Announcing New Blog

I've done it again. I've started a new journey on a new blog. Please come and join me at Soul of 11.

It will be fun :)

Garden in a box

I finally started a project that my whole family could be involved with. We are building a miniature garden inside a box with mixed materials. Here you can see Mr. Mole inside a magic circle of toadstools.
Mr. Mole and Cat next to the vegetable patch.

Top view of the garden.

Top view of the whole garden. This garden is still in progress. We are going to add rocks, trees and flowers later.

Work in progress

A pronghorn's head for my little animal lover (What happened to his body? I'm sorry sweetheart, mommy hasn't figured out how to sculpt the rest of him).

I have been feeling romantic lately.

I'm thinking of adding necks and other things to these heads. And this time, I am going to work slow and steady, spend some time on planning. No more rushing in my work.

Illustrations for Kundalini Yoga

I've finally finished working on my two illustrations for a kundalini yoga workshop. The first one here is a meditation for prosperity.

And this second illustration shows a meditation for relieving stress or sudden shock.

I worked really hard on these illustrations, and I'm quite proud of myself. Thank you very much to the wonderful people who entrusted this project to me. Thank you so much, for your faith in my ability. Sat nam!

The Universe works in mysterious ways

It has been over four months since I last blogged, I almost forgot how things work around here. I am pleased to announce my come back. I have finally grown used to our new life. I think I am handling my new responsibilities quite well. The Universe (or God, if you prefer) has been really kind to me. I am grateful that I am still able to make art and continue to grow.

For some strange reason I am now working on some illustrations for a friend. You see, I have always see myself as a sculptor. This new experience is really good for me. A lot of growth, a lot of challenges for me. I love it!

I even cleared my desk to turn it into a tiny studio! The only thing that has not changed is that I am still as messy as ever.

I made this cut paper pattern yesterday, it is going to be integrated into the background of the illustration that I am currently working on. A lot of coffee was involved in the process. I'm amazed that I was able to keep my hands steady and not make a wrong cut!

It's good to be back. I am still me. Where I am right now in life, is exactly where I need to be. Thanks for the lessons, dear Universe. Here's to another new year. May there be a lot of fascinating discoveries, and magical art making experience.

Goodbye for now

A lot of things have happened recently in my life, and they proved to be a lot of challenge.

First, my husband has been officially accepted by the law school. Honestly, I really feel happy for him. I know that means I'll be busier than ever, and I have to take over a lot of responsibility while he's in school...but I am prepared for that.

Second, I am busy at the moment, looking for a preschool for my daughter. It's time for her to go out into the world, learn some things, and most importantly, learn to make some friends...etc...all that kind of good stuff. Of course, she's kind of making things a little difficult by suddenly developing separation anxiety....again.

Sigh.

Life is a little chaotic right now...but I'm pretty confident that we will be able to work this out. So right now I have to put blogging aside. I can't decide at this point if I want to come back to blogging someday or not...but this is goodbye for now.

Take care everyone. And God bless.

Paper Art

I'm in a rut lately, couldn't find any inspiration for a new sculpture. So it's time to do something different for a change: cut paper art.

I think I may have discovered a new hobby!

This little monster is the first one that I made. I know, it's like I'm forever living in Halloween town.

What's with all these demons and monsters?

When I'm having a bad time, those nasty voices in my head become really loud. There are times I can block them out completely. But there are times I just can't do a thing about them. These are the voices that tell me that my art is not good enough, I'm fat and useless...etc. You get the picture. A time like this gives me the urge to create demons and monsters in my art...it's kind of like a form of "exorcism" for me.

And there are times when I just feel like creating funky creatures for the fun of it (I suspect deep down inside, there's a part of me who is a video game designer wanna-be).




Lastly, I need to figure out a way to get some of these designs on a t-shirt!

Artist Trading Card

I seem to be taking a lot of breaks from sculpting lately. Oh well, I just feel like doing something different. It's good for exercising creativity and stuff.

These three cards are my first ATC in ages. I used pictures that I drew and also picture of my sculpture.

Companion

Made this sculpture a couple of weeks ago, as a companion piece to my Hyakki Yako. The inspiration for this work actually came from this particular post from one of my favorite blogs, More Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan.


Instead of demons, this piece has Jizo buddhas and children playing under the tree. It's the opposite of Hyakki Yako. I like the idea of Jizo buddha. He is the protector of women, children and travelers (in the physical realm and spiritual realm).

I put a fox here next to the Jizo. Again, playing with the idea of a spiritual guardian.



And here are the two sculptures, side by side, for comparison. I like to expand this idea, of making a group of sculptures that are related to each other, and they interact with each other when they are together.

Hyakki Yako

I'm back to sculpting after taking 3 weeks off from it. This time I'm playing with the idea of Hyakki Yako (the Chinese call it bai gui ye xing: a hundred demons moving in the night), which means pandemonium.

I worked pretty much all day on Saturday. I love how the sculpture looked in the light of the setting sun.

I spent a few more hours on Sunday to finish the sculpture. I think this sculpture took me over 10 hours to complete.

I'm quite proud of my nose. I mean the nose on this sculpture, I think I have improved a lot :)

There are 7 demons hanging out under the tree.


My favorite demon is that happy little guy sitting on the bottom left.


I kind of like this triceratops-inspired demon too.


It was fun coming up with all those ideas for demons. I think I will have to make more demons to accompany this piece.

Work in proress: Memento mori

Going for a memento mori-sort of theme (not quite the traditional notion of memento mori).

Dreams and Demons (the sculpture)

Started building this sculpture over the weekend. I discovered that coil building is the technique that works the best for me.


This sculpture is about someone who isn't careful, and let his/her dreams and demons go out of control.




Here's a demon.

A ghost.

And this skeleton dude hangs out at the back of the head.

Dreams and Demons

This week has been unbelievably good for me. I managed to make art everyday since Sunday! What an excellent way to start the new year.

So what do I wish for this new year? I wish to be more adventurous. Meaning, I would like my drawing and sculpting to interact with each other. I'd love it if they both could get together and produce some interesting off springs. Let's pray for lots of good things to happen between these two.


This week I did a lot of drawings. This one full drawing is actually an idea for a sculpture. I call it Dreams and Demons (see the dreams and demons crawling out of the person's head).


I bet these demons/creatures are fun to sculpt. I can hardly wait to start on them.




Besides drawing I also painted a couple of my sculptures. I love using oil paint.


I've had a productive week. It's awesome!