Marni + Martin

Back in March, I travelled miles away to Stockholm to surprise my friend, Marni. We arrived early in the morning and went knocking on her door. Surprise!! Her husband, Martin, during a quiet moment told me later on that, everyone else(the other girls) had always visited Stockholm over the years but I was the one she wanted to see.

I spent 10 days in cold, cold Stockholm. My first venture into Europe, it wasn't so much a culture shock, but more a temperature shock which I got used to over time. I had my first experience with snow. I didn't shoot as much as I would have liked to, cos my hands remained in my pockets to keep warm for most of the time, but I did still shoot a lot. I will get around to uploading the shots here eventually. I had just gotten round to these shots that I almost forgot about.

I wanted to shoot the two of them as I didn't get to shoot them prior to their wedding in 2013. These were shot behind Martin parents house. There is definitely something about the light in a cold country, it is so nicely difused compared to the harsh natural light of Singapore. It was overcast for most of the trip but the sun came out briefly, and I took advantage of it. More after the break. 

Ashley

I met Ashley just not too long ago at work, we've got her on our acting talent roster for our shows. It's always cool to get along with someone you work with that you end up being friends and hang out a lot more. 

Sometimes I run, sometimes I write...

It's safe to say, I've neglected this site. What's sadder though, is that it translates to neglecting art which in turn means I've neglected my soul. Which is only partly true. Well, ok, more than half true. We get so caught up in our responsibilities of our jobs, we neglect our truest passions. But still that couldn't be further from the truth. I am still able to create in my mind. Create with thoughts, words and executions. The learning and creating never stops.  I may not draw as much, save for an etsy order here and there. I may not shoot as much, this one the saddest truth of them all but it can still be justified... Maybe.

I have, however, started writing again. When I say I write, I write poetry. Those poetic sentences which when carried by a melody became songs I wrote for my old band. To anyone who's wondered about THAT band...

It ended because it became an obligation. The love for it was no longer there. Words no longer served as a vehicle carrying its message over a sea of sound. They were merely fillers to a cavity. They held no meaning for me, which would mean singing them would be lacklustre. And having a body of work you're not proud of just leaves you with this gnawing feeling that just eats away at you. I let it die. We let it die. The countless hours of work we put into recording that album. It still exists. Somewhere.

Then there was the thought of changing this name altogether. Hello embrace. I have to say though, mad life changes have happened in recent months. I felt I didn't want to be warm and fuzzy and love encompassing like a "hello embrace", I wanted to be crude and evaporatingly sexual(heh. I know right?), like my alter ego that existed in my mind. But after the dust of the madness of drinking every night and serial Tinder swiping and conversations with strangers, settled. I found myself back to where I started. Except it's not exactly a bad thing. It was a reminder of who I truly was at my core. That I was still this person who centers herself around love and lets love be her reason for being. So the name stays.

Lululemon mural project

It's been some time since my last post and I had been meaning to post this. Late last year, I was commissioned to do a mural for Lululemon to coincide with their opening of their flagship store. We had to pick one of the lines from their manifesto. It was a daunting challenge as I hadn't done anything of this scale before and it came during my final weeks of school, so it was a stressful time. 

After much delay and bad weather, I got it completed with the help of some friends and it was a nice way to end the year. The mural is along South Bridge Road at the start of Boat Quay. 

*The above photos by Michael Tay