Marni is "Rejoice" in Hebrew, apparently.

With time running out, it was of utmost importance to be able to spend it with my friend,Marni before she moves to Sweden to live in matrimonial bliss. And to of course, take portraits of her if I could, to which I did.

Southern Ridges

The Southern Ridges is a 9 kilometer trail that connects parks along the southern ridge of Singapore. We started walking from Marang Road which is beside the Seah Im Food Centre carpark opposite Harbour Front and ended at Kent Ridge. It was a nice change from the usual hustle and bustle of Singapore and it was a nice somewhat peaceful adventure. It starts with inclines and stairs up to Mount Faber(first pic) which will make you feel the burn if you're out of shape like I am. I like walking and I do walk a lot but walking upwards is a different story. We finally visited the Henderson Waves(second pic) and surprisingly, we were the only ones there apart from another couple and a foreign family. Granted that at the end of the day, I was tired from it all enough to be able to fall asleep early. 

I guess this new year will see more walking trails to be able to see the parts of Singapore unseen. Next Stop, Pulau Ubin!

*all photos shot with the iPhone.

Artmire - Mrydette

I met Mary Bernadette in 2013 through instagram, we had mutual friends and I started following her for her illustrations. We became friends in real life and really hit it off because of our love for urban explorations amongst other things. She's a talented illustrator and I really love her line work; working mostly with ink and watercolor, and as a joke but with the utmost respect, I would leave "#myidol" comments on her instagram images of her work. Last week, on a whim I asked her to draw portrait of me, to which she asked me questions about my hopes and dreams and then took some time to do it up.

She first showed me the digital image of it but I was blown away when I had it in my hands, because it was not only drawn and painted but was cut and paste in a form of a collage as well.

On the reverse side, she left a note. A quote by Patti Smith.

An excerpt from her fb page.

"Dewi dreams of traveling to the States particularly NYC, San Fran, California (to see the Sequioa Trees) and Chicago. As you all already know by now (shame on you if you don't), she's a photography-typography maestro and enthusiast. She hopes to marry art, photog and type with travel. I really hope she gets to do this in the near future. Here's to you and fulfilling that crazy dream of yours, Dewi! ❤❤"

Needless to say, I love it. Thank you, Mary.

You can check out her works here and here(this one seems regularly updated)

Reaching the end.

It's New Year's Eve. Another year gone by so quickly, it's hard to grasp the reality that I actually lived it. I'm not sure if I want to make new resolutions for the new year but I did fulfill the resolutions I did make for 2013, which was to make more art and to travel more. I did venture into making new art. And I did visit 5 cities this year. I loved Hong Kong(my heart still aches for the place), Hanoi; though I wish we had more time, Bali was more than I could ever ask for(in terms of top quality time with my girlfriends), Penang was swell but could have done without the rain and then Kuala Lumpur was just a nice sweet end, but I made two trips to KL this year, the earlier to see Godspeed! You black emperor.

As the year comes to a close, I will attempt to let go of the things I have discovered the past few days. let go of self-disappointments and hurts and anything negative and start the new year with a clean slate and open mind and heart. May I have the courage and humility and strength to get through the new challenges that I am about to face, that I will grow mentally and spiritually and become a better person.

The beginning is always today.

December hath arrived.

It's that time of the year again. The end of the year. And just like last year, I created a Quote-A-Month calendar for the new year. This year, since I hadn't done new drawings, it gave me the opportunity to have the colors run in spectrum. Which is probably one of my favorite things to do (arranging things in spectrum ROYGBIV). 

They can be purchased in my etsy shop, along with the individual drawings. :)

You're so money.

"... And you dont even know it." My submission for Popin Craft's cross stitch art show which will be held next month at The Arts House on December 19th. I admit, I haven't done cross stitch in a really long time and to be doing it freehand is really new to me. 

The subject is really just a reference from the Swingers movie with a young Vince Vaughn and also a young Jon Favreau. The line is said often in the movie. and Vince Vaughn was hot. Well, he still is now, but not as much cos age is catching up with him. 

Popin Craft

Been workin on this cross stitch project for a craft exhibition by Popin Craft. I am 99% done and then off it goes. It will be shown at The Arts House next month. Check back for further details. 

Felt sew good.

(This photo will suffice til I get better shots done)

The above is what I have been working on the past few weeks. An idea that I started last year with the intention of making one a week but had only done one then (see here and large commissioned piece here). Working with printed fabric and felt and still keeping to my usual quote and typography theme. 

Currently, am working on an embroidered piece and that seems to be taking quite awhile but I hope it will turn out alright. 

That's all for now so til then..

A not so well documented trip of Penang.

Sunday preview.

Last Sunday, my girlfriends and I had a photoshoot. While couples have their pre-wedding shots taken, we do it sans the groom. It has been a long standing tradition in our almost ten years together to do themed photoshoots. This, however, was our second "serious" session. By "serious", I mean where a lot of planning, preparation, logistics and some art direction take place. Our other sessions were mostly impromptu during our themed get togethers or other celebrations (we've dressed up like boys, had a nautical theme and I remember a Gossip Girls theme some years ago...). 

Marni picked a bohemian/hippie theme and I sourced the location. We picked out our outfits, prepared some props, rented a second vehicle and got my photographer brother to shoot us.

These images here aren't really the "shots". The image above was shot on Marni's polaroid camera, meant to be a behind the scenes look, but it turned out great anyway. The weather was perfect, the wind blew and the place was ours. 

Marni is on her way to the next chapter in life and with what little time we have left before she moves abroad, we try make the best of it, and I try my best to document everything. I always have, always will...

I shot this on my iPhone while we were walking and I told her to freeze.

I shot this on my iphone as well and I'd like to think this was in Africa and that was a deer. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the ones my brother shot. I know you (whoever is reading this) think I should have seen them by now considering we live under the same roof, but... oh well.

Bali high.

My time in Bali was amazing. It was only for a weekend and it was with my girlfriends. It was a long awaited trip for us girls, it was our first trip together as a group in almost ten years. We were there specifically for our friend's wedding. It was such a bonding experience and we had such a great time. It was my second time in Bali and not much sightseeing was done cos there was so much going on and its hard to not get distracted by the sometimes funny, running commentary from each girl. We went home feeling sad  that it was over too soon and even almost a week on, we are reeling from bali withdrawals. So much so that we are hell bent on going back before the year is through.

The wedding was held on the beach in Jimbaran which was a 30 minute drive from our villa.  It was such a wonderful location to have the sun set right smack in the middle.

Afternoon Nap.

I was clearing up the folders on my desktop and came across this old photo taken two years ago when we took(or attempted to) an afternoon nap during a bridal shower weekend for our friend, Aqilah (extreme right).