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One of Mine

7 Mar

I love this painting that I did many years ago. Sometimes I see clouds above the mountains, other times it’s the ocean and the horizon. It gives a sense of calmness regardless of what I make it out to be whenever I look at it.

I took a painting class in summer during college and it was rather enjoyable. Like every other student, I started off using sable brushes but somehow I never did master this tool. Instead I prefer the palette knife.

Naturally, this two feet by four feet oil piece was completed using just the palette knife and no brushes at all. And it used to hang behind my sitting space at the old office. I hope to have it up at the new office in my room soon, one of the few places that can have big paintings up.

  

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Not Enough Walls

2 Mar

Not everyone likes walls because walls restrict and make a place feels confined. But having walls in an office is different. We don’t have enough walls in the new office to hang up our art pieces because the place is smaller with lesser walls.

Unlike world events of having THE controversial wall, our ‘problem’ is an insufficient amount of solid walls to display the big paintings. The room partitions are not strong enough to bear the weights of these pieces, so we have to be selective to see which ones get to be put up.

All these years at the old office, there was ample wall space and I guess we took it for granted. Sigh…

That’s my Karel Appel. Nice?

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The Gum Ball Machine

9 Feb

I love my gum ball machine. It’s quite an authentic piece, made of metal and glass instead of plastic. I bought it in New York City during a blind date set up by my room mate dinosaur years ago. I agreed to the date only to oblige her. 

The date and I went to SoHo and ended up at the Cupping Room Cafe for lunch. Thereafter we browsed some shops nearby and I stumbled upon the gum ball machine. An unusual buy on a first date but what the heck? It’s a gum ball machine(!) just like the one in WBMG., Inc. albeit smaller. So the purchase was made.

Now, about the date… He was nice, polite and gentlemanly but too hairy for me. Gosh! Funny I can still recall the places we went and details like the hair at the back of his neck sticking out of his round-neck t-shirt but not his name. Ugh to the hair! There was no further second date. Thank goodness, otherwise I wouldn’t have tales of my M1, M2, hubby and Rooney to tell! 

Over the years, the gum ball machine has been in a discreet corner in the old office just collecting dust. Somehow I never considered displaying it at home, and it’s not like it’s a bad reminder of the date with Hairy Guy in SoHo. But I think it’s more of not wanting it filled with candy and enticing the girls (and myself) to have a sweet tooth.

Today, it sits proudly in a visible position in my office room! I will have to fill it up with M&M chocolate soon. The debate now is whether to have normal ones or with peanuts? Hmm… tough decision here.

  

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The Mona Lisa

13 Jan

I started reading the book ‘How to Think Like Da Vinci’ a Christmas gift from hubby. It sure is an interesting eye opener not because of Da Vinci himself but more of the fact it made me recall my encounter with the Mona Lisa.

I have been to Paris twice. The first trip when we wanted to visit the Louvre, we didn’t know the museum’s schedule well enough. It was closed and we were due to fly home the next day. Disappointed, we vowed that if we ever went back to Paris, we have to make the museum trip.

Went back we did, a few years later – 2013. During the second trip, hubby and my sibling were off for a business meeting, so I was left to my own devices. I decided to visit the Louvre. Thankfully, it was open.

And like every other tourist, I had to see the great painting. It was such a huge crowd, I couldn’t get any closer. And having a barrier and protective glass over it, it sure was hard to have a good look at the masterpiece.

Was it worth the hoopla? Depends on which angle you look at it. For me, it was merely a ‘been there, done that’ moment; didn’t move me. Give me a Monet anytime, I’d be totally inspired.

So back to my book, maybe reading it and trying to think like Da Vinci may move me better.

    

    
 

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Spring Cleaning, Part 2

23 Dec

The cleaning bug have gotten the best of me because I am also cleaning out stuff from the office. Two decades of design work sure has a lot of portfolio pieces to show! 

To my utter delight, I unearthed a couple of pieces of drawings on my desk, done by the girls when they were very young. Now for the life of me, I cannot recognize whose style it was. It could be M2 when she was probably four or five years old but there are also some elements of M1’s style. Hmm… memory has totally failed me on this. 

But it does not matter, these are treasures and stick figure drawings are totally so us! And very cute that everyone’s names are listed even for the flowers. Tickles me to no end that my last name is spelled backwards – EEL instead of LEE. Angie Eel… hahahaha. This is definitely M2.

What’s even more delightful was the clever use of space when typographically challenged. The letters go downwards, a horror scenario which the graphic designer in me would never do but trust a child to do it. And I think she did it well.

Such treasures, I will have these framed up!

   
 

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Feeling Restless

17 Oct

For several weekends I have been feeling very restless. It became more pronounced when I had to sit out from golf. And days that we don’t go out and do something, I become an unhealthy couch potato.

There were times I channeled my energy to art. So I painted and carved. But I don’t enjoy it when I am interrupted (mostly by official pet number one’s insistent barking for attention) or be at it for long periods of time. It’s very hard to find a balance. 

The stain glass activity on the whiskey bottles have stopped because I find it very time consuming and tedious. And it hurts my back if I bend over too long. As for the balsa wood carving, it’s very messy because with the ceiling fan on, the light wood chips fly everywhere!

I am torn on what to do next. Should I carve the remaining balsa wood, paint on canvas instead of whiskey bottles or try my hands at something new?

So much creative energy, so little activities…

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What Next?

19 Jul

I have another foot long balsa wood and am contemplating carving something else other than owls. Not that I don’t like owls, I think having choices would be challenging. 

It has to be something round without limbs sticking out and easy to recognize. Hmm. Life choices…

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It’s a Zoo!

18 Jul

So I carved. And carved and carved over the weekend and created a mini zoo of sorts with my effort. In the process, I made a mess in the house with the wood flakes and dust flying everywhere. Can’t help it with the fan on at full blast as it was hot and humid.

The comments given were hilarious. I had a mention of a penguin, a frog and a Yoda for my owl carving attempts. I finally had some good results after the earlier efforts. It was literally five owls/hours later that I got it right.

I must say I had fun doing all these. In total I carved 11 pieces, four on the totem pole. Amazing where the burst of energy (and creativity) came from! Next step would be to stain them to look more complete. 

 

My little zoo

  

The first two: The Yoda and the penguin wannabes

  

Saturday’s troop looking more like owls

  

The last two. Gave ‘Elvis’ a tad of front hair. Heheh…

 

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My New Tools!

15 Jul

I couldn’t wait for the weekend and left the office early yesterday to go back to the art store and bought the carving set, along with more balsa wood.

Debating between the cheap Made in China set and the expensive Sakura brand, I opted for the Japanese set which cost five times more but I think it’s a good investment. Last night, the carving has begun!

I think when the weekend is over, I should have a brood of owls and other animals done up. So exciting!

  

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A Sketch and a Plan, Part 3

14 Jul

Art has always been my passion. Carving the balsa wood reminds me of the time when I tried carving wax dinosaur years ago. It was basically a do-it-yourself technique.

Back then it was hard to find the perfect block of wax. And to buy a big (and expensive) candle to carve, I think Mom and Dad would have balked at the idea. So I improvised. I made a mold using cardboard and then melted regular house candles into it to have that perfect block. It was more important to have the correct size rather than the right color. Burnt wax ended up looking black. Oh well.

Then the mess began. It was exhilarating. I must say wax carving is so much easier because the substance is soft and easy to manipulate or shape. If a mistake is made, I could just melt some wax to patch the mistake and redo the area without problems, unlike wood when once carved away, you cannot undo.

I carved several Smurf characters because I had those little blue figurine collectibles and they were an easy reference to start off. It worked out well and I still have the wax figurines after all these years. Although the trio collectively has a missing ear, half a foot gone and two limbs broken off, they still look good. I should fix them though.

Now balsa wood is different for obvious reasons. Harder than wax yet soft to carve, you cannot use too much strength else you’d end up cutting out parts unintentionally. I carved a pig several years back and after that one time, I did not pursue further. I don’t know why. I think I went on to painting.

But now, here I am, carving again. What more, did a totem pole of owls and contemplating more little single figurines to work on. This is much more satisfying than painting owls on the whiskey bottles that I did a while back. That was just time consuming whereas this, thinking in 3-D and seeing what the mind sees in all angles come true to life is much more satisfying. And therapeutic.

So the sketch and the plan will continue.

   
    
 

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