Bear-bears on cabinet

Today I completed bears on a cabinet for Jun. Had not painted bears for a very long time but inspite of lack of practise... I'm rather happy and contented with the bears I painted on the doors of the cabinet at Jun's. Have a look-see ya...

Would love to show-off the rest of the bears on the drawers (ahem... that's of course just me.... need to show-off muahahaha.... hey... I'm a true hot-blooded Leo!!!) but unfortunately.... the camera gave way!!! Why? ...because I forgot to get new batteries (hahaha...so what else is new... blame on the age... !!!) Anyway.... have no fear... will go to Jun's tomorrow to snap the baby bears again ... muahahaha... in the meantime... need to get back to the studio... have more to paint :) ... catch-up with you all later ya... muah muah muah

Busy...busy...busy

I have been busy these past two weeks ... completed 120 pieces of hydrangeas on mengkuang hamper boxes for raya for Yati. It was an easy job... but something I don't quite enjoy as I hate repetitive work...thus it became a monotonous chore. It was a HUGE sigh of relieve when the last piece was finally done.... *SIGH*

Before these mengkuang boxes, I finished a couple more boxes and lazy susans for Zurina. They were also meant for raya hampers. How lucky can the recipients be? I remember those days when hampers came in plastics baskets or plain rattan ones!!! Gift hampers now come in fancy creative containers... more often the containers costing more then the contents itself.... yup!yup!yup! Prior to Zurina's jobs ...I'd painted 2 stools (painted geraniums on 1 and violets on the other), another lazy susan and a tea box for Kak Nomi ... yup! I have been very very busy ;) What you see below are what I'd painted in the past 2 weeks.... I'm happy...

There's always a reason....

This was a pen-n-wash I did many many many moons ago....something like 24 moons or so.... Left it undone because there was that lilttle centre plate on the top shelf that I didn't quite like... thus left it as it was until....God-knows-when-la... hahaha. Well anyway.... the 'when' came recently due to a miscommunication I had with Lizana. The plaque I made for her initially was sold to Jelina because I thought Lizana decided not to take it (NB : never close a deal via sms... always call to confirm!!!!) After 2 weeks of silence, she came to collect.... o-oh... o-oh....o-oh...waaaaaa!!!! It was a gift for a friend's cafe... and her friend is already going back to Jakarta the next day... she'd told her friend that she'd got somthing special for her... and I have no time to paint another!!!! Oh dear!Oh dear!Oh dear!!! To cut short the story... I completed the pen-n-wash within the day.... and now it hangs

proudly in Lizana's friend's cafe ... in Jakarta ;)

The fruit tray is a duplicate I made for another customer. She wanted my sample but I wasn't willing to depart with it... so I made her another one... only to discover that she'd changed her mind. So it stood on the shelf for 5 long years.... until one day... Zaiyan took it with her as a gift for Ashraf's engagement ceremony in Jakarta..... hmm Jakarta again eh?

The 2 events jolted my memory to a quote by a famous artist (trust my memory... I can't recall his name *sigh*...) He said that one must never devalue one's art pieces just because it doesn't get sold. Leave it be... it's actually waiting for the right owner to claim it... and I now believe that!!!! These 2 items hold testimony to the truth ;)

We did a demo ;)

Last Saturday, Aug 30... we... Zaitun and I ... did a 1-hour demonstration of our craft at the "Galeria Fair 2008" at Amcorp Mall, PJ. It was a programme organised by The Ministry of Entrepreneur and Co-operative Development, introducing and promoting the various local crafts and products held from 22 - 31 Aug. Unfortunately, Aniza couldn't make it as she had prior engagements... so it was just the 2 of us doing our stuff :)

We were apprehensive at first as we had no experience doing a demo... but us being us la *ahem* *cough*cough* ... hehe ... we made it. It went well... but the crowd was small.... small but enthusiastic... so that made our day... yup!yup!yup! .... but it could have been better had it been on a Sunday between 2-3.00pm, as we were told the crowd in Amcorp Mall is usually bigger on a Sunday. We were there on a Saturday, 11.30am-12.30pm.... not the best of time for anything.... nevermind... it was an experience....

OMG.... how time flies... :(

T'was a busy Saturday for me. Had the demo at Amcorp Mall earlier in the day... then later in the evening had a small 'reunion' with my past.... met up with our students....



Datin Zainab (centre), Muli and I were teachers in SMK Dato' Harun some 20 years ago. Received an sms from Muli saying that Datin Zainab wishes to meet up with us... teachers and students alike. God... 'lil ole me became excited and readily agreed to meet up hehehe.... Hey... I just met up with my school chums batch '75 last July ... this definitely is another opportunity I'd not miss!!!!



Well... Muli...bless her ... made the necessary calls and managed to gather 7 of us.... 4 students and 3 teachers. We met at Secret Recipe TTDI at around 4.00pm... and when the boys came in ... I couldn't recognise any of them!!!! They couldn't recognise me either because they said I've changed... but they do remember me upon introduction. Hahaha... apparently I made an impact on them... as I was one of the very garang cikgu!!!! I sure hope it was a good impact tho'... muahahaha.... but I am embarassed since my memory failed me...I just couldn't recall my past with them. *Sigh* very sad.... old age IS catching up with me!!!! *sob*... but it was a good feeling.... to be remembered after all these years. Thank you boys.... you made me feel special...

What's new?

So what's new? My paintings of course ;) Apart from the usual roses and hydrangeas on cutlery and tea boxes and plaques and various other wood pieces... small items for the house... I'd done a few major projects worth mentioning.

Painted a simple garden scenery on 3-panel wooden screen. It was not a pre-planned traced-out design there... created the scenery as I go along. Had another pic in my mind initially... but what came out was not the original design I created in my mind's eye. That's just me... I paint as I feel it and let the juices flow to suit the piece. I'd to put in a lot of thoughts here just to make sure there's a continuity in the panels... but all in all.... say what you like... I enjoyed painting it...yup!yup!yup!

I also painted on a huge 6' x 5' mirror. Ruby loves the Port Merion collection... and thus she commissioned me to paint the lilies and the butterflies on this mirror. It now hangs majestically on her dining wall. Will show you the pic as soon as I get it photographed.

And finally my current favourite piece... a still life drawing inspired by Kingsley. I find it very difficult to depart with this one... Lizana commissioned it as a gift for her friend....

And so that's it for now my friend... check me out later if you may... I need to go back to my studio and paint some more for others... ;( that's it for others... can't paint any for myself yet... have a good day... cheerio...

A long overdue story ... hehehe

I've been busy... and lazy... and been under the weather too... had the writer's block and a 1001 other stuffs running through my life lately so much so that I literally crawled through the days... *sigh* Every now and then I signed-in to my blog.... stared at the screen... only to sign-off almost immediately.... Oh well that's history for now hehehe...and hey... I'm back.... yup!yup!yup! so here goes... updates from the past muahahahaha... as far as memory permits...

We had a another workshop last July 19... yup! that long ago!!!... at Bistro Saloma, Jalan Ampang organised by Laman and Puspanita Ministry of Tourism in conjunction with Flora Fest 2008. It was a huge success with 69 participants! Never had such a big group before... and oh! this time we had 6 males, one of whom was only 10 years old (err...I think hehehe...but I know he's below 12 because his 12 year-old his was there with him!) ... a very enthusiastic chap he was hehehe. As usual Aniza, Zaitun and I mastered the helm with Shikin to help us out... we just couldn't do it without you dear Shikin...

It went well from 9.00am - 5.00pm. The pics below speak for themselves... but at the end of the day, we were all pooped dead tired... ( I know I was...age catching up with me here *sigh* )... but definitely happy and satisfied judging from the enthusiasm showed by the participants. Thank you all... and that's the last of the workshops by Laman this year. There will be more next year... InsyaAllah... this time probably catering for the intermediates instead of for just the beginners.

Hehe...we were in the news

For a moment there... I felt glamorous. Don't know whether Aniza and Zaitun felt the same way... but I know I felt ... like wow!! I'm going to be in the papers hehehe. Then another thought struck me almost immediately... I hate to be photographed!!! I'm never photogenic.. and ALL angles are bad angles hahaha!!! ... and this was what I got...when my darling Syakirah commented... "Ma... you look so scary!!!" hahaha.... that deflated my bloated balloon...deflated? did I say deflated???...Nay... it was more like... my inflated swollen head burst to kingdom come!!!... muahahaha. Yup!yup!yup!.... Syukrina and Syuhaidah just had to agree *sigh*... how honest and truthful can my girls be!!!

Anyway... we finally went public. The pics and article were for Utusan's Mega section published last Wednesday, July 9... Sentuhan Pelukis Dekoratif. If you had not viewed the article... please go to Aniza's website... she's got the whole article there for you to read ;)

Whilst I'm here... I have an announcement to make... next weekend... July 19... we'll have another workshop... this time with Kementerian Pelancongan and Laman at Saloma Bistro, Jln Ampang.... so hint hint... I have more to show off later laa... so until my next post.... here's Nora wishing you... a very good day... muah muah muah

Vicki...you're great..

Hey!hey!hey!...I've soooo many things to tell u.... buutttt...I feel so blur now...getting the writer's block so they say...yup!yup!yup!...so where do I begin....

OK...let's just start where I last left my blog... hmmm...Vicki! Wellll.... she came, she saw and she conquered!!! She's GOOOD...had so much fun and gained new tricks of the trade from her workshop. There were 11 of us in attendance...10 roses and a thorny Zahir (hehe sorry Zahir...just couldn't resist that!) . It was a good noisy boisterous group hahaha.

Anyway...there's this medium called the Magic Mix. I'd had it with me since it was first introduced some 2 or 3 years ago but had no idea what-so-ever on how to use it...(you see, I have this sickness...I MUST have anything and everything that's supposed to be beneficial for my art hahaha). Thankfully...I finally learned the benefits of Magic Mix from Vicki... and now am happily using it in almost every project I'd done since the workshop hehe...I'd recommend you to give it a try too...(errrr if you're an artist too la ...duhhh hehe). Don't know how to use it? Have no fear la...Nora is here hahaha...

And so...what do I have to show off? ...another UFO la...what else???... muahahaha. When will I finish it???...ohhh...1 fine day...God Willing...1 fine day ;)... and then I'll show it off again...yup!yup!yup! I'm very good at showing off....muahahahaha... I'm sure it's THAT obvious hahaha...

Class of '75... 50th b'day bash

July 5 2008... a date I'll always remember. That's the day we Assuntarians, Class of '75 ... turned 50 together. After 33 long years, we finally reunited .... and believe you me ... these half centurians are actually still really gorgeous looking chicks!!!! ... yours truly included laa hehe... yup!yup!yup! And ... to top it all ... our beloved Sr Enda was there with us.

We literally walked down memory lane ... such nostalgic memories. I walked in rather apprehensive at first. I came alone ... didn't know whether I'd be remembered ... don't know what to expect .... but oh boy! the moment I entered, I saw Yasmin, Anis, Amy, etc etc etc .... so many familiar faces .... some whose names I can't recall thanks to my failing memory!!! (shucks...blush!...embarassing!!) ... but ... hehe thank god for the name tags tho'.... yup!yup!yup! It was a night beyond description ... a night to remember forever ... for as long we can remember .... when we ended the night with a NOISY photo session and sang our school song with such gusto and pride ... more memories came flooding in ...esp when Sr Enda had to blow the whistle to quieten us down long enough for the photographer to shoot us hehe ... the goose bumps and a tingling sensation was what I felt ... once an assuntarian ... always an assuntarian .... we are a big and happy family... I love you guys ... lets have more nights like this ya...