Digital art by Jonas De Ro
In this sweltering heat, I am yearning for rain....
Monday, June 25, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Art Running Routes- Gardens By The Bay
From Inside The Flower Dome, 24/6/2012
It might be while I was witnessing a miracle of nature over the quiet waters of our most famous river;
Original Photo by Cher Kuan- 24/6/2012
and then behold, a 100 year old romance coursed through.
It could be that moment of marvel at the super scale of a nation's vision, made possible by the effort of thousands, realising what might had seemed an impossible dream.
Summer display of Mediterranean flowers- Flower Dome,24/6/2012
Or on a very special morning like this one, the surprising greeting of a colourful burst of vibrance,
with promises smelling of hope and happiness,
adventure and awe.
These are often how I feel while running with friends who have become like family in the many beautiful places in Singapore. This swelling of pride and sense of immense well being; a sensation I have come to recognise as love for my country, my home.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Art Artistry Artisan - Mrs Lee Gek Khim
Peranakan beaded slippers, also known as kasot manek,literally meaning shoe beads, is a type of shoe that dates back to the early twentieth century. It refers to beaded slippers worn by a nyonya to complete her Sarong Kebaya outfit, together with chained brooches (kerosang) and a silver belt (tali pendeng). The slippers are made of Peranakan cut beads (manek potong), which are treasured as these beads are no longer available. Vintage kasot manek are intricate and finely stitched, a testimony to the fine workmanship of yesteryears. The intricacy and fine workmanship of a pair of beaded slipper is also a hallmark of highly accomplished Peranakan women, also known as nyonyas, whose skills in embroidery and beadwork are highly valued.-----Wikipaedia
I don't think I have ever seen my housemate FaiZ as excited as he was 3 weeks ago, at the prospect of hosting a guest. It is after all the legendary, much loved and very respected Mrs Lee Gek Khim, FaiZ's secondary school English teacher. FaiZ attributed his As in Literature, a subject which might well be Greek to him to this remarkable but now retired teacher who has relocated with her family to Australia. To this day, many of her ex-students regarded her as their best teacher ever! In the short time I have known her, I have come to truly enjoy her company.
Mrs Lee or Khim as I addressed her since I was not her student, is a true blue nonya and to my delight, I found out that she loved beading. This pair of beadwork is for her 9th pair of kasok manet. She brought them to Singapore, hoping to find a cobbler specialising in Peranakan slippers.
I could not stop admiring her work
and even love the back.
Khim made me feel like stitching again and I actually did last night.
I will miss her sorely when she leaves.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Word Play Art
Word As Image- Project by Ji Lee
A L
gophile?
gophile?
Me too!
And if you have had a loooooooooong week
and need a sm;)e like I did
Then you must w@T@h this
I love words and when they are art, I go nuts.
I have had a long week , actually a long month.
Word as Image really brought me the smiles, and some out loud laughs, I needed.
I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Rain By CCIllus
Illustrated by 大菠萝
Imagine that we all live in our dollhouses.
Imagine that all our houses were built under an umbrella.
Then
one day
it rained.....
I was browsing the web to escape work for 10 minutes and ended up being here for almost 3 hours. I even ended up blogging but I just had to. You see, I fell in love with this work-in-progress animation "Rain". The illustrator lives in China and calls himself 大菠萝 which literally translates to "Big Pineapple". I have emailed him about this post but I am too impatient to wait for his reply. Maybe you too can understand why I just can't wait to share it with you.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Singapore Iconic Lantern Design Competition 2011
Display of all participating lanterns at Central Mall
This was a competition Cindy and I contemplated participating sometime in July this year. This competition called the "Chinatown Mid Autumn Festival 2011 Singapore Iconic Lantern Design Competition" was as its name suggested, a contest for the best lantern designed to the theme of Singapore Icons. Several discussions and one preliminary shopping trip (for materials) later, I decided I could not hack it. Too much work, too little time. I also remember feeling absolutely uninspired.
Win's entry- Singapore Merlion
I had however coaxed my brother into submitting a design and he did with this 3D replica of the Singapore Lion Head icon. The fact that it was an exact replica caused him to lose points on creativity, I suspect, but he got top marks, in my book, for execution. This was not a cheap lantern. Just the paper and printing alone cost S$250.00. He had wanted to make it collapsible but due to the lack of time and resource for experiments, he gave the idea up. Although he did not win any prizes, his was one of the top 10 entries.
1st prize entry- Vanda Miss Joaquim by Ivy Yeo
The 1st and 2nd prize went to MarG's mum and niece respectively. The local media dubbed them "the grandmother-granddaughter pair" . Auntie Ivy's lantern was made entirely with recyclable material and powered with rechargeable batteries. This is what one of the judges said about the lantern:
"There're a lot of great lanterns around but Mdm Yeo's lantern really stood out," said Mr Mitsuru Iguchi, managing director of SANYO Energy (S) Corp and one of the five judges. "Orchids are indeed very representative of Singapore. We are impressed that all the materials used are recyclable as it meets the contest criteria, given Singapore's limited resources."
2nd prize- Kriestel's Satay
Some of you may remember Kriestel She taught me how to make the tiniest origami crane mobile for my Maharajah's Emporium almost 2 years ago. I am really proud of her. She made the satay (skewered meat) with foam board and I thought they looked just like the real thing.
My personal favourite
This piece stood out for me. I regarded it as a work of art for the ingenious use of material and the skill involve in its execution. The dragon was made almost entirely from aluminium cans but I can see why it was probably more suited as an installation rather than lantern. This piece had no bulbs and could not therefore be lighted. It also did not really fulfill the Singapore-Icon criteria. I believe however that it came in 3rd.
The orchid motif painted on the lantern in the peranakan style was down by the maker himself.
The "what-in-the-world..... ?" pieces
FaiZ liked this piece although when I asked him, he was also at a loss what Singapore icon it was supposed to represent. This piece reminded me of how Win had said I should weave a basket when I told him I did not know what to make. He laughingly assured me that my mini baskets were testament to my weaving skills.
This piece would have made quite a funky lamp.
I believe this piece was to assimilate a burning joss coil
.
Changi Airport Control Tower, one of the icons Cindy and I thought we could explore or incorporate.
An easy way to showcase Singapore Malay Costumes.
Cone-y
What in the world.....
The Could-Have-Would-Have-Never-Was Lantern by me
No matter what my views are of these entries, I applaud each and everyone of the participants for doing what I could not. One thing I am sure, everyone of those lanterns will bring someone some really special memories.
Like the lantern Win made with my mum's granny panty when he was a young adult.
That, I vote, is my all time No.1 lantern for the laughter and joy it brought.
HAPPY MOONCAKE & LANTERN FESTIVAL(tomorrow), EVERYONE!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Gifts, Swaps & Thrills-Flora's Mini Dollhouse Books
On the 19th of April this year, Flora organised a giveaway of a set of her adorable dollhouse books to celebrate the joy of having 400 followers , some of whom (like me) are so ardent in our following that we almost never miss a post at her blog, La Casa delle Bambole di Flora.
This is my comment on her giveaway post:
I have acquired many a dollhouse books , so many that I did not have the opportunity to even open some of them so they are still carefully wrapped in yellowing plastic, collecting a firm film of dust :).
But can I resist if I see more ? Of course not! You have made books close to my heart, dear Flora :). Please count me as one of your faithful follower, hopeful and thankful for this chance to win your books.
106 of her followers participated but I must have had about 107 lucky stars revolving around me on the draw date because I won. Lucky, lucky me. I finally have a miniature collection alongside my humble real life collection of dolls' house books which I started buying since about 3 years ago.
Today, I took out Flora's books and took pictures of them on top of one of my favorite, DOLLS' HOUSES -Domestic life and architectural styles in miniature from the 17th century to the present day by Olivia Bristol and Leslie Geddes-Brown. And then I thought, maybe I will show Flora my real life collection.
So here they are,
Flora and all of you who love books on dolls' houses,
these are mine, as at 18th August 2011.
Part of the Sandra Morris collection
More of the Sandra Morris' Collection with newer how to books.
The DVD ,"Creating With Kiva" was a gift from Kiva Atkinson.
My very 1st book on dollhouse was "Classic Dolls' Houses" by Faith Eaton,
bought way before I fell in love with dolls' houses.
Books that I have yet to read.
And those still wrapped in yellowing plastic, bought at the Miniature Museum of Taiwan.
Last but definitely not least, my latest and most beautiful collection,
hand made immaculately by someone I regard dearly,
Flora .
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