broken bowl

I am supposed to pack and move out of my office which is scheduled for renovation on this last day of August. However, I found these broken pieces in a corner while cleaning and spent about half an hour doing the zig zag puzzle instead fixing this broken bowl made by me some years ago. I found great satisfaction and intense joy in completing it. It also makes a nice installation art!

There are so many learning points in fixing it - patience, inquisitive, curious, perseverance etc etc.

found a sketch

an A4 sketch found duirng packing the office for renovation among other old stuff.

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Casa Verde means 'green house' in Italian. It is located at Singapore Botanic Gardens by the famed Les Amis Group. There is a pizza making viewing area for the customers at the end wall on the left of this sketch. This sketch was done at 3pm but customers were streaming in for pizza and meals and most of them chose to sit outdoor to enjoy the sight of greenery and sound from the mini waterfalls. I had BLT sandwich and a coffee as I missed my lunch today after music practice in the morning.

Result of August Sketchwalk

This sketchwalk I spent more social time than sketching time, so happy to complete one!

The Singapore Art Museum once housed St Joseph’s Institution (SJI), a Catholic boys’ school, run by La Salle Brothers. In 1855, the cornerstone was laid by its founder, Father Jean-Marie Beurel. After 135 years in Bras Basah Road, SJI was relocated, making way for SAM. Standing at 10,000 metre floor space, the restored building includes 18 full climate controlled galleries, an auditorium, a multi-purpose hall, a museum shop, courtyards, one cafés and two restaurants, all to ensure a quality lifestyle experience for the visitors.

www.singaporeartmuseum.sg/museum/the_building.php

video by Parka

Penang sketches

Miss a few posts on sketches of Penang. Here is one of them.

This charming building with two projected chimneys on the roof top is located at the corner of Jalan Buckingham and Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, just next to the famous Kapitan Keling Mosque in Penang. The building typology is one of the colonial style with very clear horizontal divisions and Islamic arches on the ground floor. That Saturday day, it was the George Town Heritage Festival and we were at the heart of it - so crowded, energetic, hot, humid. After a few quick sketches, it was too overwhelming for me that I had to take cover at the shaded walkway occupied with chairs meant for the security guards at the temporary traffic barricade . The two guards were so nice to let me sit and sketch. Pedestrians came to me to look at my sketch and talked to me all the time. They were surprised I came all the way from Singapore to Penang and sketched along the road side. I felt the warmth from these strangers and sense of pride of the locals.

Medium : Ink and Watercolour,
Size : 200mm X 400mm

August Sketchwalk this Saturday

We are going to meet at Singapore Art Museum's entrance as the starting point for Saturday's sketchwalk. Similarly we are meeting back at the same place for our show and tell at the end of the sketchwalk.

Since we are still in the month of Aug, entrance to the museum is free. You may choose to browse SAM for things to sketch or you may sketch the museum itself. For anyone who is more adventurous, you may wander along Waterloo Street and pass Middle Road to sketch at Sri Krishna Temple and Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple too. Or head straight to St Joseph Church located along Queen Street. At the junction of Waterloo Street and Middle Road, you may find the Courtyard and the building of Sculpture Square interesting too. There is no short of subject to sketch.

The suggested route can be seen on the map attached below.



Please click for bigger view or download to your desktop.

neighbourhood coffeeshop

Monday was public holiday here so the coffee shop in my neighbourhood was crowded during breakfast hours.

Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Watercolour is not allowed in the museum, only pencils/pen. I added some quick shades to record the lighting before our show and tell and went back to the museum to add more lines. Darker watercolour shades were then added at home. I also added the stories on the artifacts in the sketch plus the entry sticker which read "Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum, Architecture in the Islamic Arts". With that, I wish all my Muslim friends Hari Raya Aidilfitri!

coffee club again

Coffee Club celebrates National Day with special menu. I got my son to get a copy from the stack so I can cut their logo to put in the sketch. I did not realise it was a laminated copy meant for every table and not the usual paper copies for distribution. Anyway, one copy ended up in my sketch to celebrate our National Day this month!

central fire station

August is the month we celebrate our National Day on 9 Aug. Last year four of my sketches were made into stamps with National Day First Day Cover 2011. To celebrate our National Day this year, I decided to sketch our Singapore Central Fire Station which is predominantly a red and white colonial style building.

The weather was too hot so I did this under the air conditioning comfort at the food court opposite the building. The vans, the cars and the plants blocked the lower part of the building most of the time but I had no intention to do the details anyway. It was timely to do this sketch with the red and white National Flag right on the top of the red and white building!

ink and watercolour, 240mmx680mm or 9.5"x27"

master class at dragon kiln

Naidee Changmoh, potter from Thailand was conducting a master class for the potters at Thow Kwang Pottery Jungle on Sunday, 5 Aug 2012. I did the sketch after the class and got Naidee to sign his name on the sketch.

Video of recent exhibition

We had a soft opening for the recent exhibition on "Sketching George Town, Penang". The video was uploaded by Favien Ee. Love it and thank you.

Love Lane, Penang

My second ink and watercolour piece. Love Lane was the street where the sketchers were staying. A charming street with all the old and newly renovated shophouses. The weather was so hot that we were all hiding in the shade sketching.

Sketching Penang

This piece I did on Penang was just returned after the exhibition. I finally could scan and post it here. My very first ink and watercolour sketch on day one of the trip. It was done after my chicken rice meal at the coffee shop directly opposite this view which was facing Chinatown. Love the red banner across the street.

playing cards

Two young lad were playing cards opposite my table. One was probably reading or looking at his mobile and another one looked on. Coffee Club at Siglap.