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