addict. :o) I do put aside some time to read. What am I reading now? Power of kindness by Piero Ferrucci. Oh I finally sign up for Penang bridge run. My hub and I doing the half marathon, 21km. We hardly have time to train for it. To me.. I will do my best...My goal is to finish strong without stopping... run all the way even if its just a slow run. never stop my legs....

A friend of mine said Borders came in with some cool Moleskine. I would need to go check it out!

A nice Taiping trip

2010-06-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, my hub and I went to Taiping with a friend. Our 1st stop was to my friend's favorite Wan tan noodle coffee shop. Indeed the noodle was nice. What I liked about it was you can add extra ingredients like meat ball and dried tofu skin. :o) I am a big fan of adding extras in my noodles. In Penang I have to do it all the time cause the amount of ingredient is just not enough for me. I also have to mention about the drinks in the coffee shop. Excellent!!!! Ice lemon tea was just awesome. I am a huge ice lemon tea fan. Any place that does offer the drink would definitely win me over... hehehe...

The highlight of the day was actually a stroll through the lake garden and zoo. I am impressed with Taiping zoo. It had quite a selection of animals from big cats to the African wild life. I enjoyed most was looking at the Orang Utan. They are such smart animals. They really looked intelligent and their personality really showed. One of them used a huge dried leaf as his shade from the hot sun... so adorable. The chimpanzee were fun too.

I have to mention that Taiping wild monkeys are definitely larger than the ones in Botanical Penang. :o) one of them almost grab my water bottle away. They are definitely more bold than the ones in Penang. We spent about 3 hours at the zoo. Don't really have much time to enjoy the lake. So we plan to go back there sometime. For maxwell hill and maybe the nite safari.

another thing that is worth mentioning about taiping, very good nyonya kuih at the market. If you are a fan of kuih, shouldn't miss it. Time to go see the dental... till then....

Weekend!

2010-05-22T00:20:00.001-07:00

Wow it's weekend already. Another week just flew by..... Am now at Rotibakar Kopitiam Times Sq Penang. My hub is attending a canon talk and thus it gives me some me time. This week is pack again cause we are going to KL tomorrow to meet up with my inlaws. A short family gathering to catch up with each other.

Next Tuesday my students are going for their external Physics practical. My 1st external exam and hopefully everything goes well. My lab assistant did a great job in getting the right stuff. Thus students should not have a problem at all.

Being a teacher now is so much more challenging compare to 20 years ago. When I was a student, we hardly demand anything or complain at all. Students nowadays can just directly go straight to the principal if they are unhappy with anything. Some students have this false impression that they can excel by just going to class and listen. Don't have to read nor practice at all. Now I have always believe we don't learn by osmosis, we learn by working hard. 1st thing students should learn is practice makes perfect and the world owes them nothing! Having said the above, I do have some really A class students. Right attitude in life and also polite and honest. I do hope the best for them.

For this past half year, I have been doing alot of Physics stuff. Reading, taking notes and making short notes. Also working on problems, A levels questions and also IB and etc. Makes my mind work over time... :o) I need some me time with my colors and paints.

2010-05-15T00:23:00.000-07:00

It's May 15 2010! Finally have some time to update my blog. I have been so busy with teaching and work. I have lots of reading to do and Physics questions to solve. I did something related to art last weekend. I managed to get to the art store and bought some acrylic paints. I have yet to give it a try. Also didn't contact my art student yet to start the art class. suppose to start in May, but I was tied up with work and next weekend am going to KL. Looks like would have to push to June! Gosh would it ever begin....

As I was reading some of the art blogs that I follow, I feel a piece of puzzle is missing in my life currently. I am giving myself till end of this year to see how it goes with my teaching. Hopefully I can ease back into art. I love teaching Physics, I am so totally lost in my own world when am solving Physics problems. So I would really love to teach physics and at the same time have my own art show. ha... asking too much???

Where did the time go?

2010-03-27T07:24:00.000-07:00

wow 1.5 months since my last post. Working life is still taking up a huge part of my time, including weekends too. Have yet to find time to draw or paint and have yet to me a trip to the art store. Oh yes... my printer died on me couple weeks ago. Cost me rm600 to get it fix, so decided to trade in and get a new one. The new printer would cost me rm 800. Am getting a laser printer this time, hopefully last longer. Since am working, it would be very convenient for me to have a laser printer. Its an all-in-one monoprint. :o)

I didn't do any work related stuff today. Its good not to think about work for a day. Tomorrow I have to get back to working mode. Problems to do and chapters to study. In a couple weeks time, my students would go for their trial exam and in May their external exam.

The year of the tiger

2010-02-12T23:04:00.001-08:00

Its the eve of the tiger year. I am back at my hometown. Very quiet afternoon indeed. Nothing much for me to do before the reunion dinner. My family and inlaws would meet up in a chinese restaurant later for the reunion dinner. I am very blessed indeed to be able to celebrate the eve together with my inlaws and family. I don't have to feel bad for not being there with my family or with my inlaws... I love this arrangement a lot! Every year both of my families would eat together on the eve and also 2nd day of Chinese new year when my sis inlaw comes back too. Thus again it made me able to spend time with my family and also with my sis inlaw and her super cute son, Terenze who really really love cars a lot.

I have a week break from work, but have work to do nonetheless. 10 sets of exam papers to set which are due on 25 of Feb. My students external exam is just around the corner... I am worried and excited for them at the same time... I know this blog is suppose to be on my art, but these few months I am just swamped with work! notes preparation, reading to do, questions solving and etc etc etc.. its a never ending list. I have been working from 5am to 5pm daily... evening I make sure I spend some time working out. sweat it out to release the accumulated work related stress.

my weekends are packed too with work... every week I have to prepare for my coming week lessons. I hope with the week break, I can catch up and be ahead more than a week... thus that would leave me more time to spend on my art later.

Comes march I am squeezing in couple hours of art lessons on sundays. hopefully I would have stuff to post later which is art related.

Coming to 4th week of teaching...

2010-01-22T15:26:00.000-08:00

Hello friends.... this coming week will mark my 4th week in teaching. 3 weeks went by like a flash. I was so busy with work preparation night and day. My mind just keep thinking of all the Physics facts... at times I might be walking, going around doing my own stuff but my mind is just Physics, students and physics questions.....

In between the chaos, I managed to squeeze in some movie time :o) I recently watched Avatar, Paranormal activity and Fame and Legion. I love Paranormal activity. Its spooky and felt so real...

Hub left for US today and will be gone for slightly more than 2 weeks. Thus I will have some time of my own to do girly stuff... :o) Oh yes this weekend would be meeting up with my new art student and we will talk into detail how to carry out the art classes.

I have 3 different batches of students in Physics. They give me different challenges... 1st group, half of the class well behaved, but I have 5 boys that loves to talk in class and hardly pay attention to the lectures. 2nd a rather pleasant group of students.. love them but at times they too forget that lecture is going on and then they start yacking away... the 3rd batch, gap in between students ability to pick up stuff is super huge. very difficult to set the pace in class.

2nd week into my teaching life...

2010-01-17T04:14:00.000-08:00

It's mid Jan 2010... also marked my 2 weeks of teaching career. It has been a roller coaster ride. Swamped with work... lots of preparation to do.. notes, lecture slides, tutorial questions, past year papers, setting of exam questions and etc... On top of that at times we are required to work during weekend.

Due to the new job, I have to put my art aside. I have not been drawing or painting. But I would be meeting a friend whom is interested in learning botanical art. I am excited about that. We have not work out the details yet.

Also I have to stop doing the Sunday market for now cause I have no time to come up with hand made stuff. My sis is trying to help me in making bookmarks. Her bookmarks are really nice. Hopefully I can post up some samples pretty soon. Once am done with all the notes, I can start to do my art stuff again... this is a promise I make to myself...

I survived 3 weeks at work!

2009-12-24T06:11:00.000-08:00

This week mark my 3 rd week at work. Almost coming to a month of work and getting very near to my 1st pay check. Its not a lot but its still my 1st nonetheless... Still to call a celebration. I am not taking any off days for the year end holidays. I have quite a lot of preparation to do for the coming new semester which will commence on the 4th of Jan 2010. I am looking forward to the new adventure in my job, to teach! Maybe it runs in the family... my father side of the family has quite a few teachers, including my dad and sis. I have always enjoy sharing knowledge.

Besides teaching Physics at my work place, I would also begin my own art class some time mid Feb or early March. It's a one on one basis to begin with. Looks like my weekend would be also busy... Yikes my blog is getting rather dry, lots of words without any art in it. Please bear with me for a little while more. I am getting there.... to start painting again.

Tomorrow I will be going to KL to visit my sis inlaw new place and also meet up with my inlaws. It has been awhile since we had our last gathering.

Working again after 10 long years

2009-12-14T03:57:00.000-08:00

Last Monday was my 1st day at work. It was quite an experience indeed. New faces, new environment and lots of paperwork! By end of this month I have to hand in a year of teaching plan. Fortunately I don't have to start from scratch. Jan and Feb would be setting of exam questions. On top of that I have lecture notes and slides to prepare. Also staff is required to go to college during open days... I am not thrilled at all on that one.

My schedule for now is pretty hectic and when semester starts it might get crazy. Just got to soldier bravely on...as my art teacher always say. I have to wake up around 5.30am. Then drop my hub at work before I head to the gym. As of now, I am feeling very tired and sleepy... time to go ZZZZzzzzzz for a short while.

More pictures on Little Penang and updates...

2009-12-02T06:10:00.001-08:00

I am basically still exhausted from Sunday event. Resting at home in the afternoon and morning enjoying my gym workout before I start work next Monday. I got all my thank you notes done for friends who pop by and giving me support. Also wrote xmas cards for friends in the States and UK. Will be sending them out tomorrow. I am very happy that I have a return customer asking for more cards. Besides that, a customer that bought 3 of my cards, turned them into framed art for their house. The 4th picture showed the 3 framed cards. :o) The final picture, the orchid on black titled "Threesome" had been sold. Same goes with the Dahlia. The dahlia was sold to a good friend of mine. She actually commissioned it. I would say it was really a good experience for me. It really boost my confidence and gave me assurance that am on the right track. Doing the cards were a learning experience too. It made me brush up my design skilled and also color coordination. Oh yes.. friends asked me how was sale... well I sold about 80% of my handmade cards and quite abit of the crafty stuff too. I would say it was good. Overall exhausting but very satisfying...

The day after ...Little Penang.

2009-11-30T07:07:00.000-08:00

1st of all wanna thank my friends who came by and supported me emotionally and also financially. Thank you to all my customers who bought something from my stall. And a very very big thank you to my brother and hub for being there the whole time with me under the burning sun... My brother's favorite line of the day... "Hand painted and hand made cards and also stuff you can make cards with... we have xmas theme, pretty ones and also cute ones..." I truly love that line of his. He repeated that to each and every customer that stop by to have a look from 10am to 5pm. My sincere gratitude to him forever... Frankly I didn't even think of any catchy line, I was so tired from doing the stuff and nervous that my mind was blank out and just going with the flow and enjoying the crowd... My hub, the quiet one. He always supported me in whatever I do... I don't feel like working, fine its ok.. I just wanna workout at the gym, ok.. as long you are happy, I want to open a stall in little penang, he said cool, we can do that... :o) so he did all the loading and unloading for me and carried all my stuff to and from the car and quietly took pictures of my friends who came by... he was never the one at the front line but the one behind the scene... forever ready to receive my order... thank you hub and love you always...

ok here are some pictures for you all to look at.. for those who couldn't make it, no worries... another one coming in Jan 2o1o... I am loading only few of them here and will write more few days down the road cause I am still recovering from the shock, excitement and exhaustion... I just ate and slept the whole day... reminds me of piggy...

Little Penang

2009-11-28T13:53:00.000-08:00

A short post and preview of my greeting cards...

The above are cards are drawn, designed, and made by me. I will be selling these at Little Penang today. The cards would be my main item, besides cards, I have a few paintings on sale and also craft embellishments. A little about the cards above. They are made by archival and acid free material. The pictures were all drawn by me using prismacolor colored pencils.

A short update...Little Penang this Sunday!

2009-11-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

I have been working my *** off... and still lots to do. Taking a break and trying to re energize before I continue ... I will put up the cards in my next post. For now, I just couldn't find the time to scan and upload them. My feelings are really all mixed up now. A mess just like my working area... :o)

Excited yet nervous, confident yet unsure at times, hopeful but worried bout the weather and response.... and it goes on and on and on. The suspense is really killing.... its like you just spend all your effort and money in making a movie and am waiting anxiously for the opening. Or like a pianist who has practiced hard for his or her 1st recital. or maybe a soon to be mom about to deliver...

I have to do the breathing exercise more...

Updates... happy but nervous too...

2009-11-17T06:58:00.000-08:00

I am doing some printing of my artworks to make into cards for the market which will be held end of them month, 29 Nov. Since I am using only Canon MP600, the speed is rather slow. After the artworks been printed out, I will stick them onto nice designers card stocks. They make nice gifts and cards for the festive seasons. Besides printed ones, I too have my originals for sale. All the prints are on 100% rag paper. Archival and acid free.

This is the 1st time am taking up a stall at the Little Penang St Market, held at the upper penang road. Do pop by if you have the time... It's on Nov 29 Sunday, 10-5pm. There will be loads of stuff to see.

Oh yes I got the lecturing job, A levels Physics. It will be a full time job, 9-5pm. Now I am psyching myself about less workout time... I will miss all my gym buddies terribly and also instructors from the gym. Will miss pushing hard with each other...

Wedding dinner still on but the gathering dinner need to be postponed again..

Hopeful yet at times in doubt...

2009-11-11T04:04:00.000-08:00

Ah my blog is rather dry... no paintings nor drawings. So what have I been up to, you ask? Well, I finally have the mood to write.... This afternoon I went for my 2nd interview for a lecturing job. The whole thing was bugging me for almost a week. Nothing in mind except to prepare for the interview. I have to prepare a short lecture for A levels Physics. The challenge was I have not been in touch with Physics for the past 10 years. Thus it took me sometime to reread the text book and also research online. How did I do? Well, I would say it was okay. Some minor blunders here and there but overall it went pretty well. I still have to wait for the answer though... I am not the only one they call for 2nd interview. It's not up to me now.. I did my best and I will live it as it is. Good if I am hired... if not life goes on.

The next thing I have to get going is to prepare for my stall end of Nov. I rented a space at Little Penang Street Market to sell some of my art works. I don't have like lots of work, but I think enough to get going. I have to start somewhere... Things would not move if am not advancing. Today am not doing much, am just chilling after the whole lecture ordeal. I have only about 2 weeks to prepare for the sale. I am just hoping to have fun during that day. Talk and meet with people. Some practice for my social skills.

On the lighter note, I have a wedding dinner to attend and also old friends gathering dinner. Thus I have to get a dress for the wedding dinner. Shopping would be something that I need to do and also a nice hair cut.

I intend to give a friend a visit sometime soon...

Good friend is truly a treasure...

2009-11-05T23:52:00.000-08:00

Today I had lunch with an ex colleague and good friend. I have not seen her for almost 10 years. It was really good to catch up with each other again after so long. She hasn't aged the least bit and we talked and talked and talked.. filling up the 10 years gap. It was just like old times. Of course our lives were different now from 10 years ago. I am so very glad to see her progress and grow in her career, studies and also personal life. Things are really looking bright and great for her. I never knew how much I missed her till now... one of the fond memories of working... knowing her and ended up as good friends :o)

Later this evening I have a dinner to attend. I didn't manage to go for a hairdo nor would I be putting lots of makeup. I would just have to stick to plain and simple. in other words.. all natural. I am amazed that some people would spend money on a hairdo and also make up for a dinner. It's just not me... I find it a waste of time and money.

November is a busy month for me indeed and also lots of things happening all at once. Interview, art stall, someone asking for art class (which am really happy about), 2 dinners to attend and my hub is going to the States for a week.

This post would just be me rambling about my activity and what is happening in my simple and plain life... and what is on my mind. But do you really want to know??? Lots on my mind and hard to focus at times.

Stomach flu in the house...

2009-10-26T06:05:00.001-07:00

For the whole of last week, my hub and I were down with stomach flu. Oh gosh a horrible experience indeed... vomiting and diarrhea for 2 whole days. Couldn't eat nor sleep properly. I got it on Saturday afternoon and my poor hub on Monday night. I had fever and body ache all over before the vomiting and diarrhea kicked in. So for the whole of last week I didn't get any art stuff done. It was tiring and just couldn't mustered the energy to paint. Played around I did... short sketches at the butterfly farm.

Took out my undergrad Physics textbook to read. I am so out of touch in Physics. Everything seemed so alien... Newton's law... a body at rest tends to be at rest and a body in motion, stays in motion... law of inertia... hahaha.. am getting there.. How I wish its true in my running... then I can keep on running.. without feeling pain or breathless... wishful thinking... oh well it doesn't hurt to let the imagination run wild for a little bit.

Tomorrow would be an interesting day. It can either be good or bad. I will just hope for the best!

Great time and wonderful friends

2009-10-16T00:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a great lunch with few of my gal friends from gym. Food was good, but the best thing was getting to know more intimately good friends and also new friends. At the same time learn a thing of 2 about what life is when you reach a certain age in your life. Lots of wisdom...

I got my new project drawing pretty much done. It's definitely less complicated... will be in watercolor on cold pressed paper by Winsor and Newton. Subject... orchids. I am trying to come up with a set of works... at least 20 of same size florals, 11 by 14 inch including the mat. Then next would be going bigger.. maybe half a sheet or a full size. A full size paper is 22 by 30 inch. Big is the way to go right? I did think about going smaller, which is called miniature painting, but I wonder if I can actually have the patience to paint with really a 1 hair brush and looking through the magnifying glass. That I think would take a lot of focus! I don't have anything to post yet. Hopefully in a week or 2 I would get the new work done.

Yay... completed my latest project!

2009-10-13T23:37:00.000-07:00

The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself…..Henry Miller

Sorry for the long silence... I finally completed the Dahlia... A friend of mine was saying that I was in a cheery mood yesterday, she said must be due to I have finally called it done on the dahlia. There were times when I looked at the painting and thought to myself, "why did I pick this one to paint..." It took me quite awhile cause the process can be very repetitive. I couldn't work on it for a long period of time cause then I tend to rush through it. I didn't want that to happen, I want each petal to be given equal attention. The waiting process for the paint to dry before painting the next might be as long as the painting time! I wanted to post it up earlier but didn't get to do it cause of the interrupt service of my internet connection. Also I am scouting for my next project. I intend to do more dahlias, but not now as I need a break from the tedious process. Thus my next project would not be dealing with layers of petals... Besides painting, I must get the ball rolling with hand made greeting cards too. I really have to get that started and on the go...

Oh yes regarding the above painting, I decided to leave the background(BG) white as to give it a classic botanical illustration look. My next project would be a filled in BG. A friend of mine asked me if I counted the number of petals... I said no way... if I did, I probably would not have completed it. I did enjoy getting lost in the process. Its very meditative in a way. One have to focus deep, and see only the petals and nothing else... You couldn't picture the end in mind cause then it will be a very daunting process. At times it does felt like this will never END!!!! I wonder if anyone out there interested in learning or picking up such painting or technique. I would love to share my passion. I guess enough rambling about the painting... Time to move on...

A gym buddy of mine came back from Paris not too long ago and I was really excited to see all the lovely pictures of Paris. In my opinion, its truly a beautiful place, filled with inspiration! I had decided Paris would be at the top of my list of Places to go before I die... :o)

Raya week... what a week indeed...

2009-10-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

During the Raya week, my dad, sis and aunt came to Penang. It was quite a trip for my dad and sis. While driving up to Penang, the car skidded and ended up in a ditch on the opposite of the road. Luckily the car didn't bang into anyone or vehicle. It's a blessing cause they just had a flat tyre. After got the tyre fixed they were able to continue the journey. So for several days, we ate and shop and ate and shop and more shopping and more eating. 2 days before my dad head back to Kuantan, he wanted to check his car out. Went to couple of workshops and finally decided on one of them. The car needed a new part, thus it has to wait till the next day to get it fixed. My aunt on the other hand is getting bit of anxious cause she has to be back on the same day the car will be fixed. So time was definitely tight. I was the designated driver most of the time. Driving my family up and down from the one place to another. The part didn't reach Penang till noon time. My aunt asked me to pick her up my brother's place and drop her at Jetty thinking that the part might not arrived on time. On the way to Jetty, my dad called and said car could be fixed on time and they can go back on that day itself. Thus I have to turn back and drop my aunt with my dad at the workshop. All the driving for nothing and to add to the drama, traffic was really bad. Oh the story has not ended for my dad and sis. While driving on the way back to Kuantan, they noticed water was leaking from the engine. Again they have to stop and called for help. My dad diagnosed and told the AAM guy what part he needed. They waited for almost 3 hours for the part to arrive, but alas!!! my dad diagnosed the wrong part... Finally the mechanic came and found the source of the leakage and got the car fixed! Phew.. really dramatic right??? It was really quite a long and adventurous journey for my dad and sis. Moral of the story, we told our dad.. no more driving and just take the flight... By the way, my dad is 75 years old. I am so proud of him for being fit and strong! Way to go Dad...

Work in Progress

2009-09-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

This is what I have been working on for couple of weeks now. Medium is watercolor. Hopefully my next post would be the completed work. I am really a slow painter. Half of the time spent waiting for the color to dry before putting on the next layer. I love to do glazing. So most of my work is done using the glazing method. The colors are built by doing several layers of glazing. I never mix my colors on the palette. The colors are mix by using the glazing method too.

I love pens alot. Today I saw a RED pen by Parker in Borders. I am seriously thinking of getting it. It's not very pricey, cost about RM35. I am hooked cause I like the color red and also pen. Most likely getting it this weekend. This coming weekend is a long holiday for Malaysians. It's Raya time for the Muslims after a month of fasting. My dad and sis are coming to Penang for the long break.

Hard Rock hotel today opened in Penang. I didn't go for the opening, but a friend of mine went. I will ask her how was it and later give an update.

A rather unproductive week...

2009-09-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

The past week I have not been very productive at all in my art. Thus my latest project progress is moving like a snail .... Hopefully I have something to post by end of this week. What have I been doing for the past 1 week, you might ask. My mornings were all filled up with gym. Since my 10th anniversary fell on Wed. We were enjoying our time together on Wed and Thursday too. Since I only paint at home, thus very little time was spend on painting.

I had several good dinners and lunches this week. Nothing too fancy, we went to Miraku at G hotel on Wed for dinner, Thursday eve dinner at Dragon I, Queensbay. I had lunch with a good friend on Wed at Sakae. So practically half of the week just swoosh by... I bought 4 mooncakes from Dragon I which I think were pretty pricey. Somehow felt like got con into buying them. The cashier told me if buy 4 we can get a birthday discount voucher and the discount is according to the person's age. But when I saw the voucher, the discount only applies to the Longevity Set dinner which cost RM1000!!!!! Thus I will have to use the voucher for my dad's birthday in March next year. Must spend it on someone that is almost a century old, then only it's worth it! 4 mooncakes cost me RM70. Gosh so expensive!!!! Most expensive mooncakes I have ever bought...

This week I spent most of my time at Queensbay mall. I love Borders, so that was where I spent most of my time. I just realized Borders stopped bringing in my favorite ball point pen. Sad... the ball point pen I like most thus far is Uni jetstream sport. I bought 3 at one go and now left only 1... :o( Have anyone of you out there try it before? Its really smooth and never run dry and also water proof and doesn't smear. Very nice to write with. Why is that good things never last...

I love to read, currently am really interested in getting a book titled "The Art of Botanical Drawing" by Agathe Ravet-Haevermans. It's a good resource if you are interested in Botanical Drawing and Painting. Only drawback is that it's rather pricey, soft cover 96 pages only cost RM75. Thus am still considering to get it or not...

My shopping list is getting longer and longer... I am thinking of getting a running shoe. I am flat footed, thus I think I should get a shoe that is made specially for flat footed people and see if I do run better on them. I am thinking of New Balance 1011 or 1123. Money no enough!!

10 wonderful years and hope many more 10 years down the road

2009-09-08T04:14:00.001-07:00

Sept 9 marked our 10th anniversary. 10 years ago today my hub and I got married. Many of my gal friends asked how did he proposed. Well he didn't went down on his knees nor gave me flowers and a diamond ring. As a matter of fact nothing romantic at all. The funny part was he said signed the papers and we get to go US all paid for. So I signed! anyway we were together since age of 17. He was my high school sweet heart. Never once did I regret signing the paper. It's been 10 really wonderful years. I am truly blessed to be married to him. Also I have wonderful inlaws. I am not saying our marriage is a perfect one, we do have our disagreements once awhile, but we always talk it out. I myself am amazed 10 years just went by. He always showed me love and being very understanding.

Happy 10th anniversary dear...

Old schoolmates reunion after 18 years!

2009-09-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

We went to KL on Sunday to the Curve and met up with several classmates from our schooldays during form 4 and 5. It has been 18 years! We had a really good time meeting up with old friends. It was fun to see each other again after 18 long years... each of us has a story to tell.. from family, to career and love life. Few of my friends have their own biz now. Some married with kids, and most of them base in KL. It was rather a short trip, we just spent a nite in KL. Oh and most of us did put on a couple of kilos... oh well.... that's life! Most of the guys got their own digital SLR camera and were snapping pictures throughout the whole time. Now am back in Penang. Got back to my usual routine and started to work on my art again. slow but moving along...

Penang Hill

2009-08-29T06:18:00.000-07:00

I am now in the midst of working on my new project. But I must say the progress is rather slow...thus I can't post it up yet. These few days the weather in Penang is just awful, rainy and windy. Everywhere is just so wet! This morning my hub and I decided to hike up to Penang Hill, I was praying for good weather. When we left the house it looked rather promising, the sun actually did peeped out among the clouds. So we were rather please and off we went to the foot of the hill after a good breakfast. 10 minutes into the hike, it started to pour! My oh my did it pour... Luckily we found a shade and we hung out there till the rain subside. I was not going to be deterred by the rain. Almost half an hour later we continued with our hike up. Along the way we did make several stops for some photo sessions. My hub is taking up photography as a hobby. We reached the top around noon and I was famished by then. So off we go to David Brown's restaurant for tea and scones. The scones were really good and I had a tuna sandwich with ice tea. All in all the hike was rather fun despite of some hick ups due to the weather. I am glad I had a nice outdoor activity done today.

Below were some pictures taken by my hub.

Another great animation from Disney Pixar..."Up"

2009-08-13T06:13:00.000-07:00

The above works are all 2.5 by 3.5 inch in color pencils.

I watched Disney Pixar "Up" on Friday. My my... In my opinion it's thus far the best movie of the year. It has all the elements.. love, dream, adventure, morale, and humor. I love Dug the retriever and the young wilderness explorer, Russell. It's a movie for all ages and the animation is just awesome. Beautifully rendered... Please do go and watch it. It will make everyone laughing all the way...

As for my progress in the current project.. ops.. slow.. very slow... Knowing what must be done and actually doing it, whole different story!!! Okay no more excuses.. I will get back to work soon. weekend I usually spend time with my other half. Must always make time for each other right?

More trading cards art work...

2009-08-13T06:09:00.000-07:00

I love the floral cards I used here as backing. Especially the 1st and 3rd card. I am done with the drawing of my next project. Took me 2 days to complete the drawing, keeping my fingers crossed that when I actually paint on it, the result would be good. If not I have to spend extra time to redraw. It took longer to complete the drawing cause I did several preliminary drawings beforehand. Will not disclose too much about the new project till am getting near completion. Hmmm might take some time. Will try my best to speed it up. Mean time do enjoy the little drawings I have done.

Besides showing my artwork, I will like to write about another site that I follow...

Making a mark by Katherine Tyrrell. Her blog is just awesome with lots of information related to art. From art shows to techniques and artists.

link: http://makingamark.blogspot.com/

As for my workout at the gym, I tried the weight machines for the 1st time. My goodness did I felt it alright. I couldn't move a finger after that. That's another reason why my drawing was progressing rather slowly... I couldn't even find the strength to pick up the pencil and draw!!!! It was a good experience though. Thanks to a great trainer.

ATC size floral or botanical.

2009-08-13T06:01:00.000-07:00

I mentioned before that I will post my atc size work with nice BG. I think it looked more presentable this way. The above works are 2.5 by 3.5 inch. Tiny like a credit card or trading card. If you buy the work from me, it will come together with the backing too. All archival and acid free postcard size cards. Again they are good as note cards, bookmarks or work of art for you journal or diary cover since they are small in size. I probably need to make it clear that the art work is 2.5 by 3.5 inch, and mount on post card size archival and acid free cards.

Besides drawing and painting, I love to read related art blogs and sites. So here I want to recommend one of my favorite art site. It's called "The Painter's Keys" by Robert Genn. The author will write 2 short articles in a week on topic related to art which I find very informative and the responses to these articles gave me great insights and inspirations. And Robert Genn himself is an inspiration to me. A talented artist and writer who finds the time to actually write these articles twice a week without fail since 1999. This year marked his 10th year! Another thing I like about the site is the resource for art quotations. You will find thousands of art quotes here. It gives me great inspiration. So if you are someone that loves to read about art stuff, I highly recommend you check this site out yourself...

The site for painter's keys....

http://www.painterskeys.com/

I have a nasty bug in my tummy and it's giving me a slight diarrhea. So am drinking lots of tea and eating just mostly bread and fruits today. I did went to the gym and ran for 90 minutes, slow run. I am trying to run more and cutting down classes at the gym. I still love going for spinning, combat, step and weight classes. I keep having hip pain after running for like an hour. I hope eventually it will go away... Any idea why I felt it at the hip? I read somewhere that it might be due to I have weak core. I thought I have pretty strong core.. :o)

Weekend is just around the corner, so friends, enjoy it to the fullest. My hub might be going photo shooting...

a perfect couple...

2009-08-13T02:36:00.000-07:00

The above drawing was done awhile ago. Medium watercolor, size around 7 by 7 inch on cold pressed 140lbs watercolor paper. The flower is from the dahlia family, if am not mistaken. The past couple of weeks, I had been procrastinating again. A very good friend of mine asked how do we overcome that? I told her if I know the secret I probably would be a millionaire now. I will get back to work soon cause I do have couple of projects in line. Will post WIP once I get going.

Now is the 7th month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, it's also called the Ghost month, in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. There would be lots of temporary stage set up around Penang to celebrate the Ghost month. There is just one down the street from my home. Olden days, they used to play the Chinese opera for the dead, but now it has changed to young ladies singing pop music. Time has really changed! The loud music do give me headache at times... Please forgive my rambling...

more sketches...

2009-08-02T05:57:00.000-07:00

Sketches of a lotus seed head

I have no idea what the flower below is named.

All the sketches were done from life. My sifu always tell us to draw from life. Thus when I sketch I try my best to do it from life. I have to confess that most of my detail florals were done half from life and half from photos. The flower just wouldn't last that long... I wished they would... Thus my preliminary sketches were most done from life and later I would have no choice but to refer to photos once the flowers wilted. Someday I will be working fast enough to do it wholly from life. hah... wonder when will that be.

Apart from doing art, I spent quite an amount of time working out at the gym. Sometimes I would be so tired to even lift a finger, for example now. I did cardio for about 1.5 hours and weight training for 50 min. It's the weight training that is killing... We ladies have to do weight training to maintain our muscle mass and also keep our metabolism up. I try to eat just enough most of the time too.

Floral fest orchid sketches

2009-08-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

The above were sketches done during my visit to the floral fest at the Botanical Garden. The three orchids were all winners in their own category. I did the drawings at the garden and the shadings were done later in my studio. It's not easy to stand and sketch under the hot sun!!!! Thus all I able to do were the preliminary drawings or quick sketches. It was such at hot day that I couldn't even do lots... only 3 drawings..

Artist quote for the day from Pablo Picasso, "Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working." How true indeed... I must keep working. I have change the settings for the comment link, enabling most people to drop a comment.

Smaller florals... ATC size.

2009-07-29T05:38:00.000-07:00

The above rose bud drawing is in ATC size, 2.5 by 3.5 inch. For the past couple of months I also worked on some smaller sizes florals. I did several florals in ATC sizes. I will post them up as soon as possible. I want to mount them on printed papers as BG to make them more presentable. I am not very pleased with the way my previous works looked on my blog. Thus I think putting up my own BG makes a lot of difference. The smaller sizes works are good for greeting cards, book plates, book marks and even as deco on the front cover for one of your favorite journals or diaries. I myself love hand made stuff, it adds a personal touch to a gift.

White on black...

2009-07-27T06:04:00.000-07:00

I think am done with this one. It's quite different working on black BG. Lots of white needed. I thought I will never ever get a chance to use up my white pencils. The 1st pic, is the overall view. 2nd and 3rd are the close up. This piece is a bit slightly bigger than my scanner view. It's still around 11 by 14 inch size. I worked from light to dark for this one, it's the opposite of my usual way of painting or drawing. I usually worked from dark to light. I will asked my hub to take a pic of it so that it can be viewed better. Or I could asked him to get me a bigger and better scanner. That sounds better... wishful thinking. I am just getting a hang of how to use my scanner and I think it's doing a pretty good job. Now time to move on to a new project. I am not sure what medium to work on yet and also the size. Need to give it some more thoughts... As always feedbacks and comments are truly appreciated. This piece is called " Threesome..." :o)

Last weekend we went for the Penang Heritage 1st year anniversary celebration. Lots of people taking photos. I am not very good with crowd thus most of the time I was either sitting or standing far away from the crowd. We didn't go to each and everyone heritage site, just managed to do 4 sites. Lots of events on each heritage sites. I managed to catch chinese opera, the lion and dragon dance, indian dance, and a puppet show. Hopefully next year can watch Ching gay. This year couldn't make it cause it was held very early the next morning. My hub and I were just too tired to wake up. Oh yes I watched "The taking of Pelham 123" starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta. A good movie and excellent actors.

Completed work... Flame

2009-07-24T03:03:00.000-07:00

My completed rose drawing with color pencils. Size is about 11" by 14". Thus it's suitable to be framed and hung. This was the drawing that made me almost ran out of my reds. The drawing of the rose almost drove me up the wall cause of the petals. The challenge in this piece was the shape of the rose. I hope I nailed it okay. Rose petals are slightly more challenging as compare to the Dahlia petals I did years ago. Oh yes I need to name the work.... I''ll call it "Flame"

Gosh I really hate PMS. My mood this week is just in utter chaos...

Rose buds

2009-07-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

The above drawing was done in color pencils. It's actually a section of a WIP. I thought it worked great too with just the 2 buds. Makes a really pretty card. After getting the scanner to work, it's now easier for me to post smaller works done in color pencils and watercolor. My working table is getting messier by the day especially when I have couple of projects going on at the same time. Soon I will start to do florals in watercolor and maybe do some mix media too, watercolor and color pencils.

I have never taken any formal training in botanical illustrations. I would love to attend one if there is one in Penang. A friend of mine suggested that I probably can start the class on my own. I wonder if anyone would be interested in botanical drawings or illustrations here in Penang. It's worth putting some thoughts into it.

Nothing to do with art but it's something I have to go through every month... PMS! Ugh hate it... also a little something on health and fitness. Ladies I know usually we complain a lot about back ache, most of the time it's due to our weak core or mid section. so try doing more core exercises to strengthen it. Weak core will put a lot of pressure on our back. Try sit ups, or the plank exercise.

Canon Multifunction printer

2009-07-19T07:09:00.000-07:00

I spent almost the whole afternoon figuring out how to use the scanner function on my multifunction printer. My initial thought, I would just need to hook up the printer to my notebook and press the scan button... no??? After several attempts, nothing seemed to appear on my notebook. It's like the printer talking to a woodblock! Then I figured... I need help from the Help function. Wa la.. like magic several articles appear on scan search. A step by step menu appear on how to solve the problem. Thus I thought ah... my problem was solved! Happily I went over to the Canon site and downloaded the necessary updated drivers. Took me quite awhile cause you all know how it is with our broadband. High Speed relative to a tortoise speed. When all the necessary drivers had been installed, I try again. Alas! no reaction from my notebook. Ahhhh... by now I almost had it with my notebook. Then I said to myself there must be a solution... So I searched google and found that am not alone after all... It seemed that we must also download the software, apparently the new mac cannot support the printer. So another round of downloading, and the result was the scanned dahlia above from my sketchbook. Finally got my scanner working!!!! Now all I have to do is to press the scan button. ah... relieved.. If not my multifunction printer would only be good for a single function.

The above drawing was drawn from life. I bought a little pot of dahlia from the nursery. I fell in love with the tiny bud. And below when it bloomed.

Ruined brushes...

2009-07-17T03:25:00.000-07:00

I can only use one word to describe me... inexperienced... hindsight 20/20... I had ruined 2 of my good brushes. I used them to varnish my paintings, thinking that I can just wash them clean after that. How wrong I was... 1st silly mistake, using 2 brushes. I have no idea why I did that. 2nd, I used a quality sable hair brush.. ah.. heart ache. I don't even dare to recall how much I pay for them... on the bright side, I didn't pay an arm or leg for them. I got them from a discounted art store, that much I can remember. :o)

Regarding my art project, the 2nd piece is looking good and I have started on the orchid drawing. I must say it's looking pretty good... but I can

not post them up yet coz it's still WIP. But below are 2 watercolor work that I did some years ago. they are drawn from real life. I fell in love with the colors on the tulip. I am not sure if I did justice to it. I hope I did... Both works are from the same flower but different stages. Feel free to leave any comments...

Varnish worked great

2009-07-15T02:01:00.000-07:00

I am very pleased with the Varnish I got from the art store. It really does make the painting looks better... now to all the painters out there, remember to varnish your paintings. I just keep putting it of cause am so paranoid of what it will do to the paintings. One thing to remember, the painting must be absolutely dry before it can be varnished. If the painting is not thoroughly dry, it might cracked... Leave the painting to dry for at least 6 months. That way you will be absolutely sure that it's dry. Therefore I need to call up a friend of mine to see when she is available, coz I need to varnish her painting. If my assistant tag along, then I can take a photo of that painting. The varnish that I bought is called Universal Varnish RS from Schmincke. Schmincke is a German company that make very good art materials for oil, watercolor and pastels. I have tried their oil and watercolor. They are really good. I have yet to try the pastels. I need to ask a friend of mine whom is a pastelist if she has given it a try.

Nanyang Art supply and Varnish for oil painting

2009-07-14T06:43:00.000-07:00

Today I was at Nanyang art supplies store, just browsing around to see what art materials are available. Found out that they Faber Castell color pencils open stock. Thus I bought several to try out. It's not as waxy as prismacolor. The lead is actually pretty tough... It will definitely last longer than the prismacolor. I personally still prefer prismacolor colorpencils.

Oh yes I also bought a bottle of varnish for my oil paintings. I think my paintings are dry enough to be varnished. Oil paintings have to be varnished to bring out the color and to protect them from outside influences of all sorts. Best is to use matt finished varnish. I bought a universal varnish.

I am still working on my color pencils floral art work. The WIP is rather slow cause of some personal matter that needs attention now. Also am learning how to use my scanner and etc... just one thing after another... oh well.. life is such that you can never really follow your plan.

Besides being a painter, I love to exercise. I usually does my workout in the morning. I love to get it done with 1st thing in the morning, then I would have the whole day to myself. I do weights 3 times a week and 1-2 cardio classes daily. I go to the gym for my workout. Classes that I enjoyed most are rpm, followed by step.

Below is another 2 oil paintings.

Close up...

2009-07-12T04:24:00.000-07:00

A friend asked me to post close up pictures of one of the oil paintings. The close up showed more detail of the cloth in the background. The background took me a long time to do but I truly enjoyed the process. So buddy, I do hope you enjoyed looking at the background as much I as I enjoyed doing it.. LOL

PS: these pictures somehow took me a long time to upload and I have to try many times. Finally I have to load them one by one. ....

Florals in color pencils

2009-07-12T03:43:00.000-07:00

My wonderful hub finally had taken photos of my works. Bless his heart for taking time out just to photograph them. He spent the whole afternoon doing it. Below are some of my florals in colorpencils. They are all postcard size. They work great as note cards, greeting cards, art deco for working desk . You can be creative and think of your own ways to use them. All are hand drawn and not prints. I used prismacolor on Lana drawing paper.

I am beginning to love colorpencils as a medium. I love the vibrant colors that they create. I enjoyed doing detailed work. Therefore most of my works are small in scale and pretty much lots of detailed. Guess that said alot about my personality. If anyone of you that resides in Penang is interested to do botanical art, do contact me. We can get together and share informations. I didn't attend any formal class for botanical, picked it up on my own.

2009-07-09T17:19:00.000-07:00

This week am working on 2 floral pieces. Have yet to get my "assistant" to take photos of them. Also I need him to photographs my completed works. Will make sure he does it this weekend and I will post them up as soon as possible. My assistant is actually my beloved and loving hubby. Bless his heart for finding time to get my works photo shot professionally. One of the piece am working on will have to be redone. I think I need to rectify certain things to make it a better piece.

On a lighter note, I plan to watch Ice Age this weekend. Heard that it's super hilarious. Today I decided to give my workout at the gym a break. Have to redo my 1st piece. The petals are driving me nuts!!!! Also am working out of my comfort zone, the piece is bigger in size. not gigantic, but it's 11 by 14 inch.

2009-07-05T01:09:00.000-07:00

I watched a Japanese movie today. It's called Departures. The movie was beautiful and meaningful. The story is about this guy who works as a "Nokanshi" (Enconfinner). Now I didn't know what was an enconfinner job untill I saw this movie. It's really a meaningful job. The work is to clean, dress and make-up the dead before he or she was put into the coffin. I would say it's really an art and done out of love. The movie was about family and love too. The music score was beautiful. I would recommend everyone to go watch it. Thanks to my brother for recommending it to me.

Today am posting a watercolor dahlia. This is one of my 1st few paintings. The petals were painted one at a time. Took me forever till my art instructor was wondering when I will be done with it. I didn't take note how many weeks it took me or months. I love the process though... it's very calming and a sort of meditation for me. The painting is now in a friend's home. It's painted on Windsor and Newton cold pressed watercolor paper. I used a size 2 brush for most of the work. Now if anyone is interested in a painting like this, please do drop me a mail.

1st blog post

2009-07-04T00:08:00.000-07:00

Hi I finally started my blog. It really took me sometime to finally getting my own blog up and running. This marked my 1st post... Am feeling rather excited about it. How truly like a child getting his/her new toy. A little bit about myself. I am currently residing in Penang, Malaysia. A nice little island with lots of good food. My objective starting this blog is a way for me to share my artworks and thoughts on anything and everything about art and maybe sometimes on life.... 1st a few of my oil paintings. These paintings were done few years back. The 1st and 3 rd paintings, size 16 by 20 inch and the 2nd is a really tiny one... 5 by 6 inch cotton canvas.