Is the Time of a Year ...

we go travel!!  

2009 Chinese New Year will fall on 26 Jan. 

our shop will be closed for one plus week from 26 Jan (Mon) till 3rd Feb (Tue). 

we just booked the package which includes flights and hotel from FireFly.  4 days 3 nights, 28 Jan to 31 Jan.  will be staying at Ibis

yeah can't wait ... 

will check around the web to see what to do in Phuket.. :) ..

here is some photo of Ibis Patong Phuket I found on the web, attracted by the ambience .. rates and special offers is here 

The Lights

the lights of hope ... for the new year! 

now available in my Etsy store.

Year End Gardening :)

came back from a garden store with a new friend, Mr. Banana :) 

re-planted him to a bigger pot with new soil. plan to put it in front of our gallery beside my "daun keladi" but now let him get settle down with the new air new environment behind my studio first, where he could get some fresh air but not too much of sunlight. 

Year End Rush :)

finishing the year end rush ...

in our business (khoo and I) ... usually year end is really hectic. as most people will be moving in new house, re-decorate their home, or property developers rushing to get ready the show unit in order to launch their new projects or hotels getting new decor for their rooms or interior designers rushing to complete their work ... therefore i called it a year end rush..  some of our work could be view in our work blog: ArtBug Buzzing and also in our official website: ArtBug The frame & Art Specialist

hah.. and tonight we are going out for some sort of a 'company annual dinner'. .  ha ... this is the time of a year filled with hopes and excitement.  new year new hopes new resolutions. we always hope that we could do better every year .... sometime we thought that we failed .. but think deeply sure your gain somewhere :)  heads up ... as in life no matter what you loose you will gain something somewhere .. so don't frown but smile ... don't make the life difficult yourself ! 

cheers! wishing you a bright and cheerful years ahead! 

Orders sending to Utah before 2009

It's Christmas day, I had been busy whole day cleaning my studio/house and shop front. since it is 3 in 1 .. i have to spend a few hours with the cleaning after the  breakfast. 

Then in the afternoon, I packed the orders which is going to send to Utah and hoping to reach before 1 Jan 2009.  I was very excited about this, hoping that my sales in Etsy would be picking up soon. It is sure a strong encouragement for me to continue creating.

Hope for the best for the unknown future. 

Breakfast on Christmas Day

we have a one day off for Christmas day.

khoo and I went out to have a simple breakfast in a cafe near Pulau Tikus market. 

nice and simple cafe, serving half boil eggs and traditional coffee with toasted bread butter and Kaya. (kaya is a traditional jam made from sugar, coconut and eggs). Then we ordered fried Maggi mee and fried Tom Yam bihun.  And, of course I asked for extra sambal and Chilly Padi. 

the cafe is located right at the corner, and the shop front is enclosed with glass door and window, where you can enjoy some easy people watching in the morning haha.. :)  a nice neighbourhood...

Merry Christmas everyone! I wish that you have a wonderful holidays filled with joy and love! 

Merry Christmas my friends ...  !!

Embracing our Differences, 2009, calling for artist

The mission of Embracing Our Differences is to use art as a catalyst for creating awareness and promoting the value of diversity, the benefits of inclusion and the significance of the active rejection of hatred and prejudice.

Click here to download the Call for Artist 2009

Tang Yuan 汤圆

just back to Penang. 

as promised here is the photo of the Tang Yuan, glutinous rice balls. :) we made 3 different colors using the Pandan leaves for green, carrot for orange and the pure white. 

small glutinous rice balls, symbolises the  snow .. its a happy festival. and there is a new year to be ..

'dong zhi' 冬至, Winter Solstice Festival

another week pass and a new week coming the way.

this weekend Chinese celebrates 'dong zhi' 冬至, or Winter Solstice Festival. though in Malaysia we do not have winter but the festival is still celebrated by the Chinese. in our family, usually we will gather with my mom making Tang Yuan 汤圆, small glutinous rice balls. which will be served in hot sweet ginger soup. Haha.. in fact me and my sister enjoy making the tang yuan but don't like eating it. .. my mom will say, hey you have to eat at least one piece, so that you will 'kuai gao zhang da' 快高长大 grow fast and healthy. haha.. now we are all grown up .. my mom still says the same thing. :)

i will take some picture tonight and share it with you when I am back...

Turn the Pathway into Little Garden

I have this concrete covering my shop front by the road side. I planted some ground cover in a few pots and the plants start growing and spreading across the concrete and they grow well amazingly. 

many visitors had been attracted by this, they ask how I made it .. haha.. my answer is.. I didn't do anything I just water it ... keeping them moistured. Plants know how to survive .. 

I'm Featured in Art Levant's Les Petites Feuilles

Sylvain from Art Levant just contacted me and informed me that I am featured in Art Levant'sLes Petites Feuilles vol.3 (December 2008). 

Art Levant is a bilingual web-magazine ( French / Japanese ) about art and culture. It contains articles, interviews, visuals... about photo, painting, stage theater, design, floral arrangement, architecture, illustration, tea ceremony, street art... from international inspirations, especially eastern Asia.

This issue covered a wide range of artist and designers. And, there is a special article on upcycle in decoration. While, I am in page 33 ~ 35.  To download this article, please click here. 

A Busy Week Just Pass By

creating a few digital arts for the show unit of a bangalow. 

everyone needs their framed art before Christmas. another one week to go ...  khoo and I worked really hard throughout the week. 

and my parents was here for a few days, as doctor adviced my father to go through a colonoscopy test ... phew .. result shown that is just a  minor problem ... whata a relief ... health is wealth, is true for all.  

And, this week, we are putting my original paintings into frames. going to put them up onto the wall soon. 

What I do on Saturday ...

basically nothing much but only a few chit chatting to a few groups of walk-in customers.  

one young couples, moving in new home soon, getting some my advice of how to frame and arrange some photos they purchased from Dreamstime  so I had worked on some arrangement options for them and they like this one, and we get an order of custom framing from them.  

 
then came another family, parents and two daughters. walked in but silence..so I greet them "Hello" .. hmm..  without any words from them .. but walk slowly from my gallery front door strolled to my studio at the back... then said .. "oh you are a painter." then I said, "yes, is there anything i can do for you .."  then slowly they walked out from my gallery... haha.. feeling strange? yeah.. ...  people walked in but their interest is really just because they want to find a place to walk one round...  no 'hello' no 'thank you' no 'nothing' ...

then came another couple, well this couple is nice, they came here before.. their house is still under construction,  but we have had a few chat ... :) .. some nice understanding of their requirement .. just wait for the right time to customize some painting and frame artwork for them.  

then a few other come and go .. looking and checking of pricing ... ways of framing and ... 

while the interval of visits, I was working on a proposal for a property developers. who will need a few artworks for his show unit. .. but looking at the budget they have, we could only propose them some prints on canvas. 

so this is typically a Saturday for me.  

this weekend, I will go back to my hometown, Sungai Petani.  so will leave my etsy for 2 days ... 

It's my Birthday!

a happy day... received a big bouquet of flower from my sister and bro-in-law from KL .. I like their greetings says ... "A birthday  is just the first day of another 365-days or journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip .. you are not just a year older but ayear better! "

 

dinner, Khoo and I went to a nice steak house, The Ship in Batu Ferringhi. 

We ordered a half dozen of 

Escargots Bourguinonne, love it! then Hot Mexican soup, that I love most, spicy.  

Khoo had Fillet Steak Flamme Au Brandy 

and I had Tenderloin Sizzling Steak .. yummy ..  

She is Heading to Her New Home ..

Packing one of my favourites, she will be heading to her new home by tomorrow morning :) 

Just sold this piece with 2 mini prints yesterday in my Etsy.  And guess what today 4th December is my birthday. 

You may not know but thank you Beth, your purchase is a great birthday gift to me.  thank you.  :)