New Painting - " Budding"

So I've been busy making drawings and paintings for the past two months, so far I'm pretty consistent and enjoyed the process greatly. I felt there is something within me that wants to come out badly, trying to push me further and further; the only way to let it out is to make art, more art! Me and hubby was having that type of converstion about "if it's going to bring money by making art"... I'm not thinking about it right now, I don't want to... materialism will blur my clear inner mirror, I've to set it aside and focus on my action now instead of worrying about money. But I'm thankful for having my dear hubby in my life that supports me in all different ways, I don't know what will happen in the future but I know it's something great, way greater than anything I imagine :)

"Budding" - Acrylic Paint

I created this piece with "soul searching" idea in my mind, the color scheme and graphic were developed spontaneously. I did an initial drawing without the fetus, my main focus was on the heart, then I started to have a vision of "Tree of Life", so I starts growing root around the bleeding heart. Initially I wanted a smller bud, but it seems too "Balance" with the heart underneath, I made it bigger... well, maybe a little too big lol I didn't use standard symbolism for this painting, instead I intuitively created my own:

Fetus - Growing dream
Onion Bud - Layers and layers of protective coat, how is the fetus going to get out?
Root - Tentacles that is in search of nutrients and food (looking for ideas and possibilities)
Bleeding heart - working hard, a little too hard maybe to feed the fetus (dream)

Now the question is - what is my dream? seriously, I don't know... I felt something is growing and it's full of love and joy, but I don't know what it is... all I can do is accept it and love it until it comes out (I'm not talking about physical baby, although it sounded a lot like it lol)

I did a little research into color's symbolism after I got done with the painting, it seems like a pretty fit into my current situation and mood. That really amaze me, how colors can affect a person's emotion so strongly, it can even drive a person nuts. What I've found was this:

Blue: Communication, Tranquility, Authority, Soul Searching.
Red: Excitement, Rage, Anger, Motivation.
Pale Orange: Creativity, Joy, Enthusiasm, Vitality, Optimism, Exploration.
Blue Green: Trust, Independent, Growth, Nature, Openess, Health, Luck.

Found them on various website, I didn't make this up myself lol color decisions on the painting are totally intuitive, art really makes you release the stagnant energy within the body, very healing and it's a great relief for mundane life.

Now, off to painting again lol

Shop Update - What's Inspiring?

Top Left: Venezia, Italy
Middle Left: Vantican City, Italy
Bottom Left: Pompeii City, Italy
Right: Venezia, Italy

It was a great opportunity to spent my autumn in Europe - both France and Italy, I felt fortunate and bless to see all the great arts and architectures. Throughout the trip, I tried to collect all the inpiration objects/flyers/maps...etc. Take as many pictures as I can , fear that after I came back to US I would forgotten every details in Europe. I fell in love with different types of clocks in Italy, they are everywhere - at basilica, palaces, shopping strip. Some are adorn with reliefs or glass and some are just plain old sundial. But regardless, it tells you the right time especially for somebody like me that always leave the house without a watch LOL will slowly post more Europe inspired photos in the future, seriously it's a lot!!!

After coming back from 2-1/2 weeks trip, immedietely I went back into my studio to work on all the jewelry pieces. I came up with some ideas inspired by renaissance art and ancient ruins, those are still in sketches. Words Series are doing great with a lot more words added, and also with a new twist in the design. I'm looking forward for some great addition that is different from the simplicity of current series, more limited edition jewelry pieces will be added to Etsy shop. Here are some current pieces from my etsy shop:

I'm in the mist of revemping my blog, more information on idea developing, drawing and painting will be added to this blog, as for the baking stuff - they are being moved to a blog: http://mtgkitchen.blogspot.com/

More to come next week :)

Doodling, Fill and Stroke - Thinking of Picasso

 

Pablo Picasso Surrealism Painting

So I did some doodling for the past two months, it reminds me about Pablo Picasso. All of these are highly inspired by him, though it's not exactly the same, I've used some elements from his art onto my painting in a subtle way.


Sea Creature - Food Coloring Experiment 

One of the doodle using food coloring, marker pen, pastel and collage pieces. I wanted to create a underwater scene with a face(sort of...) lingering like a ghost. The orange branches looked like bloody tears that showed sadness and pain; where the motives and blue color represent the cooling effect of water, hence neutralize the sadness and somewhat wrap around face with caress and love.


Surreal Face - Self-Portrait

doodling that was made after Sea Creature, it was done using marker pen, pastel and white glue. This is such a random piece, I have my eyes closed while drawing the face, and voila~ a crazy looking drawing! then I doodle somemore patterns but really ran out of ideas... urghhhh~ My eyes started landing on a bottle of white glue, it's calling for me. I squeeze some on my finger and starts putting it on the left side of the drawing, not covering the face. After it has dried, I rubbed some pastel on it and was enlighten to see the beautiful effect! White glue acted as a resist, and that made the drawing more dimensional. After all the doodling and coloring, I figured something is still missing - I need an EYE! how can I call it finished without a collage eye??? Collage pieces are essential in my artwork at this moment, the eye link all the parts together and make the story complete.

All of these are done with the intention of experimenting, it released my stress and fear. Instead of making a perfect piece right away, doodling relief all the tension for my mind; it needs a little unwind, and a little letting go.

Another random piece for experiement -

marker pen, pastel, white glue, image transfer, stamping, collage.

New Jewelry Posted

They can be found here

Just a quick update for my new necklaces:

I have listing some necklaces in my shop, nature and words inspired, and a pair of gothic looking "eye" earrings.

{Words Necklace - is to bring positive energy and joy into one's life}

It's such a fun ride in making them, it took me a while because I was still working a full-time job and there are too many priorities in life. More new design coming to join the ride, probably something surreal and grotesque looking... (dive in to see the real side of me! I've a split personality of a mad scientist... buaahhahahahha~)

May the love and joy be with you!

Mixed gemstones and component bracelet,

made of sterling silver.

One of my favorites, "Memory" Necklace - made of brass and resin.

d'inspiration Monday - Soap Gifting Time

Took some shots this morning after the rain, tried to capture every bit of details in my neigborhood. I guess there are too much to see, it's making me nausea XD Since the weather is being nice to me today, I took a longer walk to Woods Lane. There are more trees and more flora to see, the street is right by the creek and I can hear the singing of cicada, Fall is their breeding season. I was lucky to catch a glimpse of squirrel playing around the trees, they usually ran pretty quickly before I get the chance to press the shutter button. It felt really good to start my morning this way, I just hoping the weather gets cooler soon so I can explore further into the woods.

Finally my soap is ready! now I can ship my final product to my beloved relatives :D The granite looking Earl Grey Soap smells heavenly, the others are supppose to have grapefruit scent but the scent is too weak. I tried the soap a week ago and it worked perfect on my skin, nothing beats naturally homemade product ^_____^

Ingredient:

Earl Grey Soap:

Sodium Hydroxide, Sweet Almond Oil, Pure Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Distilled Water, Bergamot Essential Oil, Mint Essential Oil, Kaolin Clay.

Grapefruit Soap:

Sodium Hydroxide, Sweet Almond Oil, Pure Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Shea Butter, Distilled Water, Grapefruit Essential Oil, Kaolin Clay.

Packed with a smile,

hope this will make their day.

This piece is kind of ugly,

but the packaged pieces are pretty looking.

Close up of an Earl Grey Soap!

Le Dessert Sunday - Banana Yogurt Cake

Banana Yogurt Cake

I wasn't planning to bake on sunday at all, hot weather made me sleepy, especially after a big lunch. So I took a nap and spent the rest of the day in front of computer -____-||| not productive at all!

But before I went to bed, I started to make plans for Monday - meal, laundry, cleaning, reading...etc. I guess my inner self was calling for sweets, and it's hard for me to resist since I like sweets so much!!! With two left over banana ripping on the kitchen counter top, I decided to make a banana yogurt cake today, simple and easy.

It is great for afternoon tea, recommend to pair with Earl Grey Tea. I modified the recipe a little to suit my taste - I didn't make glazing at all, glazing will make the cake more moist though; you can also use different fruits and nuts for this recipe.

Banana Yogurt Cake

(Original Recipe from Here)

Ingredient:

• 1/2 cups plain yogurt (Plain or Vanilla)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup All purpose flour
• 1/2 cup ground almond or almond meal
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 3 Eggs
• Pinch of Salt
• 2 Ripe Banana

1. Optional: Vanilla essence, coffee, rum, jam, nuts, chocolate chips...etc
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
3. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds. Mashed the banana with a fork.
4. Add the Sugar, yogurt, eggs to the bowl and whisk vigorously until the mixture is very well blended. Still whisking, stir in the flour, then switch to a large rubber spatula and fold in the oil. Stir in mashed banana. You’ll have a thick, smooth batter with a slight sheen. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
5. Bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until the cake begins to come away from the sides of the pan; it will be golden brown and a knife inserted into the center of the cake will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack, cool for 5 minutes, then run a blunt knife between the cake and the sides of the pan. Unmold and cool to room temperature right-side up. 

Le Dessert Sunday - Japanese Soufflé Cheesecake

Japanese Soufflé Cheesecake

Hubby will be back in two days, I want to surprise him with his favorite cake - Japanese Soufflé Cheesecake. I can't even tell this is a cheesecake when I first had it, the texture is velvety smooth and fluffy as oppose to traditional cheesecake which is rich and heavy, and it's lacking the sour taste we always had with traditional cheesecake. This cheesecake has been everybody's favorite, and you can never have too much since it's so light!

I did a little modification to this recipe - I omited the lemon juice; the apricot jam is to give some gloss to the cake, I left that out too. Instead, I added 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract to increase the flavor a little more. This cheesecake can be made into different flavor - such as: Strawberry, nuts, green tea, cocoa powder. So feel free to experiment! :)

Simple but irresistable :D

The inside is silky smooth and light as chiffon cake.

Japanese Soufflé Cheesecake
(Original recipe from here)

Ingredients:

•250g cream cheese
•50g butter, unsalted
•100ml milk
•6 eggs, large - separate into whites and yolks
•60g plain cake flour
•20g cornflour(cornstarch)
•140g white granulated sugar
•1 tbsp lemon juice
•1/4 tsp cream of tartar
•1/4 tsp salt

1. Melt the cream cheese, butter, and milk together in the double boiler, until there are no lumps. Cool this cream mixture, e.g. by put the bowl/pot into a larger bowl of cold water.
2. Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites, and whisk until foamy. Add the sugar, and whisk until you get "soft peaks".
3. Returning to the cooled cream mixture: mix in the egg yolks and salt, then the lemon juice. Gently fold in the flour and cornflour, sieving the flour/cornflour as you add it.
4. Add the cream-flour mixture to the egg white mixture bit by bit. Mix together very gently, to not loose the "airiness".
5. Line the sides and base of baking tin with grease-proof/baking paper, and pour in the combined mixture. Put the baking tin into a bain-marie - fill the bain-marie with enough water that the tin starts to float and then add some more (as it will evaporate off).
6. Place bain-marie into preheated oven (160°C, on fan-assisted, adjust as necessary), and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes. Don't open the oven before you think the cake is ready.
7. To cool, tip the cake out, upside-down, onto a plate (if you leave it to cool in tin, the top surface will crumple as the cake subsides). Leave to cool in fridge (e.g. overnight).
8. To serve, remove baking paper and tip cake back to brown-side-up. Serve cold.