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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

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

All these, I really could not asked for more and for that, I am thankful, every day of my life. One of the most valuable lesson I have learned in life is to always look towards the positivity in everything, no matter how dreadful it may be. Here’s wishing each and everyone of you a Happy 2021!

I have not been writing my blog as much as I should this year. I have so far only written 2 and that is baaad…

But the truth is that I have actually produced 20 pieces of new artworks this year. Pretty productive, I may say. They were 7 pieces done this year for my solo exhibition, a continuation from 2019. 1 graphite portrait and 1 small demo piece for a fun coloured pencil art short video. 1 huge family portrait commission and lastly, 10 small cats commissioned pieces,

Even though the world sort of stood still because of Covid-19, I was very occupied with work. The commissioned pieces helped a lot financially. Sold some artworks during the lockdown. All that income came in handy to pay for the framing work of my exhibition pieces, which cost a bomb! A bit heartless to say this, but 2020 has been

This series of paintings depict a perceptive insights in stillness, a state of mental quietude.

When we take time to be still and quiet the mind, we are able to achieve a clear introspection of our own thoughts and emotions.

When our thoughts are free from surrounding chaos, our mind becomes unified and collected and enters into a state of clear consciousness and mindfulness.

EXTRICATE

To be free from entanglement, disengage and extricate our mind from mindlessness.

 23.5×16.5 inches (60x42cm)

140lbs (300gsm) hot pressed Lanaquarelle watercolour paper.

Faber-Castell Polychromos/Caran D’ache Luminance colour pencils.

ALTRUISM

A benevolent state of mind with concern for happiness and valuing of others, be it human beings and/animals.

A determination to act for the benefit of others which in turn, resulting in a quality of life both material and spiritual

23.5×16.5 inches (60x42cm)

140lbs (300gsm) hot pressed Lanaquarelle watercolour paper.

Faber-Castell Polychromos colour pencils.

EQUIPOISE

A balance of forces.

23.5×16.5 inches (60x42cm)

140lbs (300gsm) hot pressed

Back in August 2019, I’ve completed a 21 x 19 inches (53 x 48cm), coloured pencil drawing of a Malayan Tiger (Panthera Tigris Jacksoni) “Bzui” and her female cub “Berisi” . (http://sharonsskow.com/2019/09/03/bzui-berisi/ )

I did this piece as my contribution to RIMAU http://rimau.ngo/, a Malaysian based Malayan Tigers conservation organisation. It was supposed to be auction off during the RIMAU fund raising gala dinner this year but unfortunately, because of Covid-19, everything was either postponed or put on hold till further notice. It is sad fact that because of the pandemic, crucial sources of funding for conservation work are rapidly dwindling, RIMAU included.

But last week, I received a wonderful news from RIMAU that they have received an extremely generous amount of donation.

From the ZOOM meeting I had with RIMAU members and the CEO of Perak State Park Corporation (PSPC) on International Tiger Day, 29th July 2020, we learned that said

This year, I decided to go easy. Take my time with my artworks and fully concentrate and indulge in the process of creating.

I have taken off several art competitions and exhibitions from my list except for Colored Pencil Society Of America .

It was not easy initially. Seeing my peers getting into shows and competitions that I’ve sat out, I felt that I was missing out a lot. But then, by the end of 2018, fifth year into my journey as a colour pencil artist, I realised that I need to take a step back and re-evaluate the directions to where I should be focusing instead.

You know how when we begin to do something which we are passionate about, we tend to want to try out anything, to test the water, so to say. For me, it was just about every opportunity I can get to have