Archive

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

Treasure trove, literally means “treasure that has been found”. The term treasure trove is often used metaphorically to mean a “valuable find”, and hence a source of treasure, or a reserve or repository of valuable things. The term is also often used metaphorically.– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_trove

Now this, may not be considered as treasures to many. BUT to me, it brought out troves of loving memories that I had of my childhood.

My late father was a handyman. There was nothing he could not repair around the house. He had this heavy duty military type toolbox where all his previous tools were kept inside. He made sure to keep every tool well oiled and in good working conditions. Anybody who uses it without putting it back where it belong, will be given a good lashing. That was how precious those tools were to him.

I was trained by him to recognised each and every tool in that box.

I have always been a dog person. So for me to paint a cat, is something I myself would never think of doing.

Don’t get me wrong, I love all kinds of animals, cats included. Throughout my whole life, dogs have always been my preferred pets and I have to admit that I do feel a wee bit uncomfortable being close to cats. One of reason is that they are so tiny, fragile and aloof. So very different compared to dogs.

So what made me do this? Several of my friends thought it was a commissioned piece, which is was not.

Now, do you believe in serendipity? Chance encounters? I do, always have. And this is one good example.

I went to a friend’s house, who is a musician and also a cat lover (they have 3!), with the intention to take some photos of musical instruments for future work references. It so happened

The last portrait I did was way back in 2013 and it was of my late father. He suggested that I should draw an elderly person with lots of character in the face. Which translated to lots of wrinkles and lines.

At that time, I was quite a freshie in art and I recalled telling him where am I to find one. Even if I found one, I will be too shy to take a photo of that person. In the end, he did me a favour and posed for me, scrunching up his face to produce as much wrinkles as possible (that’s how funny he was).  A couple of moths after I have completed his portrait, he left us. It was the most devastating time of my life and I have not done anymore portraits until now.

Stand Back 200ft (2013)

So now, what made me paint this particular portrait?

The minute I saw this scene, I knew I have to paint it.  I want to capture that whole sombre, nostalgic feeling which tells an interesting story. This needs no descriptions nor explanations in length. I want the viewer to tell me their version of story instead.

This reference picture was taken in an iron factory museum in Nanfangao, Taiwan during my trip there early this year. It was previously an iron factory in the early 60’s. But due to technology advancement and changes of the times, the factory closed  down in 2004. And now, with the effort of the owner, it was turned into the Sangang Iron Factory Museum.

From the outside, this museum looks like an ordinary old taiwanese shophouses. If we were not taken in for a tour, I would not have know that it was a museum.  It was messy with all kinds of old metals and ironworks.