Tag Search

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

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

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.

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.

There’s something about quietness.  That particular moment where we are able to hear our innermost thoughts. A time for reflections, contemplations with a hint of melancholy.

No one can deny that in some point of our lives, there are times when we need to be in THAT quiet moment. It is not about self pity or sadness,  just ‘down’ time, to halt and reflect.

To retreat into the quietness is not selfish, it is a dissonance that we need to appreciate what we have, to mature and transfigure us.

Being an artist, a moment of quietness is priceless. It is a time when I can be my true self, to listen to my inner voice. I let out all of the anger, bitterness and sadness that were buried deep inside without hurting anyone else. It is a way to purge out all those negative thoughts and thereafter, move on with a positive mind.

So, enough

Finally the day of the much anticipated and awaited event has materialised.  This is Faber-Castell Malaysia first ever fine art exhibition in Malaysia and also the Asia Pacific region. All 35 fine art pieces were created exclusively from Faber-Castell’s “Art & Graphic” range by 12 selected contemporary artists based in Malaysia.

The planning of the exhibition took almost a year and all artists were given a period of 4 months to complete 3 pieces of artwork each last year. Once all work were completed and submitted, Faber-Castell Malaysia will then select the art work for the exhibition.

The exhibition was held from the 7th – 10th April at the Faber-Castell Kiosk in Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur and it continues on at the Artemis Art Gallery in Publika, Kuala Lumpur till the 1st May.

Initially, I was rather skeptical of an exhibition held in a public mall,