The Book Box

Completed the box over the night and had it varnished this morning ready to be given as a wedding gift tonight. It was a hurried job ... due to lack of time (got the dates mixed up... trust me memory haha!!!!) ... and upon completion, I knew I could have done a better job. Oh well ... *sigh*

Painted a simple scenery on the cover .. a Ros Stallcup original....had always wanted to paint it for myself... but I guess it's not meant to be. It's always like this... I bought the book for a particular design that I liked... but somehow, I never get to own it after painting ... the story of my life hahahaha

Old stool ....

I have been busy painting on furniture again... this time pink roses on a white base. Nothing much new... so nothing to really show actually. However... I managed to finish a scenery on a stool in between sessions of painting on furniture. It's a design inspired from a water-colour painting by Bonnie Heppe Fisher.

It was an old broken down rattan stool with torn rattan seat... had the seat changed and painted ... and now the stool is as good as new. The moral of the story here is.... never discard anything old... remember ya... anything that doesn't move can be painted on :)

That's it for now ... have a good day y'all

More to show off hehe...

Just a few more to show off... so stay on a little while longer k... these are paintings different from what I'm usually commissioned to do.

The first is a girl-bear commisioned by Aunty Faridah for her grand-daughter. This I copied from Tina Hardy Nelson's work published in the Australian Folk Art magazine...(which issue?? hehehe don't ask...can't remember la...) with minor changes here and there. I quite like this piece. It's painted on a bookstand.

The roses on the stool are nothing new...but just to show that I tried Spice (a discontinued background colour from Jo Sonja's range) and the overall effect turned out to be quite pleasant. It just shows that one does not need to fear but be more adventurous with one's choice of colours ...one need not just stick to the same lolly-polly ones!!

This last...yup! the last one for now hahaha... is currently my favourite. Somehow I just love the feel of the scenery. I can feel myself sitting on the chair in the garden overlooking the sea. Again this is not an original...it's a design from Ros Stallcup...my favourite artist...this I paint for myself...to this, I bid you a good day....tata

Happy B'day Aunty...

Every 19 March, aunty completes and starts a new cycle of life. Yesterday, she turned 65!!!...but she can easily pass off as a lady many years her junior..... *sigh* (of envy...hahaha)... Aunty, how do you ever manage to keep looking THAT good...very good! I think...I can count more wrinkles on my face than on hers...*sigh* and double *sigh*

Aunty Faridah is my most senior student...but this grand matriach is the most active,diligent and adventurous of the lot. She hardly misses her weekly classes...and she's game to try anything new. Her projects are quite diverse...consisting of various styles,techniques and media. She too...will paint on anything that does not move..hahaha...but hey...I am her teacher...am I not??? Muahahahaha.... Anyway, her favourite quote of the day would be..."What is there to worry? Nora is here!" hahahaha...I love this woman...hehehe. She's so full of live, not a minute spent with her is dull!

She's been with me since 3 years ago... and she's painted quite a fair bit, she's so full of ideas that it's a challenge to produce what she has in mind sometimes haha. I'm dedicating this post to her...feast your eyes on her painted pieces ya. The 2 projects on the right are her earlier pieces....simple lacework with daisies on a cake stand and a monotone medley of sceneries on a wall plaque. We had fun creating a story to the sceneries. Aunty loves sceneries, esp in the colours of autumn. She's painted more sceneries than stroke flowers...why? because she says...ummm...errr...can't remember what she said la...hahaha...




Aunty hates to see an empty space. Where possible she'll point it out to me and say..."hmm...let's see...now what can we have here in this corner, huh Nora?" And Nora would go...uh-oh...the brain's working on maximum gear again!!! Anyway... there's a book box that she had painted on both sides of the top cover...and if I'd not put my foot down she would have painted even the inside of base of the box...yup!yup!yup! That box is now on display perpetually ajar... just to show off the painting done on the inside too...hahaha






More scenery projects here...one done on canvas and the other on a 2-piece welcome plaque (that still needs to be hung..haha). Aunty has many many more pieces to show. I'm actually in the middle of compiling my students' works and will have them all displayed in an album....god willing...somewhere in the near (??) future...hehe.
To this... I wish Aunty a long and prosperous life filled with love and happiness and great health. May we have many more years together. I love you, Aunty Faridah....

My Painted Garden

Until I learn how to do the album...the language is still greek to me *sigh*... I shall have to be contented to show off just these few first....

I've always loved works by Ros Stallcup. Her free style is MY source of inspiration. What you see here in my first 3 paintings is styled against her works.

Painting a scenery is very fulfilling. Somehow the overall finished product usually looks good :)

Below are samples of other scenic views....

Painted this pail based on a kitchen towel set that Junaidah commissioned me to do. It now happily sits in her kitchen....together with the kitchen towel and oven gloves of same design

This was commisioned for a golfer. Had hooks fixed onto the plaque for him to hang his knick knacks.