chinese gardens

The weather's been amazing this week - cool, and quite breezy - quite uncharacteristic for the rainy season. Out on Clarke Quay on Wednesday night I wore a sleeveless top and was actually cold!! It hasn't rained all week and everything is wilting and dying in the garden. There are way too many leaves to rake up. For once, I'd be really happy for a really heavy downpour. Anyway, it seemed like a great time to go out to the Chinese Gardens and draw with my friend Jane.

But today both the heat and humidity have gone up a few notches. I think we stayed for a couple of hours and decided that we couldn't take it anymore. We found a spot in the shade to draw a round entrance, and then later a pagoda. My oil pastels were melting nicely in the heat, and so was I. By the time I'd fnished my pagoda sketch sweat was just dripping off me - yep, time to stop. Not to be defeated, we'll go back another time (err...earlier in the day might be better!), and bring our own picnic. As we left we saw two huge monitor lizards swimming across the lake - we've decided to go to Sungei Buloh (a mangrove area to the north of the island, which also has monitor lizards as well as kingfishers and wetland species) - so we're not totally put off by the weather, which can be debilitating. I really liked the fact that my oil pastels came out in sympathy with me and reacted the same way I did!

my real home

My true 'home' is by the sea. I had a long think about this the other day - it's not next to the sea (even though I love coastal walks), and it's not in the sea (although I love diving), and not on the sea (at best I am a fair weather sailor). Nope, none of these. Where I truly feel at home is the seashore, strolling on long stretch of beach, preferably deserted. I could be rock pooling or beachcombing or photographing the patterns that sand makes. I put my love of the seashore down to my father and the holidays we spent by the sea with a trusty Collins Guide to the Seashore. My Dad was never much for enjoying the sea, in fact I only saw him in the water once in my life. I now wonder why we had beach holidays when he seemed to really dislike the water. But we would spend hours pacing beaches picking up and identifying shells, or clambering over rocks and then rock pooling for shrimps.

Somewhere in my Mum's attic are some of the reminders of these holidays. I delved into this treasure trove of goodies a while back and found something that instantly brought a flood of memories back - a couple of British cowrie shells. These tiny ridged pink shells symbolise my childhood, well at least a part of it - the happy times on Cornish beaches. I don't think we found them anywhere else - or if we did I only associate them with Cornwall. In Asia they are far grander and have the most incredible markings, colouration and shiny texture. I've seen them many times now underwater with their mantle covering the shell and seen them feeding, and seen them washed up empty on beaches, scratched by coral and sand. But I don't think any other cowrie, or shell for that matter, will have so much resonance for me as the humble British cowrie.

Much of my past is stored in a couple of attics in Europe, there's a lot of 'stuff' up there too but to me that doesn't count. The things that really matter to me are old letters and cards, photos and little mementoes of happy times. Sometimes I long for them as I long for that deserted beach - but not in a nostalgic way, yearning for the past kind of way. Just as a way of putting some of the pieces of the puzzle back together - what makes me today, where my passions have come from...

pameran poskad

Last week I went to pick up the artwork I bought at Pameran Poskad '08 - I was so excited! In all I bought nine pieces. This was one of the most fun exhibitions I've been to - there were around 2000 postcard sized artworks, all for sale, created by 228 artists ranging from some big names to art students. There were photographs, prints, paintings, paperworks - all sorts of media, at very reasonable prices. The opening party was fun too - and a bit frantic as people eagerly bought up their favourites. It was also great to bump into artist friends I haven't seen for ages - so it turned out to be a bit of a reunion. Hopefully next time I'll get to know about this in time to put some work in! Anyway, for now I am enjoying my purchases...One of my favourites is by Li Sze - 'Wanna the frog out my mind!' - a really fun piece. Another that I love is by Yuri, entitled 'Sakura 4' - an inspired piece - simple yet very elegant - handmade paper created to resemble blossom petals.

just do it

It's quite timely that one of the tasks in The Artist's Way is listing creative goals for the year. It's nice to start the year thinking about my creative goals rather than what I am going to give up (which usually doesn't last very long!) - it definitely feels a much more positive and dynamic way to go. Most of my goals are very concrete like learning how to use my new digital SLR or going on a botanical illustration course (if I can find one). Right up there at the top is my intention to draw every day - even if it's just a quick 15 minute sketch, and draw without judgement. If I can't manage it for whatever reason, then so be it - I'll just start again the next day. Here's one of this week's drawings. One my cats often curls up in a ball with his head tucked in - perfect for a quick sketch!

filling the well

I really needed a bit of time out and took myself to see the Korean Art exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum yesterday - this was my artist's date for this week. I really had no expectations, I knew none of the artists, nonetheless I hoped there would be one or two pieces that I liked or moved me in some way. I was pleasantly surprised to discover three artists work that I particularly liked; two on an asethetic/emotional level, the other conceptually. It's always wonderful to discover some new contemporary artists, and then realise that my preferences are fairly well established - for example I know I gravitate towards nature, natural forms and materials and particularly admire artwork which is executed skillfully.

Cheong Kwang Ho's work really impressed me. He makes exquisite copper wire sculptures - large, transparent pieces. My favourites were a large (around 4 ft across), four petalled flower, the other a multi-lobed leaf. Each piece was beautifully handcrafted - the leaf and flower literally stripped to their bare bones.

I lost myself in Kim Hong Joo's paintings. These were subtle aerial typographies of imagined landscapes, with paths or rivers running through them. Up very close you could see an incredible attention to detail, with very fine brush stokes of different colours blending together. According to the blurb, it takes him months to complete one painting. I loved the ambiguity of these landscapes - these could be microscopic or large scale.

Ik Joong Kang artwork intrigued me and I will certainly find out more about him. 'Happy World' dominated a large part of a wall and consisted of (hundreds?) of 3 x 3 miniature canvases. According to the brochure, 'Kang describes himself a s a collector of dreams, dreams of people.' I really like the idea of all these (possibly) random images and thoughts coming together to create a one large completed piece. It got me thinking - what if I did a small drawing or artwork every day? Something really small - even a doodle. Mmmm, that might be an interesting project...

christmas paper

Here's me signing off now until after Christmas. Try as I might I never feel particularly Christmassy in the tropics - though I do try! Here's something I made a few days ago. The paper is very thin, and glistens ever so slightly with glitter. Now I haven't got time to figure this out, but the paper is horizontal so you have to turn your head to see it as it was intended. Anyway, wishing you Happy Christmas!

a gift to myself

Bliss. I have just bought the winter issue of KIE magazine http://int.kateigaho.com/ I am an unashamed admirer of Japanese aethetics and culture. It's a truly luscious magazine and I'm never disappointed. I've mourned other magazines I've loved in the past when they've changed their paper, their format, their direction. KIE gets it just right - the focus is tight - Japanese arts and culture. Large format, high quality paper, exquisite photography, intelligent articles - it's pure pleasure. This is one magazine I cannot imagine ever tearing up for scrapbook images!