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The Prettiest Grocery List

14 Apr

Whenever I do groceries, I have to have a list. It’s a habit of mine that I prefer the old fashion paper and a pencil to check things off over a list keyed into my iPhone.

Sometimes I even add little doodles next to the items to make the list easier to see than read. After all, I am an artsy person, why not apply my skills to make the mundane more interesting?

When M2 was younger, I used to make her do my grocery list. There was once after she was done, she said excitedly, “Mummy! Here… You now have the prettiest grocery list!”

“See the flowers? They are growing!”

Indeed, my grocery list had very neat cursive hand-writing peppered with some decorations and a short sequence of the growing flower, from pod to bloom.

Pretty. I should make her do my grocery list more often these days.

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The Monet in Me, Part 2

23 Mar

Thoughts of Monet gave me a push to paint for two consecutive Sunday afternoons. The first piece at 8”x24” the weekend prior took two hours only. The second time, I did two pieces – a 10″x14” and a 10”x10” which didn’t take long to complete either. It was rather therapeutic on both occasions.

I must have lost my touch painting for I made a mess not on the marble floor (thank goodness) but on myself. There was paint on my fingers, thigh, ankle and even my eyelids! Goodness.

On top of the mess, I didn’t realize I nicked my thumb with the palette knife on both occasions and even went one step further by accidentally slicing my palm whilst cleaning the knife after I was done painting the first time. Ouch.

But all these efforts was worth it. Am pretty proud of my finished pieces.

 

This tool can slice you effortlessly if not careful!

  

Mood evoking pieces

 

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The Monet in Me

21 Mar

I love Claude Monet the Impressionist artist. Whenever I travel abroad, I always make the effort to visit art museums to view the Impressionist collection and especially to stand in front of a Monet or two to be inspired. I must say Musée d’Orsay ranks up there for me over the Louvre.

This love for Claude Monet started in college. I was very taken with the Impressionist style. One of my early Illustration classes, I did a portrait of Mr Monet. And it was during my summer Painting class that I did further studies on him. I remember one assignment called for us to emulate our choice of artist.

Obviously I chose Claude Monet. And the particular piece I chose was ‘Poplars on the Banks of the River Epte, Seen from The Marsh’ (1892). My two feet by two feet effort still hangs at home in the TV room today.

I loved the Poplar series so much that I recreated the ‘Seen from the Marsh’ piece at a smaller scale of eight by ten inches. The Monet in me then did a little series of my own with two additional interpretations of the poplars. But unlike Monet, I used the palette knife, my choice of tool to paint.

 

The paper may have faded but he’s still looking good!

  

My version of the Poplars

  

My Poplar series

 

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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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