running away from home

will it be tasty cookfires+dancing flames+smoky smells +simple meals with new friends?

exploring different mediums

Acrylic exercise with a photo in a magazine featuring one of Scandinavian countryside... my dream vacation spot... The climate is harsh but it promises the breathtaking sceneries.


Colour pencil sketch of ideas for interior decorating.

Quick water-colour drawing of cheery sunflowers from memory.

Wedding portrait

Commissioned piece to be displayed at my ex-colleague's wedding reception which was held on last sunday.

I like drawing human figure, but i am not good at drawing portrait especially for wedding. I felt myself to be very tensed and restricted while doing this drawing. In result, the bride's hands are very stiff too. So to distract the viewers away from the obviously noticeable stiffness, gem stones, pvc petals and the ready made handicraft were added.

And, this is what i enjoyed most playing around with the elements to add more visual interests to otherwise simple and stiff portrait ;p

room for an adventurer

mising the good old days decorating a themed kid's room.

this room is specially dedicated to a kid who is a dreamer and adventurer.

Cool bear

Another watercolour pratice, with the teddy bear which sey yong got it as a christmas gift 4 years ago.

the tulips

Painting practice using my artificial tulips and shells as the props.

The Wedding bells

one of my favourite moments about wedding is within the few hours before the ceremony, where you can feel the joys + excitements + nervousness + surprises + chaos and mom's mixed feelings towards her beloved bride daughter.

Ma Ma Mia

All of my aunties, including my mum, used to cook together in my uncle's big kitchen for festive seasons.
It was full of noise and hot steamy air, yet everyone was happy and contented.

Painting Party

click to enlarge.

'The Greek's Kitchen' on travelling & living channel has inspired me to draw this party planning. i have always wanted to have such a gathering - eat, play and paint on wall or floor with friends & families. At the end of the party, we would have the masterpiece completed by all of us as a memorable souvenir.

Owl's passion

my house is so small that i do not dare dream of having one room to myself as a mini drawing studio, where i can lay out all my drawing tools there. saving the time and hustle of unloading/loading the tools from/into the cabinet. and utimately help me get rid of procastination.

Pirates of Muar

Drawn from my memory. My cousins' bunk bed was our pirate ship. Teddy bears were the only hostages we had.

practice and practice...

Sleepless night with self-amusement.

one of my favourite hang out is library.. how boring i am.
most of the patrons were studying hard for their coming exams. i was one of the few who were able to enjoy the leisure reading and people watching.
(i know the proportion of this lady's shoulder is a bit out and hideous)


though watching people, my internal chatter still went on.. as to what the others are thinking or chatting at their meal.

Saturday afternoon

After a long week of work, what do I look forward to?
Getting away from city and weekly housechores, immersing myself in absolute silence. with a good book, sunshine and occasional bird chirps...

What a carefree Saturday afternoon...

or getting together with little kids, let their laughters take away my weariness.

p.s: After having lunch with colleagues at mushroom pot, the mushrooms had inspired me draw those mushroom-like trees..heehee

Old lampshade's make over

This 2nd hand lampshade was brought from Ikea 4 years ago at SGD5 only. It has "aged" a lot and it does carry a lot of sentimental values for me. So instead of having it deserted into trash bin, have to think ways to refresh it.

i have tried these tips lately:

1) Brooches are some of the best accessories to make it alive again, shown in the above pic. I picked up this trick from the "Living Etc" home decoration & interior program. (Who says watching TV is wasting time...heehee)

2) if your hands are itchy enough and you have plenty of time to kill, you may want to paint directly on the lamp shade which is a good canvas to bring out the artist in you. It is more challenging if there are existing patterns. You can come up with something fun to make good of them like below.

The existing black line patterns have been turned into red rose, a snail's shell, balloon and a big seating ball. ;)

I have yet to explore transfer my favourite images onto it (http://art-e-zine.co.uk/image.html for various techniques). Or, apply decoupage (http://www.wikihow.com/Decoupage). Or, even beading!!

Kitchen as a studio??

I enjoy painting in my kitchen which has long countertop to put my painting tools and where there is ample natural light for me to paint. ;)

p.s : i was working on an old lamp shade. Two panels are left to be done.

2-room apartment Part II

A distinctively original home can be created for 2-room apartment too ;), with smart storage solution and eccentric tastes.
Tips: use a few bird cages (as shown in the bottom left corner) as candle/tea light holder.

Old tree

This water color painting was done nine years ago. I just liked the shadow it casted on the green grass...and the yellowish leaves which stood out against the green when it was viewed from 7th floor.

2-room apartment

Ever think of staying in 2-room apartment?

It's not that big but entertaining can still be done like what the above drawing shows.

This is just another casual sketch in the day for visualizing practice. the drawing is not even bigger than A5. the longer i was at it, the more things i tended to put inside ;p

what are the personalities this pic is trying to tell

I prefer working with black ink to colors.

This piece was done last saturday. It is one of the many drawings i have done on our living area. As our flat is small and there are a lot of restrictions to try out different furniture layout, i have tried to draw on the paper what is the ideal layout for our existing furniture.

With all these details, could you tell what are the personalities of the owner of this house?

Sarah Grierson

Who is this lady?

She is the one who has inspired me a great deal.
She is a retired teacher living near a harbor in the States. Despite suffering from Parkinson disease, she is very innovative. Though she lives on meagre living, she is very good at turning others' garbage into creative innovation - old boat oars to the curtain rods, bedsprings to candle holders..etc. She is also good at doing Trompe-l'œil (art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion).

Seeing potential in the "treasures" the seas leaves behind and with her "green thumb", she has successfully turned her small cottage into a beautiful cosy home which features the 'sea' theme. Whoever wanting to visit her cottage will definitely receive her reception and her big smile, as she wants to share her conviction : everybody can do something original with his or her living environment. Everybody (including you and me) is capable to make our living environment better place to live ;) Limited resources cannot hinder us from being creative and fun.

p.s: She should be featured in "Chicken soup for the Soul".

Medium :marker pens