Delicate Valentine's Day & Love Pop-Up Cards + 8 yrs Anniversary

Recently bought some lovely pop up cards! They have intricate designs which are only possible to be cut out vis lazer-cutting and put together by hand.

Photographed these cards outdoors early in the morning and edited them to have a soft romantic feel.

How it opens up:

The front of the cards:

I'll probably visit the booth again sometime next week since my sis wants one too.

Yesterday was my 8 years Anniversary... which coincides with his mother's birthday as well. Nevertheless here was what i wore yesterday:

We've been together since we're like 14 or 15... Hoping to see more great years ahead =)

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Philippine Neo-Realist Masterworks Gallery @ SAM

Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972)

Portrait of Fernando Zobel as a Teenager, 1945

Oil on wood

39 x 30.5 cm

Ateneo Art Gallery Collection

This is one of the very first few paintings i saw at the museum that day at the Singapore Arts Museum. Was very drawn towards how realistic it looks and how it seems to capture the emotion and character of the person. Even the style of the subject like his hairstyle and clothes can be identified with that particular era.

It's definitely better to look at all these paintings in real life and experience it face to face. How the light falls on the painting illuminating the texture and brushstrokes can really be seen and examined closely. It's really captivating.

Other portraits by Fernando Amorsolo.

In the Eye of Modernity: Philippine Neo-Realist Masterworks from the Ateneo Art Gallery

Hernando R. Ocampo (1911-78)

53-G (Beefsteak)

1953

Oil on canvas

Ateneo Art Gallery Collection

Yup the title is beefsteak. Quirky isn't it?

How "Neo-Realists" artist came about.

Another painting by Hernando R. Ocampo.

Highly textured impasto.

Top:Hernando R. Ocampo

Isda at Mangga (Fish and Mango)

1952

Oil on canvasboard

33.5 x 43 cm

Bottom:Manuel Rodriguez, St. (b,1917)

Still Life with Melon and Papaya

1950

Encaustic on paper mounted on board

29.5 x 37 cm

Another painting by Manuel Rodriguez.

Looks like the cranes and poles of building being constructed.

Jose Joya (1931-95)

Granadean Arabesque

1958

Oil on canvas

118 x 305 cm

"Joya was a leading exponent of Abstract Expressionism in the Philippines. Unlike Jackson Pollock's improvisatory approach to drip painting which translated the nervous syncopated energy of jazz, Joya added texture through thick swipes of impasto and gobs of paint riddled with gravel, rendering a broader, more sweeping gestural style."

Initially it looks like one of those abstract paintings with very expressive brushstrokes which is hard to decipher. However, I found an interpretation of the artwork which is that the colors are "inspired by the colors of summer in Granada, a region in Spain where the artist has visited while studying in Madrid" and Arabesque relating to the "Arabic ornamental design that consists of flowing lines".

After walking through the whole collection i could feel like there is a sense of wanting to break away from the academic way of doing paintings like those by Fernando Amorsolo as seen by the movement away from realism towards more expressive styles (e.g. Hernando R. Ocampo, Manuel Rodriguez, etc). This is probably to break away from their colonized past by the Spanish rule.

These are just a few artworks from the "In the Eye of Modernity: Philippine Neo-Realist Masterworks from the Ateneo Art Gallery".

Will probably update on the other galleries the next time i have the mojo to do so :)

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"The notion of limitless knowledge is more illusory than real..."

Peeking at you =)

Visited the Singapore Art Museum today and saw the "Thrice Upon a Time: A Century of Story in the Art of the Philippines", "In the Eye of Modernity: Philippine Neo-Realist Masterworks from the Ateneo Art Gallery" exhibits and also some contemporary Asian artworks at 8Q. Took a lot of pics and will share some of them here. There was this portrait that I totally fell in love with.

Gonna read up on Philippine history tomorrow I guess... Kinda late now and i gotta get some snooze.... -.-

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Yellena James: Inspiring Drawings & Paintings

I've been busy lately but would like to thank those who left their lovely comments on my earlier posts and following my updates =) Really appreciate it!

I hope that what I share here will continue to inspire others like how they've inspired me.

Today i wanna share some beautiful artworks by Yellena James.

There's something about the way she uses lines to create form and the soothing color palette that makes them look oh-so-pretty.

Her works are mostly ink on paper but looks as though it is digitally done and has a serene organic feel to it... very peaceful looking.

Check out her gallery here.

I am truly loving these!

Also I'm also wondering how it will turn out if the Batik (wax-resist dyeing) technique uses this kind of color schemes or designs- A mix of traditional Indonesian technique for dyeing textiles with contemporary design seems interesting huh?

Below are some Batik images:

Traditional floral prints.

How the garment is traditionally worn.

Batik being used in a more contemporary fashion design.

I do feel that the traditional batik textile designs has a charm on its own in how it looks classic and continues to retain its exotic feel even though it is a textile commonly used in my culture.

I guess there's always that gap... something familiar to me at home yet I feel that it's still relatively unfamiliar to the other races around us cos it's hardly ever used in day to day fashion designs.

But it'll be totally great if someone were to just to use this textile in fashion for something that looks trendy and is wearable for a daily, perhaps casual basis (without looking like those datuk datuks and prime ministers. Their pictures will help to prove my point but I decided that my blog will only have pretty pictures =p )

Perhaps the fusion with contemporary designs would help it to look less... political and old.

Such intricate, beautiful (and some even very expensive) Batik textiles should be reserved for the beautiful.

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Scrapped 2010 Calendar Design

Jan-Apr 2010 Calendar Version 1

This is the first idea that i had... a bottom up progression of the dates whereby there will be 'tabs' which can be pushed up/down along the dates as markers. Decided not to use this design cos I just don't find it special although i spent some time designing it.

I wanted a vintage theme like for example, the first symbol for the month of january represents Mary Poppins, 2nd one is Wizard of Oz (her magical shoes), etc, etc... but oh well, it doesn't seem to turn out as strong as i'd like it to.

A very different design is in progress undergoing production =)

And yes wani u r considered as one of my *ahems* diamonds. Lol.

I'm not gonna reveal the final calendar here just yet.... until i send it out that is.

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Self Portrait in Pencil and Ink: Purple Hair

If I were a superhero, I'd have long flowing purple hair.

Another thing i like about the notebook is that it has curved edges as u can see in the first pic.

Decided to do a sketch of myself as the first drawing in the book... which solidly marks it as my property, my territory... rawr!

Reference image:

A pic taken recently which looks decent.

If you didn't know, I'm back to solid black hair. Couldn't wait for it to grow out all black so i dyed it and i'm happy with how it turns out.

It's been years since i had black hair and i've been getting compliments after the change from those who actually noticed =)

Another reason to truly accept what's naturally been given to me by God and accepting myself. I think i won't go back to dyes anymore... i hope!

Having brown/blond hair has been fun but it gets tacky with the maintenance and damage.

And speaking of the drawbacks of having light colored hair, i had an encounter with someone who was VERY judgmental hinting that i wanna be caucasian or something especially since i used to wear colored contacts as well. Well he just didn't know fashion i guess.

Although it was probably just a passing remark, i wonder if others view me the same way.

However, this is not even a consideration for dying my hair black, it's just that i learnt from his obtuseness not to judge others like how he's shallowly judged me...

Cos being misunderstood, that's one of the most frustrating things that can happen.

I think for 2010, i'd like to keep those friends who has stuck with me through all these years close. I think this time i've come to realise where my real diamonds are at.

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My New Notebook from Cat Socrates

Top left pic: Front cover;

Top right pic: Back cover;

Bottom pic: Inside pages

I like the the pages inside have a brown shade almost like a brown paper bag color giving it an 'aged' look.

Already have some ideas on maximising its pages... filling them with drawings of course.

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Current Work-In-Progress: Pencil Sketch, Dandelion

Full view:

Sketched using 5B pencil on my sketchbook. Was going for a more doll like look hence the large eyes =) And if you know me well you'll know that i'm a fan of hats! Love the vintage looking ones especially. Made the dress real simple to give it a contrast to the more structured hat. And also corkscrew curls for her hair to match.

It's much lighter in real life, had to increase the contrast in photoshop to make it more obvious after scanning it in.

And omg hands are so difficult to draw! Had to keep erasing it several times and finally went to look for reference images of REAL hands holding a dandelion. And most of them with the perfect gesture for my drawing are cropped off. So I had to estimate how the rest of the parts looked like.

You can tell a lot about a person from their drawings... for example their strokes. I'm still working on achieving smooth long strokes which will i will hopefully achieve with practice. Right now if you enlarge the drawings... you can see that they are uneven, feathery, and short in some areas... which means that i'm still not confident in drawing (esp. the hands, the hands!).

Alright.. I'm intending to watercolor it... still have a fear of spoiling it cos I'm not using a watercolor paper and so many things could spoil it like bleeding or warping of the paper when its wet..

Well at least I've already have a soft copy of the original sketch if it turned out to be a miserable fail~

...

On a different note...

My first 'wish' for 2010 came true. I had typed a personal message on my messenger saying "can't school start a-wee-bit later?" thinking that lessons will begin on 4 Jan. And guess what... on 4 Jan i woke up at 5am so that my dad can drop me off at my dorm since it's on his way to work. Reached dorm real early about 7.30am so i took a nap and got up later on for my 9am lesson. Reached school at 9.15am (late) and opened the door to an empty classroom. Started smsing some of my classmates and found out that the semester starts next week.

That was probably the only time that i was embarrassed and happy at the same time.

Lastly, I'd like to wish everyone a wonderful year ahead =)

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Favourite Calendar Ideas: Super Unique & Creative!

It's time to look towards 2010! Just one more day!

Today I was looking for meaningful gift ideas and thought that a calendar would be great to give someone at this time to jump-start their 2010. So i did some research and came across several incredibly creative calendars.

My favourite finds:

1.

Calendar & Flowerpot by NOTHING dESIGN GROUP.

It doubles up as a flowerpot where real flowers can be slot into it. Especially love the butterfly detail. And it has such a clean and simple look!

2.

Ink Calendar by Oscar Diaz.

There is a different ink color bottle for each month based on the perception of the weather like a "color temperature scale". The ink will reveal a number daily when absorbed. I think it's highly meaningful that this artistic calendar literally shows the passing of time.

3.

Printable Cube Calendar by MilkBun.

Simply print, cut, glue & fold! Other cute designs such as bear, monkey, toki =) So adorable. The dates are meant for 2009 so you'll have to edit it a bit. These creatures will add some fun to any desktop.

4. A list of other cool calendar designs here such as a bubble wrap dates, matchstick calendars, shredder calendar, etc.

As to what I'll be making for some of my friends, I'm really drawn to the first design as it seems really doable. But I'll most probably add something like a post-it pad so that they can write stuff on it just to make it a lil' more functional and useful ;)

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The Little Princess (1939)- Shirley Temple

In the midst of watching this classic movie but gotta get some sleep soon cos I'll be heading to Melaka Malaysia.

Particularly interested in the way the dress and talk which is so proper.

Link to full movie here.

(Note to self: Stopped at approx. 0:20:00).

Hoping to come back with nice photos and will try to navigate our way to Jonker Street in Melaka which is their night bazaar/Chinatown.

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