Father-daughter team :)

I am blessed to have met this unique couple from Penang... father-daughter sharing the same interest, each encouraging the other as they go along ... it's a bond not many is blessed with :) Ira and her father, Ishak shares a zest for decorative painting.

Ira found me through my blog and has been in contact since a month ago via emails. She bought my book and has been practicing my roses ever since. Her desire to perfect her roses lead her to me ... and daddy tagged along ... so last Wednesday (24 Feb 2010) they made their way down to KL to spend a day with me ... how much more honoured can I be huh?

Anyway... since Ira has been practicing... her roses were good after just 2 hours!!! Daddy needs a little bit more practice though (after all MY teacher told me to practice 500 roses before it would look any good!!!) I am actually amazed at her ability to grasp the techniques ... so now who's to say you can't learn from the books huh??? Zie did the same... she practiced from the books, came to me from Dharan to refine her techniques... and now she's already painting to sell! So dear people out there ... if you have the love for decorative painting... never ever be discouraged ... just put your heart to it ...and paint!!!! Ira ... Zie ... and many others can testify to that ... believe you me....

I have been very busy lately ... but unfortunately I have no new COMPLETED paintings to show. It's all touch and go here and there. It's a bad habit I know... but I can't seem to eliminate it *sigh* I keep telling myself that I must complete this first before I go to the next ... but do I listen to myself??? ..... hmmm apparently NOT... as the number of accumulated UFOs can testify for the injustice done to them ...muahahahahaha

Anyway... today's post is dedicated to my students ... Masnah and Sawiah. Though new ...they have shown the patience, dedication and perseverance required of our form of art. It shows that one need not have the talent, but if one puts one's heart to it... nothing is impossible!!!! That's them there hard at work... didn't even realise that the camera was on them hahaha.

Kak Masnah completed her work last week. Beginners in my class start with basic strokework of commas, 'C' and 'S' strokes and the final product would be a bouquet of daisies. Pn Sawiah will finish hers by the next class (she missed one class, thus she lags behind her cousin). Showing you here kak Masnah's bouquet of daisies ... a design I modified from Susan-Scheewe Brown's water-colour original. It's actually very good for a beginner .... yup!yup!yup! Good job my friend ....

To many others out there who are interested in decorative painting ... have no fear. It is an attainable art ... all you need is patience, dedication and perseverance ... talent and an eye for colour is just a bonus...

Have a great day ya....



p/s : Sawiah finally completed her first piece ... check it out ya ...

...daisies with the same teacher teaching the same strokes but the outcome is different with each individual ... that's art for you...every piece is unique

Just for you Elita ...

I would like my dear friends to have something personal and meaningful from me... something to remember me by. It started with May Lee's birthday ... and now it's Eli's turn. I paint when the mood and urge comes ... and I paint what my heart tells me to paint. There will be more to come ... though it may not come in time to coincide with their birthdays... but it will eventually come... God Willing.... ;)
Elita... it's hydrangeas for you ya...

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

Flowers again

Completed three items recently... hydrangeas on a pair of lazy susans for Kak Nomi and a bouquet of flowers on a cutlery set for Siew Bee. Nothing much to really show-off here ... but it felt good to be able to finish something without added stress hahaha



Oh well... I actually lie if I say no stress added doing the cutlery box haha. Siew Bee gave instructions with no specific pics or photos as reference. Must admit... I'm no artist that can just imagine something off-the-cuff ... I need pics and photos. She said she wanted "undefined" wild summer flowers on a red-wine base ... err come again...WILD summer flowers? on a red wine base? ouh ok... gotta do some research now ...

Took me 2 weeks just to mull over what to paint ... anyway... what you see here is the outcome of my stressed thoughts *sigh* I actually had laces on the three sides of the base with daisies and dandelions on the inside of the cover .... but I was soooo relieved that the painting was done that I forgot to take pics of the base and the inside cover!!!!!!

However... this is one job I'm not too happy with as I felt that it's not my best. Fortunately... Siew Bee texted me yesterday and told me that her sis-in-law loved the box. Thank you Siew Bee's sis-in-law ... you made my day :)

To all you guys out there ... here's Nora wishing you a Happy New Year. May 2010 bring you abundant goodness, lots of joy and great health. Take care you hear ... thank you for visiting my blog....

Hey Kitty kitty....

I was at Kak Masnah's to deliver the ring-box some 2 weeks ago when my roaming eyes fell on an old rusty tin that she had tucked (or chucked away...hahaha) in a corner. Being a tin collector, I couldn't resist asking her to spare me the tin ... hahaha.... was just trying my luck ... and oh-boy! She gave me the tin... on one condition... that I paint her the same design on a stool... hehehe. The challenge ... and the old rusty cookie tin ... I took, but of course!!! It's a rare tin... don't think there are many of the same around anymore!!!

<------ Soooo.... from this tin.... it became that stool ------->

Kak Masnah loves it... and I love it even more :)))

Close-up of Kitty in bowl :)

Yup! That's it for today... back to my messy studio ... errr... maybe back to facebook first hehe. My poor garden has been neglected again *sigh*

Have a great day y'all ... taa

The Ring Box

I have the utmost admiration for people who can make something out of nothing ... it's just amazing how the creative minds work. Here is a classic example... I painted this small box for kak Masnah (view "The Ring Box" posted Nov 7 2009) as requested ... but just look at how she has decorated this item... simply lost for words!!!!



A small box can be simply but elegantly dressed ready to be presented as a gift fit for a queen!!! Kak Masnah... I salute you!

The last post said I was off to my studio... yup I did... but nothing materialised. All I did was to base-coat a few items :( I thought I'd paint on the stool ... or the cutlery box. .. or the bread bin ... or the book stand .... or the utility holder .... but nope!!! My brain switched off *sigh* ... all base-coated but still empty .....

Anyway... today... out of sheer frustration and an urgency to complete something ... I painted a very simple one on a wall plaque ... a design by Jamie Mills-Price from her book "Between the Vines" (vol 7). It's something I'd never done before ... but I quite like the look.... clean and fresh in contrast to my usual styles. My Aida said that it looked like a child's painting ... but haha. .. if any child can paint like that ... I take my hats off to her/him .... yup!yup!yup! Probably it would look better varnished ... but hehe ... I'll do that later ;)


Good night people... sweet dreams

The tempayan make-over

Tempayan?..... tempayan? ...tempayan ???? ...eyh...what's tempayan in english huh??? Been trying to recall what's it called (and too lazy to go look for my malay-english dictionary... actually can't remember where I last placed it... muahahahaha) ... *sigh*

Anyway... this tempayan here belongs to Salmi's grandmother ...errr or is it great-grandmother ??? (oh dear ... memory failure ...again!!) I had painted 3 different topiaries around it with butterflies and bees flying in between. I antiqued it to give it added value hehe ... not realising when I did that, the tempayan is already actually THAT old... a real piece of antique!!!! Only knew that it's an antique when Salmi came to collect it haha.... honestly... the tempayan looked very new... just smooth and shiny!!! Credit to the good old days when things were made to last forever !!! I'm satisfied with this piece ... did some research to get ideas for the topiaries hehe.... look see at the other two topiaries ya.

Salmi is happy... I'm happier ... I still have that nagging fear that my artwork is not up to expectations :(

That's it for now... off to the studio whilst I'm still in the painting mood. Need to get a few pieces ready for Christmas :) Have a great day ya ...

The Batu Gang

As a young child up to my teens, I led a nomadic life. Abah was with RISDA and was always on the move... getting transferred from one state to the other every few years. We, the kids, had to tag along... uprooting ourselves from one school to the next. It was hard to bond with anybody... but on the plus side, we made many friends ...yup!yup!yup!

Recently in the past few months...as destiny dictates our lives... I've been blessed with the past... meeting up with friends who remained fresh in my memories but have no inkling where they are. Names that I can recall... faces that are still young and fresh haha ... and sometimes just situations or events I recall but can't remember where they occurred (hahaha ... that's of course due to this thing called m-e-m-o-r-y ... which sometimes I forgot where I put.... muahahahaha) Anyway... yesterday was a great day.

After 36 years... I managed to catch-up with another batch of friends. Mashita found me in facebook... then came Liza and Aini. The biggest surprise was when Amin showed up at Lake Club where we gathered. Thank you all dear friends ... I am blessed. Alhamdulillah....