Have not painted for the last 2 weeks while I was visiting family in Singapore. Was hesitant to pick up my paintbrush. Doubting myself.

But once I got going, it’s like cycling… felt a little rusty but still enjoyable. Goes to show that practice makes a big difference. Like most things in life. Glad to be back.

Happy New Year!

I love the end of the year. I have my birthday in Nov, then Thanksgiving, then Xmas. This year, we get an extra bonus, we get to go home (Singapore) to see family. I feel contented. While it’s been a year of ups and downs, I am happy with where I am. It’s not perfect but it’s a good life. I feel grounded. Grounded in the love around me, grounded in the love I am learning to give myself, grounded in the knowledge that I am strong, I am centered I am peaceful.

Mixed media piece with acrylic paint, pastel, collage, stencil with modeling paste.

I find backgrounds to be the most challenging. Here is an example. I painted my girl and was pretty happy with how she turned out. Then I added a soft background. The first picture.

Felt something was missing so I added dots, and then stencil , gesso, text, doodle, etc. As I take a step back I wondered if I overworked the background. Looking back at the starting point, I miss the softness and simplicity. I do like how vibrant the second piece turned out but wondered if I overworked it. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is walk away and not mess with a good thing. What do you think?

Motherhood transcends human beings. A mother’s love is the same in each species. I fell in love with this photo I saw on Pinterest. I can feel the mommy giraffe’s love for her little one. It’s how I feel about my babies. I loved painting this tender moment. And once again I surprised myself with the result. I have to say, I really love this piece. Dedicated to all you Mother’s out there.

She reminds me of Pocahontas. Maybe it’s the news today that made me think of her. I loved the Pocahontas character in the Disney movie. She is strong, open minded and fight for what she wants. Loved the songs from the movie too. In particular, these lyrics strike a chord…

“You think the only people who are people are the people who look and think like you. But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you’ll learn things you never knew.”

Good reminder.

Watercolor painting with collage and glitter.

Flowers have so many layers to them. Maybe that’s why I find them difficult to paint. I get lost in the petals 🤣🤣🤣 need a lot of focus to paint it. Probably should learn how to paint florals from a proper teacher so I know the proper technique. Nonetheless, I am thankful that these look like flowers 😉

Finished another watercolor journal. This time, I decided to do a mix of collage, paint, ink and modeling paste for the cover. I am really enjoying this style. Easy, simple and relaxing. Less is more.

I started by using scrap paper to make the collage

Then I added some gesso over the bring the whole page together and look less like a cut and paste. Then some acrylic paint, drew a face in and added ink to outline the face and the flower in the vase.

Sometimes the only answer is to stick out your tongue 🤪 still crazy about giraffes. The more I paint them the more I learn about them. Did you know that giraffes don’t sleep very much. Only between 10mins and 2 hours everyday. Can you imagine?! 😵 I can’t be a giraffe!

Let’s be silly together! Giraffes are so goofy, with their long necks and long tongues. They are one of my favorite animals. Our local zoo has giraffes who would stretch their necks out when you feed them and stick out their long tongues. Quite an exhilarating experience!

First time painting giraffes. Really enjoyed it! They make me smile. Proud of myself for venturing into animals now.

Watercolor

I love elephants. I love their loyalty, their bond, their love for each other. I cannot understand why anyone would want to hunt them or hurt them. As Dalai Lama says”our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them at least don’t hurt them”.

I love painting them too. Trying a looser watercolor style. Then i played with some special effects using PicsArt, pretty cool. Can’t decide which i prefer.