Vacay Time!!!

And so it begins. 

The boys are back in town and I will not be working the rest of the year. Yeah!

Work has been extremely busy and stressful so I am looking forward to this break. I'll be doing things I LOVE. Such as hang out with the family, cook, eat, catch up with friends and paint.

Yesterday I got my first oil paints. I can't wait to experiment with them. I've never ever used oil paints. How strange is that?

I remember when I was growing up, I had asked my mother for some paints. And she was appalled. They were way too expensive! We simply could not afford it. Plus she wanted me to focus on my education and music.  I don't want you to think that my Mom was mean. She was awesome.  But the culture I came from... you had to have a solid education. Number 1 become a doctor. Number 2 an engineer. That is it. LOL. Obviously I did not become either one of them:)

So today I am glad that I can afford to buy my own paint and just paint. Let go of all the structure. Don't care for the outcome. Just create something.

What about you? What are your plans?

Frost!

Frost in Austin!

Towering

Happy Friday everyone!

I am looking forward to the weekend. And to Thanksgiving right around the corner. 

I so love thanksgiving and cooking fabulous food for thanksgiving. I haven't decided what the menu is going to be but I have some standard dishes that I have to make every year. But I like to add a new dish every year.

 Any suggestions?

Almost Sold...

So I heard that this piece generated some interest. Rumors are that it almost sold. When I was at the EAST show, I saw at least 2 peeps taking a photo of it on their phone cameras.

But... almost sold is a cold distant road from sold. As an artist, it gives me validation. I can sell my artwork to family friends etc. But that does not count. We shall see what happens this weekend.

This piece is called Apex. Hope you like it.

Conversations

These pieces are titled:

TCP Conversation

Handshake

UDP Conversation

Don't ask. There is a nerd in me.

So... last weekend, at he EAST show, my BFF showed up. She recently sprained her ankle and had to use crutches to walk. But I was so glad that she came to support me.

Anyways... after spending some time at the galleries, we decided to head out. She wanted a beer and I wanted a glass of wine. We had a lot of catching up to do. Her hair has pink highlights now. Last time it was purple. I realize I've missed out on a lot.

We ended up at a restaurant where we ordered the most strange combination of food with our drinks. Lobster mashed potatoes, chopped salad and apple pie. Bliss! Cannot describe how peaceful it was. There is something to be said about being accepted and loved unconditionally.

While we were eating and drinking, we heard a really loud clatter. A man sitting near our table dropped his.... FLASK! He had a flask in his pocket. Who would bring a flask to a restaurant? Not sure. Surely someone who likes to keep his liquor handy. And he was so embarrassed.

I always thought flasks were for college students attending a football game in the stadium during a snow storm. Oh well. What do I know?

So my question to you is, have you taken a flask with you somewhere? And what was your choice of drink?

Puttering

Part 3 of 3.

My favorite thing to do. Puttering.

Part of the East show.

Pittering

Part 2 of the series.

Encaustics, alchohol inks and fire.

Part of the East Show.

Riveted

So this morning I was playing host at one of the galleries. I was fabulous at it and was so happy that I had such a captured audience.

An hour later I took a bio break and to my horror realized.... The top buttons of my blouse were open the whole time.

So I guess I flashed the East crowd.

Le sigh!



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Pattering

This is part of a three part series.

A 6x6 piece using encaustics, alchohol inks and fire. I actually painted with alchohol inks and set it on fire.

Don't try this at home!

Also in the EAST show.

Fragmented

I call this piece fragmented. Also part of the EAST show. I am probably going to retitle this to He promised me a picket fence. This is made of computer parts.

I just love working with different objects and encaustics. This one reminds me of a woman, white picket fence and jail.

LOL.

Wrapped

My joyous heart wrapped in the darkness of world.

A traditional piece without embeded objects.

Happy 11/11/11!

Moon rise

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Beach Dreams

Another encaustic piece in the EAST show.I used sand dollars, wood cement and beach sand to create this piece.

So where did I get the beach sand from? Everytime I go to the beach, I grab a spoonful of sand and put it in a ziplock bag. This sand is from Hawaii.

This encaustic piece always reminds me of my beach vacations and brightens up my day.

Showtime

For the very first time, I am participating in a huge Austin wide show called EAST. I am excited yet very nervous.  Why? Because I am showing my work with a lot of bigwigs. May they be kind to me.

The piece that you see here is titled Rustic. It is an encaustics piece with rusted cardboard and some string. It is one of the 7 pieces that will be displayed at a gallery. I may end up dropping off some more pieces if they ask for it.

This weekend, the entire east Austin will turn into a chain of galleries. I will be volunteering talking to artists, patrons and even doing a demo of encaustics with found objects. I am a little nervous about that but super excited about seeing artwork by various artists.

This event is really BIG. If you don't believe me, check out the website.

http://www.eastaustinstudiotour.com/

And wish me luck!

Happy Friday!

Plano

Is just plain-oh.

So glad to be back at home.

One good thing about sleeping in a hotel room... I had 12 pillows to myself. But it is hard to sleep in a strange bed. 

Oh and it got cold so suddenly! One minute it was 80 degrees and the next, windy and in 40s...

Oh well...

Taking Off

Heading to Plano.

Road Trip!

Yeah!

So I am going on a road trip tomorrow. Nothing very exotic but a simple business trip from Austin to Plano. To attend some meetings. And I will be driving.

Yep. May the powers that be have mercy! I am not too fond of driving and am direction impaired. So let's see how this goes.

This morning, I started packing. Which means I started making a list of things I need to take with me. So I can throw it all into a bag as soon as I come home from work. 

At first my list seemed OK. But then it dawned on me.... how many gadgets am I taking for this trip? Shocking! Here is the list. You tell me if this is normal. Just so you know, I leave early on Wednesday and come back Thursday night.

List of Gadgets:

1. Work Blackberry and charger.
2. iPhone and charger.
3. Bluetooth device for car. So I can talk on phone hands free. It is a 4 hour drive at least.
4. iPod. Haven't really transferred all my music yet.
5. GPS. Haven't used it before but I hope it helps with directions. And I do not get lost. Dallas is a maze!
6. Work PC in case I need to access the work network.
7. Personal Mac to use all day and check my emails.
8. DSLR Nikon camera with 2 lenses in case I want to take photos.
9. Point and shoot camera for taking photos of the Plano office.
10. External hard drive in case I need to share some large files.
11. A very cute USB drive. Just so I look cool.

Question: Am I normal?

Kidnapped!

In case you are wondering... as soon as I landed in Cincinatti, I got kidnapped! They came in a huge limo and whisked me away. The kidnappers then made me watch the Fishing Show and even though I was terrified, I was so bored that I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I was at this location. And in front of my eyes, my abductor... Captain Jack Sparrow also known as Johnny Depp!

So that is where I have been for all this time. On a boat, sailing with Captain Jack Sparrow.

Unfortunately... I was rescued and thus I am back.

Thank you Mr. Mayor of Pottsville Mr. Mythos for your efforts to rescue me.

Le sigh!

Hello cincinati!

Here for my son 2's graduation. How ironic that he was born in this city!

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Yuchi!

Have an early morning flight! Woke up too late!





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3 moons and an alien ship

Last night I went out to take photos of the moon.

Here is my favorite one. Not really sure what the green stuff is. But I can say for sure that I was not abducted last night:)

Anyone have any theories about the green object? There were no planes flying when I took this shot. And I could see no green stuff in the sky. Do you think it is my lens over-correcting the blackness?

I am curious!

Happy 21st Son 2!

So my baby turns 21 today. Yeah!

Happy birthday to my son 2. My baby.

I can't help but feel relieved over this event. We work so hard to raise babies, hoping that they will learn values and become good human beings. But everything is trial and error. And guilt, tremendous, bone crushing guilt is somehow upon Moms every single day.

I shouldn't have fed him home baked cookies after school.

I should have forced him to eat Brussels sprouts.

I should and shouldn't... the list goes on and on and on...

Le sigh!

But today, I am going to forgo it all. And simply focus on the huge task I accomplished. I raised a child. And I am ready to let him go out there in the world. Watch out world here he comes!

As for me, I took the day off today to simply celebrate my success. Of course it is all about me. I made this happen didn't I? And yes his father and an entire village helped me accomplish this. But today... I am simply going to claim this as mine and savor it.

Guilt free!

Dried

Buds

Pollen

Blueish

Pinkie

Wispy

Turmeric

Untitled

Radius

Yellow

Cluster

Jasmine

Butterfly Bush

Black-eyed Susan

Be mine!

Celebrate love every day of your life.

Lone Flower

Lantana

Aliens

Hazy

Purple Hues

Orange Dreams

Sundial

Crimson

I feel Pink

Canna

Purple

Specks

Mellow Yellow

Happy February!

One of the favorite photography subjects for me has always been flowers. I love shooting them and have a instant chemistry with them. It shows up in the photos. Chemistry with the subject is an important element in photography. You have to have it to create fabulous captures. This became clear to me when I took photos of some extremely rare and interesting cars. I really am not into cars. And regardless of how beautiful the cars were, my photos ended up being super boring and blah.

This month, I want to share my flower photos. Yes I know every flower has already bee photographed by much superior photographers from every angle. But... since this is the month of celebrating love, I'll share with you my favorite photo subject.

Enjoy.

Miso

I have a new bird! I have a new bird!

What was I thinking?

Someone from work was taking care of this bird Maestro. He is a peach-faced parakeet. He is tinier than Birdie and is a bit scared of humans. But yet he needs company. Where he was living previously, he was alone almost all day long and a tad lonely. Since I have a lot of traffic at home all day long, I offered to take him in.

And he came this weekend! It was so so exciting! He is, as you can tell, gorgeous!

I spent a ton of time this weekend reading books about parrot and parakeets. I want to win his love and trust. And I want it badly!

After hours of reading, I realized that winning his love is exactly like how I behaved in high school. Give tons of attention for ten minutes. Sing to him and coo to him. Then, ignore him for 20 minutes. After that, go back into the room so he can see you and continue your normal tasks for another 10 minutes and continue to ignore him. What this does is that he realizes that HE needs to strive to get my attention. Ha!

See? Just like high school. Piece of cake! Miso, as I call him will be smitten with me in no time.

Wish me luck:)

Sea Side

Fern