Monday, December 30, 2013

Manga and Crafts

It's been a busy year for me, juggling 2-3 jobs and family life at the same time...not a lot of art and craft this year from me. But I had a nice break during Christmas. Oh, and this year I discovered that all the things I need to know about life, I learn it from Pinterest! Look at all the wonderful art work and crafts on Pinterest! Whoa! I use Pinterest pretty much everyday, and lately it's giving me the urge to craft! 

So, after Christmas, I picked up my sewing needle, tried to get some unfinished projects done before the new year is here. First, I finished sewing a My Little Pony that I started back in August! Sorry, no picture....all I can say is that the final result resembles a punk rocker pony. This is a long overdue birthday present for my daughter. She's pretty flexible about things, and welcomed the punk rocker pony into her collection.

Today I finished sewing this birdie bag, also for my daughter. 


The inspiration for this bag came from Clamp's manga, Kobato: 


I like Kobato's dresses and accessories! They are so cute! Check out some of her handbags: 



See the birdie handbag? So cute! 


Speaking of manga, I highly recommend A Bride's Story by Kaoru Mori! 

 
Set in the early 19th century of central Asia, this manga explores the lives of the nomads in this region. I cannot express enough how beautiful this manga is! Every page is full of detailed, exquisite drawings, truly a delightful feast for the eyes! 


If you need inspiration for something ethnic and beautiful, check out A Bride's Story!


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Polymer Clay Fun


I can't believe how busy I am since the beginning of the year. Luckily, I still managed to find a little bit of time here and there to play with polymer clay. 

About a month ago my husband asked me to make a Dalek for a friend's birthday. I too, am a Doctor Who fan. I remember how fun it was to sculpt this Dalek. It was quite small too. 


Recently, my daughter became a big fan of My Little Pony, thanks to her buddies at school. Instead of dishing out the dough to buy her ponies, I sculpted these ponies. Yes, I'm that cheap (LOL). 
 
 
I just want my daughter to learn to appreciate things that are made by hands. Also, this is way better than store bought toys because she gets to decide how it should look like!
 
Finally, my latest pieces, Ego Eradicator with cat and dog! Ego Eradicator is unique to Kundalini Yoga. I love sculpting or drawing this posture, I think it expresses the Keep Up spirit very well. It is a beautiful posture expressing beautiful human spirit.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Work In Progress: My Art Apron

Last year I decided that I want something beautiful and uplifting to wear when I make art. So I bought a blank canvas apron from craft store. I started sketching and painting a while back. Yesterday I finally went back to work more on it. It's getting really close to be a finish piece. The problem is now it looks so good I don't think I have the heart to wear it when I sculpt and get mud all over it! 


That's my goddess of light, of inspiration on the apron. And she agrees that no mud should get on her!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Make Art Part of Your Life

I realized that I don't make enough art in my life. And I am very inspired by Neil Gaiman's commencement speech, so now I'm making a conscious effort to try to include art in my everyday life.

This last weekend was a good art experience. On Saturday morning I had enough time to do my sadhana (daily yoga practice), and I had a pretty good meditation at the end. I was feeling good. I sat down and started doodling with my daughter. We had a great time. She drew animals. And I drew a picture of the owl and the pussycat, going out to sea in a boat. It's only after I was done with the picture then I remember that they went out to sea in a beautiful pea green boat. Oopsie. Oh well.

The owl and the pussycat have been on my mind for quite some time now. Have been meaning to make a sculpture out of it. I will probably explore the idea for a while in drawing before I finally decide on a design. That's the lady of the sea in the picture, and she's keeping an eye on the couple.


  
We recently adopted a puppy. She's a very delightful little creature. I've never really had a dog in my life before, and I am loving this experience right now. Still can't quite believe that I'm a dog person now, and I even drew a picture of me and the pup. 
 
 
  
Yesterday I managed to sneak in two more sketches. I am sketching on anything I can find now. Trying to break the habit of thinking that art making has to be executed "properly": must have a perfectly clean table, pencils must be perfectly sharpen, must have perfectly smooth paper, planetary alignment must be perfect....etc. No. I'm allowing art to happen anytime, anywhere, with any medium. 

So I was going through some things on my bookshelf, and I pulled out a notebook that I used to write down all my wishes. I opened to one of the blank pages and drew this picture. It's another thing that I want to remind myself, to always be kind to other people and myself. I wrote down the three laws of prosperity by Yogi Bhajan:

1. Be kind to others. 
2. Never speak ill of others. 
3. Never speak ill of yourself. 

Very good advice.


 
And here's another idea that I want to work on. A picture of a woman holding to her heart tenderly, being kind to herself. Maybe this will become a series of print. That would be nice.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Best Advice I've Heard In A While


Life sometimes gets so busy I forget what I used to do, what it's like to be an artist. Thanks to this inspiring speech from Neil Gaiman, I'm starting to remember why I started to make art in the first place: to be myself.

This is a really good speech. Take time to listen to it, whether you are an artist or not. And remember: live life the best that you can as yourself and no one else, be fearless, and enjoy it!