Just pieces

 

I would love to visit Washington D.C. again. It is a very gorgeous city and these pictures doesn't do it justice. These are just a few of my favorite pictures. You really have to be there for yourself. It's hard to capture the depth of the architecture, culture, history, etc. You have to be there to see it in it's entirety.

Pieces include:

• Lincoln Memorial outside side view, monument, columns, ceiling;
  
• Arlington National Cemetery Memorial Amphitheater marble columns,
  
• National Gallery of Art Ceiling and Fountain,
  
• Jefferson Memorial columns, monument, Washington Monument...

What pictures couldn't capture (aside from the fact that I'm not a photographer):

• Treck up Arlington National Cemetery - view from the Eternal Flame;
• Drives around Washington D.C. finding parking
  
• Summer going into Fall fashion
• How you felt after eating Ben's Chili, dozen oysters on the half shell at Hanks Oyster Bar
• ...
  

...

Yes, I'm continuing on with my Lotus Project. So these are small pieces. I had fun with these because I didn't start with a draft. I painted it from whatever thought I had in my head.

I actually did these a while back. I know, I'm slacking.

Oh, I have nothing else to say for this one. The paintings I used acrylics on small canvas boards. The end. :)

Murky Waters

So last night I decided to not go shopping and decided that I'll just stay home and read. So I was reading the "Proxy Season Review 2008" by As You Sow...then I got to the section where they discussed Social Proposal and proposals in regards to the Environment. Weird, but this made me stop reading and start painting. It was taking me a while to figure out what I wanted to do for the murky water so I just had the painting sit and wait till I figured it out. I guess all the hype from reading what Socially Responsible Investors want shareholders of different corporation to vote on opened up ideas for me! HAHAHA!

Here is the second phase of my paintings. This is a 2 piece project and the pictures above is the almost complete piece that will be the right panel. I think I want to do more work on the murky water because the murky water is just as significant as the lotus flower itself.

Murky Water: Signifies our impurities and attachments from our ego. The lotus rising beautifully up and through the mud and murky water represents us overcoming all the obstacles in our life, and letting go of our attachments. It's a journey we all go through :)

It's not bad ah for my first piece?

Side Note: For those interested...Environmental Proposals (largest area of concern in proxy voting) is accounted for the largest category of social proposals that have been filed. Shareholders last year filed nearly 90 proposals on issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, recycling, water, forestry, protected land, environmental justice, etc.

"There is no such thing to my mind...as an innocent stockholder. He may be innocent in fact, but socially he cannot be held innocent. He accepts the benefits of the system. If is his business and his obligation to see that those who represent him carry out a policy which is consistent with the public welfare." - Louis Brandeis

Lotus Project - phase 1

Alrighty, since this is my first painting project I might as well discuss the whole process. I'm open to any input =)

I'm using acrylic paints and started with a flesh color for the background then painted the base layer of my lotus with a semi bright pink color. Then I used a speckling style with the green over the flesh color. Still not sure what the real term for this brush style - "speckling"; "stickling"

This is still just the first phase. I'm still trying to brainstorm or envision what will come next.
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Currently Reading: Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
I just started this book and I don't know if I'm already influenced by it's spiritual nature, but it got me thinking. I've always been wanting to "save the world" or help out in whatever way I can. With all that has happened in Myanmar, China, and all that women and children face around the world I try to be more active in moving forward in working to better whats going on. I picked up this book (it's fiction of course) and the setting took me to China and Burma (now Myanmar) then the narrator takes you to these places seeing what we see now because of these past events but I would have never really imagined before. The whole "spiritual" nature I indicated is only because the narrator is a spirit and the relation with where the story takes place and the situations they are facing sorta hits an emotional spot. Okay, so far the book is really good... the end
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Below are some links to help get you started in taking some little big steps:

Operation Smile

Tap Project

UNICEF

Lotus project

Okay, so I began working on my first acrylic painting project. This is the first piece I'm painting. The last time I painted was in elementary. It was a water color painting of jelly fish in the ocean. This piece can still be found displayed in my home. hehehehe

Below is my brainstorming of a pink lotus in bloom. I used my pastels for this one. I wanted the lotus to stand out from it's surrounding (the murky water), but still make the surrounding something that will stand out on its own as well.



In Buddhism the lotus flower is a reflection of our journey in this world. The mud represents materialism and our attachments and we grow through the water (experience) and bloom above the murky water.

Below I started working with the acrylic paints. This was just a trial to get a feel of the different textures I wanted to use. I'm going to go for the right side with the spotty murky water. I liked the texture I was getting and it was tedious and time consuming, which is perfect for what the murky water represents in our journey. Although the draft is incomplete I felt that this direction is best suited for this project.

Once the final piece is complete I'll be sure to post it.
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Currently reading: French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano
It's a really fun read - it is not a diet book "the ultimate non-diet book". I think it's good for those who already understand the pleasure of life and for those who are looking for better alternatives. I finished reading it and thought, "at last, the real book for women. I love being a girl!!!" and if only all women could embrace life this way without feeling guilty.

tout est question d'equilibre!

SF Trip

Shiho and Micchan wearing the jewelry I made them. The mother of pearl set on Shiho and the lotus bead set on Micchan. This picture was taken on our trip to the SF Golden Gate Bridge, but it was so cloudy that we couldn't even see the bridge. The bridge was hardly visible even while we were driving on the bridge. The mountain behind us had clouds swimming over it.

Charm

I made this bracelet for myself. I wanted to use the family picture pendant from ages ago as a charm for this bracelet.

This is our first family picture when Jackie was maybe 4 or 5 years old with the rice bowl hair cut. :)

The End.

making statements...

I have the opportunity to relax this weekend so I decided to make more jewelry. The first necklace (Black) was fun to make. I used a combination of different black beaded necklaces and combined them. I took a mother of pearl tiare flower and placed a very cute button over it and used the two as the statement piece for the necklace. The star necklace was simple and it's cute for dressing up or down. Below is the detail of the tiare and button.

The earrings below I made was a gift for a friend. They are jade lotus beads and coral beads for color.

Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas is one of my favorite artists. He's known to be one of the organizers of the Impressionist Movement. I could go on about Edgar Degas, but I'll just let you explore him on your own.

The reason for this blog is to just share something I've just recently discovered and I thought is was so cool! For an art class while I was in undergrad we had to recreate a famous art piece using pastels. Everyone went for Van Gogh pieces and I picked Degas because of the portrait like effect his pieces has - and I thought the ballet scenes were cute and girly.

Anyways - what I discovered is that the technique that helped me recreate his work is the technique he's known to use for all his pastel pieces. He would create colors using successive layers and this was how he created the soft, powdery effect in his pieces.

Of course, his work is way better than mine, but I got the gist of the look he was trying to create. Besides having to recreate the piece on an 8-1/2" x 11" sheet...the toughest part was trying to create the dark shadows while keeping the "soft" look of the scene. And...the trick was that whole successive layer thing. Instead of applying black directly to the area to create shadows...just use the colors already incorporated in the pictures and keep layering, layering, layering, and layering.

Okay, so below on the left is Edgar Degas' Ballet Class piece and on the right is my version - of course it's not the best, but I tried.

I'm going green...

I haven't gone shopping in a while because I'm trying to save $$. I was craving some new accessories, but they're just too pricy. So I decided that it was time to "go green". I rummaged through some of my old stuff, my mom's stuff, and my sisters stuff and got inventive and creative. It's just a start so check it out.


The necklace was fun to make. It took some time deciding on the chain. I took apart some old earrings, necklaces, and key chains. Necklace includes: mother of pearl hoop, jade fish pendant, jade lotus bead, and a gold chain


I also made some earrings. Nothing exciting, but I had some time before bed (I was on a roll). The mother of pearl pieces I took a part from necklace and I just made them into earrings.

Below is the charm bracelet I made for my sister. I used some old pendants as the charms of this bracelet. It's very blingy - like my sister =P

Sewing Project

Okay, so I'm not good at sewing. My first project was the aprons I made for my friends in the picture below. I wanted to have a patchy look and I guess my lack-of-sewing skills helped me accomplish that. I just had the idea in my head and worked with an apron my friend's grandma made for me.


The owl was the most difficult part. I couldn't hand sew it because of the different fabrics I was using. However, the buttons were hand sewn. Notice that the owls beak is a football button. =) Actually, you can't tell it is - but it is.

The happy couple and their aprons. Oh, and it's hard to tell - but Abe's apron has a Treble Clef patch (he's a musician - A FABULOUS ONE! maybe I'll post some of his works on here some how)

Metro North

New York Metro North train -
Early weekend morning, chocolate chip scones and yogurt from a Labanese bakery on 110th, Crosstown Harlem bus to train station, conversing about Wall Street, field work, Korean food...oh, and boys till we get off at White Plains, NY.

Animal Style

Westwood, Los Angeles:
College years driving down that ritzy Brentwood neighborhood for "animal style" cravings.