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Silence can be calm and soothing to some but it can also be quite deafening and scary to others.

I believe that it all depending on the individual’s state of mind, at that certain time. Personally, I find it very calming. Silence is my place of refuge, where I contemplate all the good and bad that goes on with life.

I live across a beautiful stretch of beach but I hardly go there. Reason is because it is a public beach with food stalls, so there’s always some crowds. If I ever feel like taking a stroll on the beach by myself, I would usually go quite early in the morning.

So, one fine day, when I was feeling a bit ‘stuffy’ in the head (not from cold, just too much going on up there), I decided to pay the beach a visit.

The sound of the waves was soothing,

“When you look a wild animal in the eye, it’s like catching a glimpse into the soul of nature itself”

-Paul Oxton

I started working on this piece on the 31st of March this year and I took my own sweet time with it. Not that I had nothing to work on, in fact, I was in the midst of working on a whole new series of artworks WHEN I received an invite to participate in a ‘by invitation only” group exhibition.

The theme is “LangUR“, a visual arts exhibition to create awareness in the Dusky Leaf Monkey (Langurs) conservation which will be held in August 2021 at Penang State Art Gallery. Part of the proceeds from sold artworks will be donated to the “Langur Project Penang (LPP)” organisation https://langurprojectpenang.com/.

This is definitely something that I could never resist. Art for a good cause, a purpose. Immediately I knew that I

Sempiternity: Existence within time but infinitely into the future, as opposed to eternity, understood as existence outside time.

Some time ago, I sort of stumbled across Leaves of Grass by American poet, Walt Whitman . I was really fascinated by his daring, foresighted thoughts, and mind you, we are talking about a person who was from the 19th Century.

Whitman suggests that the natural world moves through these spheres and appearances through a mode of natural continuity. “Time and space are ample”, meaning that there always is and always will be enough time and space for movement and growth within the natural world. The natural world merely follows a continuity of cycle. True reality is the spirit and that it lies beyond the reach or realm of the senses.

This piece of artwork, at a glance, may seems a little bit gloomy and perhaps, even a little bit depressed to some. But

Wild life paintings are something that I rarely do. The only reason that if I ever do any, it will be as a contribution piece to raise fund for a good cause.

This coloured pencil portrait of Bzui, and her cheeky daughter, Berisi, will be donated to a local Malayan Tigers conservation organisation http://rimau.ngo/ (RIMAU).

What I like most about RIMAU is that apart from their mission in advocating with various NGOs and government sectors in the conservation of the Malayan Tigers, their main core mission is working on the development and deployment of a well-trained workforce utilising primarily local Malaysians, especially the Orang Asli (indigenous peoples of Malaysia). With the proper tiger and forestry management practices, supported by appropriate laws and  necessary enforcement, they can systematically patrol the forest, ensuring that threats to the well-being of Malaysian local tigers and wildlife are eliminated.

The minute I

Memory is not just the imprint of the past time upon us; it is the keeper of what is meaningful for our deepest hopes and fears. –Rollo May

I chance upon this beautiful treasure at a friend’s house. My friend, Pearly Kee, is a homecook coach and author of 3 best selling cookbooks to date. She has appeared on numerous cooking programmes aired throughout Asia, showcasing the best of Nyonya cuisine. Quite a celebrity she is.

I have known her for some time and heard all about her wonderful cooking but never had the chance to try it. So when I received the invite to dine at her house, I was elated!!

While everyone was busy eating, my eyes kept looking towards a mysterious box at a corner. It was a plain, very old wooden box sitting on a small side table. I have been staring at it for quite a

If you have been following my style of artwork, you will notice the majority of it are quite ‘mellow’ or ‘muted’ in colours. But this time, this piece is pretty ‘loud’, colours that I hardly use. So why the change?

No, I am not changing my style, it is just that I feel that it is good to do something out of the norm once in a while. And since this is a much smaller piece at 8 x 8 inches, I thought that it will be quite fun to do something dramatic.

This is a tea caddy made of ceramic to store tea leaves. In my case, Chinese tea leaves. It was a gift from Taiwan, by the guy who was my model of the portrait that I did last year. It was such a lovely gesture from him and something that I will treasure for a long time.

The

This is a piece of painting that is very close to my heart, a tribute for a dear friend and a talented artist, Sherin Ng, who succumbed to cancer on the 28th January 2019.

It is comforting to me that I managed to visit her in the palliative care centre, few days before she left us. It was heart wrenching to see her in that state but I had to hold back my tears and put up a brave front. Even though she was so weak, could barely speak out, the look of gentleness in her eyes told me that she was ready. It is a mutual understanding between us that has no need for words.

She was a person with the purest heart and intentions. Kind, gentle and ever ready to forgive. Not once have I heard any negative remarks or comments about others from her.

She had

Now, this is a very intimidating piece, something that I was not quite confident working on. The reason? This person happens to be my husband, who happens to be an architect AND architects are…. extremely fussy! There, I have said it.

Because of his passion, I was exposed to the world of architecture and became quite familiar with most architectural terms. I can be quite a good ‘critique’ when it comes to building designs (Ahem! Just saying..)  To him, every little detail counts, nothing escape his scrutiny and at times, that can be a real pain (you know where) .

My first hand experience ‘working’ with him was when we were renovating our house a few years back. Oh boy, really drove me up the wall with his obsession with every little detail. But then, it was a good thing because it seemed to have rubbed off on me and it shows in

I love to explore as much as I could with colour pencils, be it the genre or style of execution, to see how versatile it can be. And this is one of my experimental piece that not like my usual style of coloured pencil art.

The first thing one will notice is the lack of the usual detailed work compared to my usual work.

I saw this set up in one of a clothing boutique in town and was immediately drawn to it. I loved the subtle nuance of the peeling wall surface, the cool and warm tones all at once. It had such a calming feel to it. This could well be a beautiful oil painting and I was pretty confident that I am able to do it with colour pencil.

Reference photo

Since I knew that this will be a totally different style of artwork, I decided that I might as well

to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve:

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/ameliorative

I took this photo quite a while back when I was in Taiwan earlier this year for an exhibition. It was at a very old government quarters’ compound which has been turned into an art and cultural park. 

Some of the still intact old quarters were turned into tea house, art gallery, modern cafes where most of the structures were still kept in their original condition. all those did not interest me. Instead, I went wondering on my own around the park, armed with my camera, begin looking for inspirations.

As I walk around the compound, I saw this imposing huge tree and it stopped me at my track. It was so majestic and I was in awe.I went around studying it closely. The more I scrutinise it, the more I begin to see the story behind it. I knew I have to paint this, one day…

After any trip, as I was