Morning tea and art journaling..

0700 am:

I had my Oolong tea and the company of Kitaro on my IPod touch,

writing my thoughts in my art journal this morning before I start my day at work....

I usually pick a topic and write about it, exploring, translating, observing others and reflecting...  

and the journal is where I write about my inner thoughts about these topics...

Today's topic was on "death" and what I perceive it to be..

I found a quote by Kalu Rinpoche

"Our lives are like an hourglass that never stops...

Each moment follows the one before, without end..

from moment to moment , life drains away:

We are babies, then adults, then old and dead,

Each moment follows the one before, without end.

Our lives are like a bubble or a candle;

Impermanence and death are like the wind!"

Happy T Tuesday my dear friends!!

and a happy week to you!!!

steph

Art Journal pages...

 couple of AJ pages for this week...

it's all about being spontaneous...

I loved the freedom and randomness when painting these pages...

Happy Sunday!!

Steph

12 weeks to Christmas!!

Time flies and I'm counting down to Christmas already!!!

well, I thought if I am going to send off handmade Christmas pressies..then I should be doing so.. :)

I painted some backgrounds today and bound them in a book..

It's my first exposed spine stitching hand bound book..
(much as I love making books, I reckon I do have a while to go to figure out the whole process).. ;)
 these pages will be ready for me to "alter" and to journal on
in the next weeks to come..

meet Pansy, one of my motley crew from the teddy bear garden..

Pansy is handstitched, part mohair and 

the body and limbs were made from corduroy..

and here's the twosome... Pansy and Roy

Roy is handstitched from 100% sparse mohair.

see those stitches on the spine of the book? 

I think I'm better off sewing teddy bears ha ha!!

"The mind in its natural state can be compared to the sky,

covered by layers of cloud which hide its true nature"

Kalu Rinpoche

Happy weekend dear friends!!

steph

Art Journaling pens

There was a request (ever since my last post on

art journaling) about writing on painted pages..

The following is a page I did with crackled textures to demonstrate

with some of the pens I have in my stash. 

All of these pens are permanent but they vary in "clarity" and ease :

1) Pitt artist pens by Faber Castell. 

                                                        2) Sakura pigma micron pen

                                                        3) Marvy Uchida pigmented artist pen

                                                        4) Sharpie poster paint

                                                        5) Uniball signio (I think it's Sakura)

                                                        6) Sharpie permanent marker

On such backgrounds with textures, the Sharpie poster works wonders. It simply glides through

the crackle surface, probably my favorite. I happened to have bought mine from Michael's

during my recent trip to the US as we don't have this particular range here.

I'd like to credit Julie Prichard for this idea of presenting the use of these pens in this format.

Julie runs fabulous online classes on layering paints to create backgrounds. And if you pop by her blog right now, she is having a giveaway.

The art page featured today is a combination of collage painted with acrylic paints which was inspired by

Julie's online class, Layer Love. 

Happy weekend!!!

steph

Mid Autumn Festival..

Kimmie and Tea Tuesday bloggers, here's a feast for your eyes..

The chinese community will be celebrating the  Mid Autumn Festival

tomorrow, Wednesday 21st September.

We were in Chinatown to check out the festivities..

and I was "intoxicated" by all the colors...

Mini "piglet" mooncakes for the children

Sweet pomelos (they are the bigger version of grapefruit)

Lanterns are everywhere of all shapes, sizes and origins...

As kids, I remembered lighting up our lanterns and paraded around the block
with other children after dinner.

The Mid Autumn Festival is also a time for reunion dinners, and in our family tradition
my parents will prepare a feast for all of us.  We will be gathering at my mother in law's tomorrow evening for a family dinner where she'll dish out our favorite dishes..
It is also a time for gifting..
where we give and also receive mooncakes packed in beautiful boxes..

we received these from friends and if you're an altered art enthusiast,
you wouldn't want to do anything to these.. :))
they're simply too pretty...I'd rather find ways to preserve them rather..

Baked mooncakes in a box

and Happy T to you!!

steph

Malacca...

I was back in my hometown of  Melaka or Malacca
a week ago....

We walked down the river which runs through the
historical town,
with old buildings on each side....

and walked through alleys which
brought me back to my school days...

I used to walk through the red square everyday after school...

the reason why it's called the red square is because
these buildings were built by the Dutch..

Today, the red square is abuzz with tourists
from all over the world..
but one thing remains....

a peddler selling his wares and this is piping hot steamed peanuts..

here's a view of the red square from one of many bridges.. 

"painted" buildings.....
haven't been to this area for a while and this stretch of
buildings just caught my eye...
it depicts the story of the founding of Malacca and its famous warriors..

and here's a quirky Art T shirt shop..

Happy Monday!!

steph

Art Journal pages...

finished these pages today and they are waiting to be written on....

"Compassion for ourselves gives rise to the power to transform resentment

into forgiveness,

hatred into friendliness, and fear into respect for all beings..."

Jack Kornfield

stay happy..

steph

stay positive..

4"x 4" collage on cardstock

this quote is for a friend who recently went through a tough patch,
and if you are feeling low...i hope this will give you strength...

"Every event, every situation in which you may find yourself has a positive value,
even dramas, even the tragedies, even the thunderbolt from a calm sky."

Arnaud Desjardin

seventeenth september....

4"x4" collage on cardstock

"Wisdom and compassion should become the dominating influences

that guide our thoughts, our words, our actions."

Matthieu Ricard

today is also our wedding anniversary...

and we've just returned from a lovely dinner in a beautiful restaurant

by the sea......

thank you for a beautiful life....

steph

Being thankful.....

Collage on 5"x5" cardstock

in all things...give thanks!!!

steph

The Yin and Yang of tea...

I'm not a master in these areas of  Yin and Yang

but I remember growing up being part of this whole process of striking a balance in

what I eat and especially when I am down with a cold or flu

my mother would diagnose if it is a "heaty" cough or if I have a "cooler"

body constitution and that I need a balance..

and so she will seek a diagnosis from the Traditional Chinese Medicine man who will prescribe me some herbs and she will concoct the mixture of herbs which may take a couple of hours..

and what's left to be served from a 1 litre pot is a bowl of concentrated 250 mls of herbal drink.. ;0

and no wonder my siblings had found much excuses to drink theirs near the kitchen sink.. ha ha...

well, today's tea is more prophylactic

as I have been eating much "Yang" foods (ie heaty food with spices or deep fried) lately..

My choice of tea is American Ginseng Chrysanthemum tea

it's a cooling tea and certainly is refreshing.
Contrary to the concentrated muddy colored concoction, this is pleasant and light...
a good balance...most certainly...

Happy Tea Tuesday dear Kimmie and all Tea Tuesday bloggers!!

Kindest
steph

helping....

we were taking a stroll one day..

and what got the attention of my sister 

was this....

an injured ant being "carried" by another...

to a safe place..

away from the road...

where danger lurks....

a true representation

of

a helping hand...indeed...

and perhaps there's more to it....

it got me wondering about "relationship"

what was their relationship?

does one render help only when one is related?

or does it come much easier when trust is built?

well, in our humanistic ways...

we, 

care

love

respect

show kindness

etc

AND so..

I pay tribute to friendship..

our kind of friendship,

dear bloggers..

indeed your friendship is special to me..

Sunday comic art. Collage on ATC sized cardstock 

THANK YOU!

for all your encouraging comments

it's been a year since I blogged 

and this is where

I post my little experiments wherever my art muse takes me...

not knowing or expecting anything more

than just an online visual journal..

but you have helped me to love my creative journey,

the process,

the experiments..

I look forward to posting..

Have a good week everyone!!!

stay happy!!

steph

facing fear....

6" x 6" collage on cardstock

"what we're talking about is getting to know fear, becoming familiar with fear,

looking it right into the eye- not as a way to solve problems, but as a complete undoing

of old ways of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and thinking.

The truth is that when we really began to do this, we're going to be continually humbled."

Pema Chodron

steph

PS: Go to Michelle Ward's GPP challenge for techniques used in this piece

let's scrape and monoprint it....

2 more backgrounds to share with you

for your personal use..

have fun creating!!!

steph

Tea at the countryside

we were at the countryside on Sunday..

and these were some of the sightings.....

the banana flower- this may be cooked or made into a delicious salad

fig trees..the figs are used for brewing tea..

bread fruit may be sliced and fried with a batter

 the ornamental banana- the Moosa

and we had a hearty lunch

from the left, local pickled vegetables with sliced fish

sesame chicken and fried sweet potato leaves with garlic

and hot lemon grass tea with traditional Asian cakes made from farm fresh ingredients...

right in front is the baked tapioca with coconut, 

top left is steamed glutinous rice with palm sugar served  with grated fresh coconuts and

baked jackfruit cake on the top right..

Happy T Tuesday!!

steph