Full Moon on the evening of June 9th, 2009:
June 11th, 2009 afternoon. The brooding sky over the water between Hong Kong and Lantau Islands. Neither got rain on in the end.
June 18th, 2009. Rosy fingered dusk… seen from my studio windows. Which format would you prefer? Horizontal or vertical?
Back in March, Midori asked me if I would be willing to lend them my Traveler’s Notebook for their event at Spiral Showcase in Aoyama, Tokyo. I was happy to support them as I love my Traveler’s Notebook! Patrick Ng of City’Super Hong Kong helped getting my notebook to them along with his notebooks. He did so many fabulous ones himself!
I actually intended to post about the event; but with my trip to Jakarta and the Latitudes in Transit Exhibition, it went passed my head! Anyway…
So this evening, I got my Traveler’s Notebook back inside a little cardboard box filled with cute Passport Size Traveler’s Notebook in Brown Leather plus some accessories for it! Woohooo…!!! What bliss! I love this smaller size, it can fit into small bags or pocket easily! I love that they keep the pouch as well. And the charm! It is so adorable! The only thing that I would like to change is the color of the inner pages: I prefer them in soft creamy white like in the full size Traveler’s Notebook than in stark white as they are now. But the rest is just perfect! Thank you so much, Iijima San!!! (And Patrick too!). What a lucky girl I am :).
Oh so many things to catch up! I’ve been on a 2-week trip to my home town Jakarta, Indonesia for a collective exhibition I was invited to participate in. I enjoyed my time in Jakarta meeting old and new friends, getting some of the gossips on the local artscene, spending time with my old folks and my youngest brother and his expectant wife.
The exhibition itself is called: “Latitudes in Transit: Indonesian and Mexican Women Artists“, organized by the Embassy of Mexico in Jakarta and shown in the National Gallery there. I have three works in this exhibition. Just click the image below to see them. To see works by some other participating artists, check out this album on my Facebook. There are some really interesting arts there! All by women artists! Enjoy!
Once back in Hong Kong, I’ve been busy with a new art project, for another collective art exhibition in a gallery in Jakarta. I had a friend visiting and staying with us for a week too. Between this and that, I haven’t got chance to work on any new Ztampf! stuff… But don’t worry, I’ll start working on it soon ;)
One of my early layouts got published in Somerset Memories Magazine – Dec/Jan 2009 Issue, page 55. Cool eh!
Imagine… how many women now have looked at his face! Well, at least the top half of it! Hahaha!
Recently I have been spending more time in my studio which is very good for my mental health :). No, I haven’t been working on any of my art projects just yet. I’ve been crafting. I’m just glad to have some opportunities to use my own Ztampf! Clear-Stamps to prettify stuff we use daily.
Here I used the Floralique Series to customize my Black CIAK Sketch Book. I also inserted a length of gross grain ribbon stitched with a pretty button to make a shoulder-length strap. A pretty cool and practical way of carrying a sketch book, don’t you think :).
And yesterday I improved an old cushion cover that I made a few years ago. Yes, using yet another piece of leftover IKEA curtain! It was hand-sewn and the color is a bit faded now. I have been using a couple of big safety pins for the closure – and now finally it got proper buttons! I stamped the front side with Ztampf! Clear-Stamps (Floralique #2) using pigment ink (Inkredible!). Since the stamps are modular based, you can build your own patterns by combining them. The possibilities are endless! And because they are clear, you can see them as you creating the pattern. I didn’t make any sketch for this project – just stamp it along. Next I should try colorful ink on light colored fabric!
Closer looks:
Ztampf! Clear-Stamps are available from ScrapSupply.com.
This is my new sewing machine, a new year’s gift from my belovedst man. It’s Janome 419S. It can sew denim and canvas – an important feature for me as I plan to use it to create some soft-sculptures with canvases. I hope it is capable of sewing into book’s binder board too! We’ll see.
The first projects I did were very simple. A table cloth and a cushion cover, both made with leftover IKEA curtain. We have plenty of it because in our previous apartment we used IKEA curtain as dividers in hallways. I also use IKEA curtain to cover my open shelving unit to keep things looking neat regardless of the fact behind the curtain ;).
For the table cloth, we have been using it as it was until one of the edges got frayed. I was happy for a chance to learn to use the ‘Over Casting Stitch’ to hem the edges. Then I impulsively played with one of the decorative stitches – so now the table cloth looks a little bit prettier :).
For the cushion cover, I made various folds then stitched over them with various stitches. I used very pale blue thread for this. I wish I had colorful thread, it would have looked much prettier. Now it looks very subtle, which is not bad, actually. I need to go shopping for more thread one of these days! Right now I only have Black, Dark Brown, Broken White, Stark White, Navy, Pale Beige, Pale Grey, and Very Pale Blue. Just the most basic, you know.
I think I do love sewing! The mistake I made most often so far is forgetting to lower the presser foot before starting to sew! So silly! Oh I have also tried to stitch buttons (and button holes!) with the machine. Pretty cool!
I love to make things. I used to make things regularly. I mean handicrafts. Making things with my hands, as opposed to make things digitally. There is nothing wrong with making things digitally. I love it too. But I do miss working with my hands, taking risks with every action/treatment I bestow upon my tangible materials. There is no “undo” and “redo”. What’s done is done. Usually there is room for improvisations to save a botched action which might improve the object-in-the-making, lifting it to an ever higher level, or it might permanently damage it beyond any salvation. I think this is a good exercise to toughen myself up. To accept that in the process of creation, waste is inherent. Or, to see it from a better point of view, they are not waste. They are part of the process – they have served their purpose and given their contribution.
One of my main resolutions for 2009 is to achieve and to maintain a good balance between digital and analog (analog as in non-digital, non-computer-generated). Yes, to go back to create things with my hands, from simple craft projects to concept-based art projects. I have to re-learn how to play fearlessly again, to take risks and derive joy from it all. I need to create more art. I’ve been starving myself of art making for too long. I can’t go on like that. So I have to make time for it.
But I can’t just abandon digital world – oh no. And I need it. I need it because I do love doing digital works as well. While the magic in crafting by hands is in “The Magic of Transformation”, the magic in digital work is in… hmmm.. from “The Magic of From Nothing to Something” – which is totally awesome and amazing too, if you ask me! I also need it for practical reasons: to pay my studio rents, my personal bills, my share of household bills; in short: to earn my own living – to earn my self-confidence and worth as an independent adult. So… what I aim to achieve in 2009 (and to maintain it forever!) is to combine both digital and analog in my various works. That doing digital does not exclude analog activities. Of course there will be projects that are entirely digital, or entirely analog. But from now on, I will readily consider the possibility of the combination, however little it might be.
To record my progress and to motivate me more, I created a new category in my blog here, entitled “manuFactor” – from Latin manu factus, literally, made by hand. My philosopher husband Timothy gave me this title back in 2004 when I was handcrafting a lot. Those of you who are interested in handicrafts may subscribe to this Category, just log in and edit your preferences :).
If you want to make one yourself, you can download the templates for ‘Daily Do Planner’ ( the content pages and the cover – minus the ‘Daily Do’ title) here. It’s for A4 size paper. You can customize them digitally (or manually) by adding your own title, etc. There are Inner Page and Outer Page. Print four of each on both side with full-bleed option enabled. Use the same template for each side (Inner Page with Inner Page, Outer Page with Outer Page). Score and fold the paper accordingly. Now unfold them and stack them all together. Alternate the pages by flipping them one for every two pages so one page has the flap on the left and the next one has the flap on the right. This is to avoid bumpy bulk built by the flaps if they are all kept on the same side. Place all of the Inner Pages on top of the Outer Pages, with the Cover on the bottom most. The cover should be slightly wider than the content pages. Fold them all together, optionally, press underneath thick, heavy books for a few hours (best left overnight) to flatten them.
Next is the binding. You will need a bookbinding awl or you can use any tool with a sharp point. Now lay open the planner and center the pages well within the cover. Hold the half part of the planner (the first half of the pages and the front cover) and bring it down, creating approx. 45º to the other half that is laid flat on your desk. Hold the center firmly, hold your bookbinding awl at 45º and drive it right in the fold (for the exact location, refer to the top right pic on the image above). Repeat the step to punch the second hole. Finally do the stitching! Start from the inside out, and knot the end in the inside to lock the stitch! You might want to press the planner again under heavy books to flatten it before using! Enjoy :).
For those celebrating Christmas, may it bring you and your loved ones much joy and all things nice and heart-warming!
For those not celebrating it, may the jubilant atmosphere bring you and your loved ones much joy and all things nice and heart-warming – as well! :)
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all! Cheers!!!
Yay! Look it here… got my copy of Life is A Verb by Patti Digh with three of my art in it :).
And the wonderful cover is done by no other than Donna B. Miller – one of my Ztampfilicious Girls! I’m so proud of her! In fact, it was through her that I heard about Patti Digh’s super inspiring blog: 37days and about the invitation to participating for the book. Donna created an Artist Trading Card based on one of Patti’s essays for herself as a reminder and she sent one to Patti. This in turn inspired Patti to include artwork from her blog readers in her book. The overwhelming response to her artwork request made the publisher decided to publish the book in full colors! Isn’t it great how one good thing lead to another greater thing :).
Now go check Patti’s blog, get the book and, if you haven’t been doing so, start living your life to the fullest! Have a wonderful day!
So on Monday, 21 July 2008 we were working on the exhibition display. I got there to early – and the others were late so I ended up waiting for quite some time. Fortunately the gallery is situated near a lot of restaurants and supermarket so I could hang out somewhere munching some snack :).
Guess what! I met a fellow digiscrapper in person for the first time ever! Yup! Who is she then, you might ask. Well, it’s none other than my dear former Z!Girl, Matisha! She happened to be in Jakarta with her family for a vacation so we decided to meet up and she offered to document the process of me setting up my work for this exhibition. I happily accepted her offer and boy, look at the photos she took… they’re just amazing. I love her angles – she’s a great photographer! And she’s such a nice person too – I immediately felt familiar with her like we’ve met before. Well, we met online and been in touch for a few years of course – but still, meeting in person is different. I’m so glad we met :).
Here are some of the photos she took:
She had to leave before we finish setting up so unfortunately there’s no wonderful documentation for the rest of the works but I am very happy with what we have now. Thanks for your great photos, Matisha :). I really appreciate them!
We finished setting up for the day by around 10:30 p.m. There were still some minor adjustments to be made. My new painting was yet to be stretched on a frame too.
The last photo here was taken by Hendro Wiyanto, the curator.
So I’m back in my parents house in Jakarta, in my old room that keeps on changing here and there whenever I come back.
I left my home in Hong Kong at 7:15 a.m. to catch the 7:30 a.m. airport bus and I got to the airport on time. I checked-in online the day before, not sure what to expect. Got to the airport with my luggage and my rolled painting to find a very long queue under the sign “Self Check-In Drop Off Bags”. Hmmm… I thought it supposed to be shorter? Turned out that the queue moved pretty fast – faster than conventional check-in anyway. I was happy as my suitcase got checked-in without any fuss although it’s a bit over-weight and that they let me carry my painting to the cabin (it’s 54″ long, about 2.5″ in diameter).
The flight itself was pretty uneventful. I was hoping I could sleep all the way through the 4.5 hours flight as I only got less than 2 hours sleep the night before but there were too many interruptions so I arrived in Jakarta totally zonked. Had to wait forever to get my suitcase. I was beginning to get worried when it finally appeared. Pheeew!
The driver from the SIGIarts Gallery met me up and took me to the gallery in Jl. Mahakam in Kebayoran Baru straight way. It’s a brand new gallery with nice, spacious white space. Rachel, the owner of the gallery came out to welcome me and introduced me to the staff members whom I’ve been in contact with by emails. They’re all very friendly and some were acually from the same art institute I graduated from. Nice! To my great relief and joy, Rachel offered to take me for late lunch which I instantly agreed too enthusiastically.
Lunch was terrific! It’s at a Menado restaurant not for from the gallery. They had a live music playing Menado traditional numbers there – very unusual at 3:30 pm! The food was fantastic: spicy grilled seafood in traditional Menado manner – just what I like best! And it was very cheap too – especially compared to Hong Kong but even by Jakarta standard it was relatively cheap. I will definitely be back there. I should have gotten their name card – I forgot the name of the restaurant now, it’s in Menado language which is very different from the Indonesian. Next time I’ll make sure to get one!
We had a nice chat during lunch too, the topic ranged from art and exhibition matters to some hilarious personal anecdotes. The opening is on this Friday, July 25th – and I’m looking forward to it! Click the images below to see them larger:
Now that we’re both full, we went back to the gallery. Hendro the curator was already waiting for us and we proceed with discussion about the placement of my works. I am the only one showing three dimentional objects in this exhibition. The other artists are Ugo Untoro (paintings), Jose Legaspi (paintings) and Melati Suryodarmo (photographs of her performances). They are such amazing artists, it’s my honor to have my works shown alongside theirs.
So I unpacked some of the works I brought with me from Hong Kong and re-assembled them. It wasn’t easy to decide the placement of each but we managed to have some kind of preliminary arrangement which might work. Tomorrow we’ll start the real setting up! How exciting!
It was dark by the time I got to my childhood home by 8:30 p.m. It was good to see my parents again. Last time I saw them was in December last year. They’re both well enough and we enjoyed a nice chat catching up. They enjoyed the things I brought for them too :).
As often happens in the spring/summer evenings here, a few little creatures would somehow got strayed into our home. Last week we got this incredibly beautiful creature perched on the picture frame on the wall of our living room. I wish I had a macro lens to take better photos of this creature…
Any of you know what is this? Look at the funny face which reminds me of a frog… or the structure of its legs… but most of all… such gorgeous wings and beautiful coloring it got! We reckoned it belongs to the trees, judging by its colors. If any of you know the name of this amazing creature, do let me know – I’m curious :). Thanks in advance!
Yeah… it feels sooo… good to be home after being away for 2.5 months! Sooo… nice to be with my man again :). It’s been a wonderful trip but I’m so glad to be home! I’m lucky that the weather has been nice too… coolish with low-ish humidity: a real treat for Hong Kong!
My Toronto trip went well too: I really enjoyed spending time with my niece Olivia (11) and my older brother and my sister in law. I helped Olivia made a very special Mother’s Birthday Gift – she’s so proud of it :). We went to Scenic Caves in Blue Mountain – it was fun and interesting. There were some snow still over there! My last day in Toronto was spent in Toronto Wonderland – we took some really scary rides, well, really scary at least for Olivia! She was scared but also really wanted to go on those rides so she really had to work her courage up while waiting in a looong… line. We all so proud of her! She did it and ended up really enjoying the rides too: The Thunder Run, The Time Warp (used ot be called Tomb Rider) – where you were lying down in a ‘cage’ and ‘turned’ into a roller coaster car, The Bat – where the roller coaster cars went backward on the second round and the Klockwerk – the least scary ride we took (except for the SpongeBob 3D Show!). It was a fine sunny day – the park was so full. I wanted to try out the Behemoth, the new huge roller coaster there but it wasn’t operational by the time we got there. It was running earlier in the morning though. Oh well. We did have a fun time regardless.
The flight back to Hong Kong was very long (a total of 18 hours: Toronto – Chicago O’Hare – Hong Kong) and full of delays. It was pretty boring and I was so excited when we finally landed in Hong Kong Airport. My dearest husband already waited for me there – we had a sweet reunion :).
Now tons of work are waiting. First, I will have to get re-organize, and then I have to start Ztampfing… yup, creating brand new kits! I can’t believe I haven’t created anything Ztampf! except for a small accent pack recently for the past 2.5 months! The problem now is to choose which one to make first… I have a long list of kits to make! I also can’t wait to get back to my studio to make more art – but this will have to wait until I got this month’s Ztampfever released on the 15th!
Thanks to everyone who has emailed/left me comments regarding my trip and my art making :). So heart-warming! Talk to you all again on the 15th! (have you subscribed yet?)
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