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This is a very unique subject that I have ever worked on. Did not have any clue of what Ammolite is until I was asked to create an art piece of it.

So what is this shell thing? I asked the same question. Ammolite is a rare, opal-like, gemstone composed of the shells of fossil ammonites. I won’t explain in length about this but this is the link to have a better understanding of what it is;https://www.ammonite-factory.com/ammonite-ammolite

Ammolite is very much sought after as this organic gemstone has a dazzling range of colours and patterns and is highly desired for cabochons(gem that has been polished but not faceted) and assembled jewellery pieces.

(So lucky to actually see and touch the actual piece of Ammolite. That’s my feet in the photo.. LOL)

In Asia, it is highly valued apparently, for its Feng Shui element https://www.empireammolite.com/blogs/news/how-ammolite-relates-to-feng-shui . And the price for it is unbelievable!

BUT, for

This particular piece of artwork was specially done with my mother in mind.

She came to me one day and asked whether I will be willing to create a piece of artwork for a charity auction. It was a no brainer, for my mom, absolutely A OK.

Immediately I knew what the subject will be. My mother, dedicates her life after my father’s passing, actively doing the Lord’s work. The very first thing when she wakes up at 5am in the morning, is to go through the daily reading from the bible. And her bible, is really, a sight to behold! The cover is almost falling apart and was secured with cellophane tape.

I did not see it as just an old worn out bible. I see and feel her dedications, her faith in what she believes in. An image that is strongly imbedded in my mind.

I somehow deleted the original photo

Every once in a while, I have to explore something that is outside of my comfort zone. Like this one, for instance.

I came across the artworks by the late painter, Walter Tandy Murch . Was absolutely captivated by his style. Very texturised, clever play of light and shadows with multiple muted undertones of colours. It is something in-between expressionism and realism genre of artwork. Most of his still life subjects are your everyday things but very old; antiques. A subject matter which I love.

That got me thinking perhaps, I could try to implement some of his style with colour pencils. I know very well that it could never be 100% like his but maybe ‘adopt’ something similar. With that in mind, I have to find a subject that I can try it with.

While trying to look for the ‘candidate’, I recalled that I took a photo of an old

This is very typical of a bulldog when there is food. Just say that magic word “You want some?” and voila! No matter how sleepy they are, that eye, will light up as clear as day!!

It has been ages since I did any dog portrait. My very first bulldog portrait was of Spike back in 2013 as a practice piece. He was our very first English Bulldog. As for Sugar, I did her portrait in 2014, which is a much proper piece of art as I get the hang of the medium.

Mr. Macho a.k.a Spike (2013)

Contemplation a.k.a. Sugar (2014)

We have 3 English Bulldogs but sadly, Spike and Sugar have crossed over the rainbow bridge during the Covid lock down. Spike in 2020 and Sugar, just last year. It was a very heart wrenching couple of years for all of us in the family. Today, the only surviving bulldog of the

atemporal/eɪˈtɛmp(ə)r(ə)l : existing or considered without relation to time.

I am always fascinated by trees, especially the very old ones. I can just stand by it and imagine all kinds of scenes and era it had witnessed and been through. Even long after we are gone, these trees, if not destroyed by humans, remained, unaffected by time.

“When you walk through a forest that has not been tamed and interfered with by man, you will see not only abundant life all around you, but you will also encounter fallen trees and decaying trunks, rotting leaves and decomposing matter at every step. Wherever you look, you will find death as well as life. Upon closer scrutiny, however, you will discover that the decomposing tree trunk and rotting leaves not only give birth to new life, but are full of life themselves. Microorganisms are at work. Molecules are rearranging themselves. So death isn’t to

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. – Carl Jung

These words could not have been truer. Especially with my state of mind before I decided to create this piece.

In December 2021, for the whole month, I was extremely busy socialising, attending art and talk events. Everything seemed to happen within very short notice after the long Covid lockdown. Galleries and social events went out full force, trying to make up lost times.

Being more towards an introvert (Oh, I can socialise well if need to but not that often), it was all quite too much for me. I felt lost and was pretty emotionally ‘disarrayed’. It was too much for me. Mentally exhausted.

This particular reference photo was taken in 2019, when I was preparing for my first solo exhibition. I decided not to use it because

Well, 2021 was a continuation of 2020, I meant the Covid-19. We had another lockdown early this year because of the pandemic, (again!!), but people are better prepared this time. We were not as clueless as last year.

For me, was work as usual. A tad slow on producing new artworks after my solo exhibition last year. I guess, I am taking it easy after months of crazy rush to complete 17 new and big artworks.

As I am writing this, it is already the 30th of December, just two more days before we get to 2022.

While I was slow in producing new artworks, I was actually pretty occupied with other art related work.

Early this year, I was commissioned to do a portrait of a deity. Yup, you read right.

“Mazu” – Deity of Seafarers, Taiwan.

In April, this portrait of “Mazu” -Deity of Seaferers https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazu_(goddess) was offered by a dear friend in

A bit of an odd subject, with these onions. Rotten onions, to be exact.

This came by unexpectedly. I did not intentionally picked this subject matter, I think it chose me instead.

I have not been cooking as often as I would like to lately, so some perishable stuffs tend to rot away. For instance, these 3 red onions.

Strangely, when I was about to dump them into the bin, something held me back. My mind went “Hang on, put it aside for a couple of days and see what happened”.

By that, I definitely don’t have any intention to use them for any cooking for sure. Perhaps a painting of it?? So I left them on that ledge for about 2 weeks and warned everyone in house to not touch nor move them, hubby included.

I was dilly dallying before I realised how long the shoots have grown. And the colours!! The

Looking at this, I am quite sure many of you may wondered why I picked this subject matter. Eaten corn cobs???

Why?

Well, let me tell you the story…

Firstly, let me tell you that this subject was not planned. Never crossed my mind to ever want to draw corns, what more, eaten corn cobs. Come to think of it, it is quite yucky to want to draw an eaten corn cob.

One weekend during the covid lockdown, I got so bored of cooking and decided to steam some corns for lunch. While we, the husband, the daughter and myself were eating it, I noticed something pretty fascinating.

I was staring at the both of them and really observed how they ate their corns. It was messy!! I thought there is only one way of eating corns on the cob, by eating each and every kernel!

But not them.

Excitingly but calmly….., I

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.