Fine & dandy

Woke up today to find two artworks from my Dandelion series have sold, these are off to Alabama, USA :) Just yesterday I was standing in my backyard, in despair about my dandelion jungle. Not for long though, I then had a good ol' time blowing at all the seeds and sending them into the air; was very ethereal and woodsprite-ish. 

Oriental Dandy

Simply Dandy

I had my coffee hit at The Imp with super thick cut fruit toast and a generous supply of spread-friendly butter. 

I sat at the bar, looking out onto the cappuccino strip. This spot is excellent for people watching but no, I brought a magazine with me...I've always craved reading material when I eat. 

On my left was a fresh-faced girl in her early twenties and on my right, an equally gorgeous older lady, kinda Helen Mirren-like. I was sporting a china doll fringe and bright red lips, I was thinking we made that breakfast bar look quirky cool :)

The young girl is from Mauritius and is studying nutrition. She said that I looked familiar and asked if I hung out at My Place. Err....no...but I'm thinking I could check that place out next time I feel like a lychee martini.

When Helen Mirren's breaky arrived, OMG order envy! Wild mushrooms and goats cheese feta on turkish bread, with avocado on the side. She was very happy with her order and said that she particularly likes the feta. I said I particularly like that the turkish bread is served in the shape of a love heart. Her face lit up even more and I felt like I totally made a difference in her life. Ha.

In the afternoon, an experimental jam session with Moona. I like what we came up with, considering it's our first go with the song and we didn't have to try too hard.



Oh and helloooo there. What have we here. Another food pic. Curry laksa. Hit the spot. Like totally.

Another darn good Sunday

♥

Pinterested!

There is beauty in everything if you'll only stop for a moment to notice it. I love love love looking at photographs, exploring spaces, admiring landscapes, listening to nature, running my fingers over textures, picking up trinkets, smelling roses...just taking it all in and hoping to imprint it all in my brain.

I've bookmarked Pinterest as one of my go-to sites for my daily dose of beautiful and am really happy to find a couple of my paintings on it :)

Water Dandy on Etsy

Blanketed on Etsy

I always see something on Pinterest that makes my heart skip a beat. Here are some of my favourites from browsing today:

Source: vintagethorns.tumblr.com via Erin on Pinterest

Source: mycolorfashion.com via francyface on Pinterest

Source: core77.com via Joshua on Pinterest

Source: oldbrandnew.blogspot.com via Tory on Pinterest

♥

The Butterfly Effect

I've always enjoyed looking at interiors and architecture. I have a stash of newspaper and magazine cut-outs of rooms, furniture and decorating stuff, from when I was in my teens. These days, if I chance across pictures that catch my eye and are envy-inducing, I just take a photo of it. This happens mostly at cafes and it often draws sideways glances. Well I get to pretend that I'm a design student, thirsty for inspiration.

I don't know why I do it. I put the photos in a folder labelled Pretty Interiors, and I don't see them again. I suppose if I happen to wake up one day and find a bajillion dollars in my bank account, I'd hire a couple of super talented people to help me create a gorgeous little home. I'd hand them this folder, bursting with styles and colours I love. Yeah it'd be the most eclectic and contradictory mood board ever.

Well I did look through the folder the other day. I was working on The Butterfly Effect, my latest series on Etsy when I remembered this wall of butterflies. I found my photo of it (wasn't very well taken, I admit) and realised that I happen to have the magazine - Inside Out's 10th birthday issue, May/June 2010 - so here's a better shot of it. 

This is in David Bromley's Melbourne home and he painted the butterfly feature wall. I would've never considered a wall of massive butterflies, but this bathroom, along with the chandelier, Eiffel Tower (to scale!) and bath tub changed that. It's true, a butterfly goes where it pleases and it pleases where it goes.

Butterflies fascinate me. As a child, I used to catch little blue grey ones and inspect them with innocent curiosity. Now I'll probably freak out if one lands on me unexpectedly. I'm drawn to the whole transformer thing. Does a caterpillar know what its about to become as its building its cocoon? Does it struggle during metamorphosis? Does it know what colours it'll get? 

I guess it doesn't really matter. I bet it feels incredible to emerge from your cocoon, a new and improved version of yourself. 

♥

Avatar series

Oel ngati kameie

Ok I'm back on track after Avatarising myself. 

I watched the lengthy movie twice in the last few days and picked out some scenes and characters for my Avatar Series on Etsy. That was the easy part.

Painting them was quite a challenge. None of them were turning out as I envisioned and the unpredictability of watercolour didn't help either. I'm pleasantly surprised at the end result though. *beam*

Avatarised palette

Random thought: I think it's pretty cool that the Na'vi are blue, since the term Avatar is often associated with the blue-skinned Hindu God Vishnu.

Some lol material, Avahontas anyone?

From themovieblog.com

Yes the storyline has been done to death in lots of movies but it's still a spectacular piece of filmmaking with amazing special effects. 

Bring on Avatar 2 :)

♥

Cherry Blossom Series

I have two favourite ornamental flowering trees - the jacaranda, and this, the cherry blossom.

Its flowers are pretty, delicate and striking against the dark trunk. When it isn't flowering, the tree is just as gorgeous with its deep purply red leaves.

They've been associated with the fleeting nature of life, mortality and renewal. As I create my Cherry Blossom Series, my thoughts are with those affected by recent devastating floods, bushfires, earthquakes and tsunamis.

And a little haiku is in order:
pretty pink blossom
blooms despite adversity
as does the spirit

I keep a painting close by to remind me of how lucky and blessed I am, and to trust in the power of my own spirit.

Miles is a fan too :)

♥

A (typewriter) love story

This is all I know about them:

He loves typewriters, bicycles, works by Keats and the colour blue.
She loves yellow.
She loves him.

She gave him a vintage typewriter last year, for Valentine's.
He types her poems and stuff, including a little tip-off about an impending proposal.
He loves her.

♥ nawww moment ♥ 

A few days ago on Valentine's Day, she asked if I could make her an artwork from my Typewriter Love series. It had to incorporate a bicycle, anything by Keats and the colours blue and yellow. Wow, I was absolutely honoured :)

I scoured the net for hours in search of poems by John Keats. He writes beautifully and I found his works captivating, but often peppered with sadness and melancholy. Then I came across one of his sonnets:

On The Grasshopper And Cricket 

The poetry of earth is never dead:
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;
That is the Grasshopper's -- he takes the lead
In summer luxury, -- he has never done
With his delights; for when tired out with fun
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.

The poetry of earth is ceasing never:
On a lone winter evening, when the frost
Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills
The Cricket's song, in warmth increasing ever,
And seems to one in drowsiness half lost, 

The Grasshopper's among some grassy hills.

John Keats

December 30th 1816

I love its liveliness and that it involves twos...

grasshopper + cricket

summer + winter

warm + cool

vibrance + silence

All of which are equally beautiful, neither more superior than the other. There is something eternal about it; it's filled with feelings of hope and faith, as if to say - love persists, come rain or shine. I think that this would make a beautiful sonnet for a wedding :)

She made some wonderful suggestions, including making the bicycle a tandem one, and I'm so happy that she loves the finished product.

They're getting married in May and this is her wedding gift to him.
Ain't love grand...
Happy Valentine's!

♥

Koi Carpe Diem series

It was Chinese New Year yesterday and will be for the next 2 weeks. So this is as good a time as any to have a go at my Koi Carpe Diem series, seeing as the koi fish is so oriental and features lots of red.

The koi (or carp) is associated with strength, courage, perseverance in times of adversity, ambition and advancement; attributes that I can identify with.

All my life, I've been torn between following my heart and conforming to expectations. The latter always wins because to choose the opposite would be frowned upon, more so if you're from a typical chinese family. It'd bring disapproval, disappointment and embarrassment. Ungratefulness and disrespect would be implied. I don't resent this at all, it's just the way it is.

After high school, I studied Accounting, which was one of a handful of 'acceptable' disciplines to pursue. I got good grades, received a scholarship and studied overseas. I conformed.

Then I did the unthinkable, I stayed overseas...ah but I digress.

10 years on (about a year and 3 months ago), I left my accounting job *gasp shock horror*! I desperately needed a break. It was as if I wanted the world to be still for a moment so that I could take a breath and hear myself think. After 6 months of freedom, I took on a short-term contract and am now job hunting again. I'm really glad that I've done this, despite it being an uphill battle for most of the way, with plenty of fear, doubt and every other internal struggle you can think of. I needed every ounce of strength, courage and perseverance to keep my head above water and believe in myself.

Most importantly, I've kick-started my creative juices and am now more than willing to sink my teeth into a 'proper' desk job again. Hey, a girl's gotta eat!

The koi is also said to bring good fortune and luck. There are so many positives associated with them and I hope it all rubs off on me while I immortalise them in art :)

Pura Tirta Empul

Carp-e Diem!

♥

Birds on a Wire Series

I'm fascinated by little birds on wires.

They're up to something exciting, plotting their next big adventure. 
I get the sense of what's-said-on-the-wire-stays-on-the-wire. I feel their togetherness and camaraderie.

When I see a single bird on a wire, it never seems lonely or isolated. 
It's just...content.



This photo was taken on 21st October 2010 and is the inspiration behind my Birds on a Wire series on Etsy.

When I create, I am content.

♥

Typewriter Series

About six months ago, I was trawling Ebay for an Eames ornament and that was when I was bitten by the typewriter bug. 

I saw a listing for an old typewriter and every nostalgic bone in my body was screaming for me to get one. I wondered whether I could use a typewriter to make artwork, combining three of my many loves: 
vintage, words and paint. 

Apparently Olympia typewriters would be up to the task as they're built to last, have particularly smooth mechanics and can handle thicker paper. So I was on the hunt. I came across some beautiful collectibles during my search, favourites being:

• white-grey Olivetti Valentine
• shiny black Groma Kolibri
• baby blue two-tone Royal Safari
• any typewriter in turquoise

By December, I had finally found my fine piece of German engineering, an Olympia SF. It arrived on Christmas Eve :)

I'm in love with everything about it, from its textured beige paint, dark grey keys and handsome decal, to its delicate typebars, touches of chrome and cute little levers. Seeing its serial number for the first time felt like I had just discovered the new sliced bread. I like that it's low profile and unassuming...hence the name SF - it stands for "Super Flat". 

Ok I lie. It stands for Schreibmaschine Flach which translates to "Flat Typewriter" ;)

When I'm typing, my words mesh with the click-clacks and occasional 'ping' and the romanticism of writing returns. I wonder what stories it could tell about the fingertips that once graced its keys. There are chips in the paint and the case is cracked, making it all the more alluring. It's QWERTY-er than my Mac. Its font amuses me. This antiquated machine makes me feel like an old school retro geek and I can't. stop. gushing!

The Olympia SF stepped up to the plate and produced my Typewriter series on Etsy. I have more ideas for it and I'm sure it's looking forward to the challenge.

And in case you're wondering, yes, typewriter ribbons are still 
being made :)

♥

Dandelion series

Look at my backyard and you’re likely to see wilting succulents and thriving weeds. There are creeping clovers and clumps of crabgrass, prickly lettuce in crevices and dandelions between the pavers. It’s tongue-twister madness out there.

My dandelion series on Etsy is inspired by this photo, shot on 1st November 2009. I put my camera on continuous shooting mode, lifted the flower head skyward, held down the shutter release button and blew at the parachute florets.

I picked my favourite shot, played with the saturation, midtones and contrast to take advantage of the particularly dramatic clouds and ta-dah!

I love the wild and carefree nature of dandelions. They evoke memories of childhood innocence, of having all the time in the world. They’re seemingly fleeting yet so enduring and tenacious.

I love that their young leaves are great in salads, they make a soothing cuppa and their edible blossoms are perfect little garnishes.

We know them as weeds but they’re so much more than that.

♥