Reaching the end.

It's New Year's Eve. Another year gone by so quickly, it's hard to grasp the reality that I actually lived it. I'm not sure if I want to make new resolutions for the new year but I did fulfill the resolutions I did make for 2013, which was to make more art and to travel more. I did venture into making new art. And I did visit 5 cities this year. I loved Hong Kong(my heart still aches for the place), Hanoi; though I wish we had more time, Bali was more than I could ever ask for(in terms of top quality time with my girlfriends), Penang was swell but could have done without the rain and then Kuala Lumpur was just a nice sweet end, but I made two trips to KL this year, the earlier to see Godspeed! You black emperor.

As the year comes to a close, I will attempt to let go of the things I have discovered the past few days. let go of self-disappointments and hurts and anything negative and start the new year with a clean slate and open mind and heart. May I have the courage and humility and strength to get through the new challenges that I am about to face, that I will grow mentally and spiritually and become a better person.

The beginning is always today.

December hath arrived.

It's that time of the year again. The end of the year. And just like last year, I created a Quote-A-Month calendar for the new year. This year, since I hadn't done new drawings, it gave me the opportunity to have the colors run in spectrum. Which is probably one of my favorite things to do (arranging things in spectrum ROYGBIV). 

They can be purchased in my etsy shop, along with the individual drawings. :)

You're so money.

"... And you dont even know it." My submission for Popin Craft's cross stitch art show which will be held next month at The Arts House on December 19th. I admit, I haven't done cross stitch in a really long time and to be doing it freehand is really new to me. 

The subject is really just a reference from the Swingers movie with a young Vince Vaughn and also a young Jon Favreau. The line is said often in the movie. and Vince Vaughn was hot. Well, he still is now, but not as much cos age is catching up with him. 

Popin Craft

Been workin on this cross stitch project for a craft exhibition by Popin Craft. I am 99% done and then off it goes. It will be shown at The Arts House next month. Check back for further details. 

Felt sew good.

(This photo will suffice til I get better shots done)

The above is what I have been working on the past few weeks. An idea that I started last year with the intention of making one a week but had only done one then (see here and large commissioned piece here). Working with printed fabric and felt and still keeping to my usual quote and typography theme. 

Currently, am working on an embroidered piece and that seems to be taking quite awhile but I hope it will turn out alright. 

That's all for now so til then..

A not so well documented trip of Penang.

Sunday preview.

Last Sunday, my girlfriends and I had a photoshoot. While couples have their pre-wedding shots taken, we do it sans the groom. It has been a long standing tradition in our almost ten years together to do themed photoshoots. This, however, was our second "serious" session. By "serious", I mean where a lot of planning, preparation, logistics and some art direction take place. Our other sessions were mostly impromptu during our themed get togethers or other celebrations (we've dressed up like boys, had a nautical theme and I remember a Gossip Girls theme some years ago...). 

Marni picked a bohemian/hippie theme and I sourced the location. We picked out our outfits, prepared some props, rented a second vehicle and got my photographer brother to shoot us.

These images here aren't really the "shots". The image above was shot on Marni's polaroid camera, meant to be a behind the scenes look, but it turned out great anyway. The weather was perfect, the wind blew and the place was ours. 

Marni is on her way to the next chapter in life and with what little time we have left before she moves abroad, we try make the best of it, and I try my best to document everything. I always have, always will...

I shot this on my iPhone while we were walking and I told her to freeze.

I shot this on my iphone as well and I'd like to think this was in Africa and that was a deer. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the ones my brother shot. I know you (whoever is reading this) think I should have seen them by now considering we live under the same roof, but... oh well.

Bali high.

My time in Bali was amazing. It was only for a weekend and it was with my girlfriends. It was a long awaited trip for us girls, it was our first trip together as a group in almost ten years. We were there specifically for our friend's wedding. It was such a bonding experience and we had such a great time. It was my second time in Bali and not much sightseeing was done cos there was so much going on and its hard to not get distracted by the sometimes funny, running commentary from each girl. We went home feeling sad  that it was over too soon and even almost a week on, we are reeling from bali withdrawals. So much so that we are hell bent on going back before the year is through.

The wedding was held on the beach in Jimbaran which was a 30 minute drive from our villa.  It was such a wonderful location to have the sun set right smack in the middle.

Afternoon Nap.

I was clearing up the folders on my desktop and came across this old photo taken two years ago when we took(or attempted to) an afternoon nap during a bridal shower weekend for our friend, Aqilah (extreme right).

Cats and unicorns.

The weekend was spent making, painting, stringing, photographing and uploading new necklaces. Cats and unicorns. They're all up in my etsy store. And now that this is done, I can now prep for my Bali trip this weekend. I will be attending my first beach wedding and it'll be a long awaited trip with my group of girlfriends. So till then, stay hydrated y'all!

Puddles.

Been under the weather as of late. Few days ago, hours before I caught the bug, I headed out with my friend, Mary to shoot a little. Prior to that day, I had a somewhat haunting dream about this place which involved sideway elevators, an abandoned lot and a ghostly encounter. It was good though that the place was nothing like my dream. It had rained, so puddles became my best friend. I even fit in my panel project.

*image above and below shot with the iphone and edited with vscocam

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Commissioned : Save the date.

 Just a simple hand lettered 'Save the Date' card I worked on this week.

Eye scream.

Been plagued with terrible headaches the past week and I figured it might have been the late nights I've been pulling the past few months that were causing it. And then came the blurry visions when I went out during the day once this week even with my contacts on. My computer and iphone screen have been at its dimmest but my eyes would still feel a strain and I went out earlier today thinking maybe I've been indoors too long and my eyes were just tryin to adjust to natural light. It started to make sense to me that probably my prescription needed to be changed and I finally went to get my eyes checked before I'd panic more about the possibilities of going blind (I watched the Ray Charles movie two weeks ago).

So it turns out I have astigmatism and need to get new contacts. I kinda knew I had astigmatism the last time I got my eyes checked but thought I was already wearing contacts MEANT for astigmatism. I'm left wondering why the optometrist didn't prescribe them to me back then, which would've helped long before this.

Toric lenses now cost $95 a box compared to the $35 I've been paying for normal lenses. I'm just hoping it will still feel the same as I've read that toric lenses have a different shape as opposed to the standard spherical shape of normal lenses. But you know what, fuck it. As long as the headaches go away and I no longer have to squint in the day or night, I'll do whatever it takes. All I have to do is wait for them to be ready in a few days.

Birds and the beads.

A month later, and I stuck to my word to have some bird necklaces made. It all started with my first pigeon necklace (from this entry) and now I've grown to have parrots, doves and herons. These are available for sale in my etsy store for USD$20-25 each. If those goes well, then I would definitely make more and see if I can work with other animal versions as well. But I really like birds. Just sayin'.

Brick and peyote pendants.

With the thousands of tutorials that you can find on the internet these days, it is easy to keep yourself busy with some form of crafty activity. The above was made with TOHO beads using a brick stitch and below was done with DELICA beads using the peyote stitch. They look almost the same but it really is different and both are equally fun to do. 

*photos taken with the iphone in shitty light.

Peyote ring

Mt first attempt on making a beaded ring working with a peyote stitch. I used delica beads cos they're flat. Am gonna try to make another one and one that fits me nicely cos this is a little loose and I prefer my rings tighter. 

Huda.

This is Huda. She's a pint sized fighter. I've been calling her that cos she's small in size but is bold in her actions. We were out in Dempsey on Sunday where I took this. 

VSCO Grid

If you're a frequent visitor of my site, you'd know how much I am into iphone photography and how it has revived my love for photography. I am a frequent user (or more like an addict) of instagram and even do editing with apps like Snapseed. I use Squaready to frame my images, and PicFrame or Fuzel for collages when need be. Slowshutter for long exposure shots, however, this works better with a tripod.

I have a habit of downloading apps and leaving them in there til I remember its existence before testing them out. One of them was the VSCO cam. I find VSCO revolutionary, but I might possibly be dramatic about this, but it is AMAZING! The preset filters are amazing (or you could edit them your own way like I do but am still getting the hang of it). The soft tones and subtle saturations that I've usually seen in images in Frankie or Monster Children magazine or in other japanese lifestyle shots. 

They even have preset filters to work with Adobe Lightroom. (Sad to say, I've still up til now not worked with RAW files.) I've seen many photos taken/edited with the app and always thought them to look amazing. But still in most cases, the photographers deserve the credit for having taken such great care in their compositions and then allowing VSCO presets to enhance them, that they do in fact turn out even more amazing. That's three amazings. 

But anyway, you have to see it for yourself by checking out the VSCO Grid. And that's where I have my own grid too.(Just sayin')

Hira.

This is my friend, Hira. We met 10 years ago when she was 16. She was into all things pink and Roxy. Back then, all we did was go to the beach and get tanned and do girlie things like shopping and paint each other's nails. I used to start my lines to her like, "Before you were born..." cos she's 6 years younger than I am. In a way, I've watched her grow up from a wide eyed girl to a smart, independent and beautiful woman... and she still likes pink and girlie things.

Shot with the iphone.

Sunday is the new Saturday.

I am always about shooting photographs of my girlfriends as to document all our fun times and I've done so for the past ten years. Last Sunday, we went to scout for a location to do a group photography session for our friend, Marni who's getting married later this year. We got lost and we chased the sun and it was for me a very special moment. We were going one direction but caught a glimpse of the vermillion sky between buildings and then made a turn, stopped the car and I shouted at everyone to get out of the car and stand in place. We did not plan our poses tho, which made for a very messy silhoutte pose below. Alot of girlie screaming and laughter ensued. Fun times.

The above picture, I got my friend Hazmee, who lived nearby to help shoot us. And the below pic, the help of a mini tripod and timer.

Delica

I made these last night when I couldn't sleep as I watched Life of Pi. I used Miyuki Delica seed beads that I got a couple of days ago. I'm really glad that there are so many colors of beads available locally now compared to when I started beading in the mid 90s and could only find primary colors. Beading is addictive, I have to say. So much so that I started ordering more beads from Czech Republic/Latvia sellers on Etsy cos they had nice range of pinks and different hues of blues. I'm so excited, I really can't wait for them to arrive!

Sags to stitches

For anyone that knows me and how I've been the past year, I'm not a morning person. I work well into the wee hours of the morning and my head hits the pillow just as the sun starts to rise. I am plenty aware it's not healthy but it just so happens that I get more productive at night, or maybe so when everyone is asleep. So, when my girlfriends, S and H decided we should have sunday brunch and to meet at 11am, I was at first, excited and then not really up for getting up early. But I got up anyway, always fully knowing that daylight is glorious and better for me. 

We had eggs and juice (and corn beef!!) at Hatched and tea and cakes at Antoinette. Throwing in some shopping time at Public Garden's flea market, each of us coming away with a vintage dress. 

"Dewi loves her Vintage." ~ S says.

Nuts and floss.

I seem to be in a accessories phase. The making of them, mostly. Especially, since I'm more accustomed to buying solids instead of prints when it comes to blouses and tops which would make necklaces the cherry topping to my ice cream. But then, I don't like cherries, so let's make it NUTS instead. Appropriate though, cos the above necklace was made with hex nuts and embroidery floss. And I found out that tassles are super fun to make!!

My pinterest is always filled with craft ideas, and I've had this tutorial for awhile but never got around to making this til now especially since I found the receipt with the hex nuts dated February 2012. You can find the tutorials here and here. 

I went over the Spotlight last night to get me some more floss and grabbed them in themes cos a friend of mine requested I make one for her. I thought I'd be spending over $35 on floss alone and was a little apprehensive about it while walking to the counter. The cashier counted 43 colors and then asked if I had the 30% discount voucher sent via sms, to which I looked at her blankly and said no, but then remembering receiving an email from Spotlight but was cursing myself for not reading it, but she gave me the discount anyhow, and I only paid about $25 and wished I had bought even more cos now looking at the above spectrum, I missed out on reds and browns. 

I later found the discount voucher in my email. It was a secret 2 day sale and boy, am I glad I decided to go yesterday. Note to self - always read emails from Spotlight.

Get Crafty - Straits Times.

Last week, I was featured in the Life Section of Straits Times, giving a demo on making your own greeting cards using lino. It was a choice between this or fabric printing using freezer paper, but I chose this cos I figured I could use some Thank you cards in the end. Did the interview at RSCLS Studio (thanks, Sam) cos they had good natural light and mostly for the space. Thanks to Lisabel Ting for the article and to the three good people who recommended me for this feature (Trisha of The Little Threads, Katrina Alana and Mike Mindflyer).

If you click on the image, you should be able to read the article and view the instructions. I rearranged the newspaper cutout cos it would've been too long(lengthwise).

Lino print cards

Worked on some lino cuts to print out some greeting cards which I have put up for sale in my Etsy store. 

Bead it.

Ever felt like you just couldn't find any accessories that you liked, or were close to what you wanted but not quite the right color or design? I had been keeping an eye on some faceted bead necklaces on etsy, but the colors were always not to my liking. So I made my own necklaces with beads I had laying around. I'm so happy with my pigeon necklace. :)

I can never go to an art or craft store and NOT buy anything. It could be something small and to just have that power to purchase something, will always feel good. I also have a tendency to hoard supplies and materials but then, what's new, right? I have an old biscuit tin filled with beads that I've purchased when I was 15. At that age, I spent my allowance in bead bars and went through a hippie phase wearing those long hippie multi-colored beads which I guess I should revive and wear out again. 

Necklaces are still being made and  should be available in my Etsy store by end of July. :)

New panels shot at Istana Woodneuk

Off the beaten track - Istana Woodneuk/Tyersall

Old places always intrigue me, especially in a country like Singapore that is constantly changing and developing. The greens of nature quickly being replaced by the greys of urbanization. When time permits, I'd jump at any chance to explore the hidden gems of the city, and its usually gritty. 

Istana Woodneuk (I've been calling it the Tyersall house for ever, until recently I read that Istana Tyersall was situated near Woodneuk but torn down many years ago.) was once a beautiful grand palace (click to see how it looked like in its hey day) and it has over the years crumbled but has stubbornly stood its ground. I first visited the place in 2007 (and visited a second time a few months later) with my friends to conduct a photoshoot and by then the roof had already caved in and the broken tiles lay strewn all over the second floor, and the steps of the grand staircase had also caved but was haphazardly covered with planks for access to the second floor. 

So when I came across some photos on facebook that a friend of mine took of the place,  I felt compelled to visit again. Surprised yet glad though that it was still standing. The only bad thing was that the only way in was through the jungle(eeep!!!). Adventure time! 

Brush

They say practice makes perfect but I am nowhere near yet. I've always wanted to try brush painting, especially since I've been doing hand lettering. It's always a challenge to do something new. There's trying to learn the basics and there's also trying to break away from what you're comfortable with. I'm perfectly fine with a pencil and its easier to control, but that's only cos writing with a pen/pencil is one of the first basic skills you learn growing up. So to pick up a brush to write is an entirely different skill altogether. So a few days ago, I tried and today I decided to try again. Especially since I came across a relatively new hand lettering tutorials site. 

I reworked the above, scanned and traced and painted it on a panel for future works. 

Panel from Long Bien.

It seems I forgot to upload this previously. Shot this panel from Long Bien Bridge, Hanoi. I have to say I was very uneasy walking the bridge. Thousands of motorcycles cross this bridge everyday, and it wasn't the rumble beneath my feet that terrified me. It was more so the concrete slabs on which we walked on that had gaps between each slab, gaps that allowed you to see what was beneath the bridge, which was basically a far drop below. It's possible I have issues with heights but more so when the fear is of the ground giving way. So anyway, I was anxious and nervous and at first didn't want to walk far into the middle of the bridge which would be over the river. But inner arguments had me debating that I would never come back here again and so I should bloody do it and shoot a panel or two. 

The panel above was shot with the iphone. 

Marni's smile.

Hung out with Marni today. She's been pretty smiley lately cos she just got engaged. Top two photos shot with the Ricoh and last shot with the iPhone. 

Shidah in red.

Kinda overdue. I shot Shidah back in 2011. Didn't get round to uploading these. Even though, we've been friends a long time and sometimes, I feel that when I'm behind the camera I become a stranger and so it took awhile for her to get comfortable infront of it, but after she was more relaxed, it got easier. 

3 panels and a stencil project

Top image: shot in Singapore.
2nd & last image: shot in Halong Bay, Vietnam
3rd image: shot in Hanoi from Long Bien Bridge, Vietnam.

Ricoh.

A few days ago, I purchased a third hand Ricoh GRD III from a friend. I had been looking for a decent inexpensive compact camera for awhile now. And when I saw that he was selling his for a really good price, I just had to jump on it. My brother had a Ricoh GR few years ago but lost it and I really liked using it then and so I'm pretty glad I have one now. 

I'm not one to get excited every time a new camera model comes out. Someone once said "An expensive camera doesn't make you a good photographer." And neither does owning a DSLR make you a photographer. And for years, even when I had my photography blog (ten years or so ago : quietcore dot org) and shot shows and constantly photographed my friends, or even when I worked as a professional photographer at a studio for 3 years and freelanced for another 5 years, did I ever claim I was good. I shoot what I like and if I like what I see and have shot and post it online and if someone else likes it, then yay to me. I was not so much into the technicality of it. Once, when I had to give a  talk with my fellow photography peers about Music photography, I did say that how I shot sometimes depended on how I felt, it was more an emotional connection for me. When shooting shows, I lived off the energies of the bands. If it was a hardcore or punkrock band, then theres more action and adrenaline to it. Photography to me has always been an outlet of expression and most of all, a means of documenting my life and the people in it. It should be said though that I wouldn't mind a better DSLR, but I like something convenient and easy to carry around which is why I've had the D40 for awhile now, and even better now that I have the Ricoh. 

The picture above was shot last night (June 2, 2013). I was supposed to watching Polyester Embassy from Bandung, Indonesia and got distracted by the lightning.