7 things I love

I am indeed honoured to receive this lovely art blog award today from the talented Christine Grove of Sunshine Hill. Thank you Christine! In accordance with the rules I now have to list 7 things I love and pass on the award on if possible. Listing is easy, but tagging is more difficult as there are so many wonderful blogs out there! Anyway, here goes first with a list of my 7 loves (not including my family, friends and cat, as that goes without saying), nor in any special order of preference:

1. I live most of the year in the tropics, but when we visit Europe, I do love to walk in the countryside, particularly in the English Lake District or West Country. The bluebell woods are magnificent in Spring.

2. My lovely Malaysian garden filled with the scent of the gorgeous Frangipani flower which comes in pale pink, dark pink and white. Hmm, heavenly!

3. Japanese hand silk-screened paper. The colours, textures and patterns are so beautiful.

4. The sheer delicacy of a dragonfly's wing. (Click for a closer view).

5. Delicious, icy, crisp, gooseberry/citrus-flavoured New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wine.

6. The combination of turquoise and coral in jewellery.

7. Fragrant, spicy Thai food. The photo shows Mieng Kham which is a delicious appetiser - you just place a small spoonful from each bowl (roasted coconut, peanuts, chilis etc) onto a leaf, add some sauce, wrap the leaf and pop into your mouth. Scrumptious!

Now I'm going to pass the award on to the following very creative people. Be sure to check out their inspirational blogs!

Cathy of One Pink Goose
Monica of msc4Art and Books
Andrea of Andrea Joseph's Sketchblog
Cati of El camino a casa
Louisa of Mousetales
Gennine of Gennine's Art Blog
Roberta of A Mouse in the House

P.S. To those I've nominated, please do take the award, but don't feel obliged to keep tagging if you've been tagged recently - I've noticed that many creative bloggers have stacks of awards and imagine that it becomes pretty time consuming to keep listing and tagging!

Birds

I took loads of photos last Sunday when we went to the Bird Park - I've selected just a few to post here . KL's bird park has the largest walk-in free flight aviary and is well worth a visit - it's a beautiful place to stroll and view many species.

Sleepy owls!

These two birds are gorgeous - they're Asian Fairy Bluebirds! The male has the more brilliant coloured blue plumage.

I love these little guys in their multi-colour outfits! They were really inquisitive and enjoyed the seeds and posing for the camera!

Bad hair day?

IF - Time

Telling the time with a Dandelion clock.

Chinese Lion Dance

Here are some photos from the Chinese Lion Dance we saw this weekend at our local Chinese supermarket. We've seen numerous lion dances during our years in Hong Kong and Singapore, but this was the first acrobatic display we've come across. It was a riot of colour and sound, a lot of fun and well worth watching.

Traditionally, the lion dance, which is believed to usher good fortune, as well as ward off evil spirits is performed at Chinese New Year as well as for business launches and the welcoming of dignatories. Legend has it that in the early Ming Dynasty, an evil beast would appear every year at the Foshan area of Guangdong Province. The tormented citizens retaliated by making lions shaped with the bamboo and painting them in brilliant colours. They danced with the lions to the beat of gongs and drums, to scare off the beast.










The lion dance calls for the perfect co-ordination, agility and nerves of steel of two dancers. The first controls the head and determines the movements, while the second dancer, who acts as the body, must work in tandem with him.














The lion's head, which is usually constructed of papier mache and bamboo, complete with eyes that blink and a mouth that snaps, is brilliantly adorned with colourful patterns,fur and glitter and can weigh up to 15kg. A considerably heavy burden to hold aloft while moving vigorously, leaping from pole to pole many feet off the ground! Quite scary to watch too!















Enticed with gifts - usually ang pow (money in red packets) attached to a vegetable - the dancers try to get these gifts, making it look as though the lion devours them. The lions toss oranges from the basket for onlookers to catch. The children love it! The dance is commonly performed to the beat of the tagu (Chinese drum) and gong, accompanied by the clanging of cymbals.

Golden Chalice

I picked up a few fallen Golden Chalice Vine (Solandra longiflora) flowers on my walk the other day and took them home to photograph. Gorgeous! So appropriately named too! I'd like to get one of these lovely plants for my garden - apparently they have a lovely perfume at night.

Illustration Friday - Flawed

Here's a portrait of my Ted, now in his 50's! I hesitate to call him flawed.. well loved and worn, more like! Perhaps even Wabi Sabi? If you've never heard of Wabi Sabi do take a look at my previous post for an explanation of this Japanese aesthetic.

Good Luck Cat and Wabi Sabi

This is a collage of Tia the cat that I made to give to Julie as a little parting gift. She and her boyfriend Andy left for Australia on Saturday night :( They've been staying with us for a couple of months so it's going to be very quiet around here now!
I had a lot of fun making the picture - I used some of my stash of handmade paper for this and made whiskers from fishing line dipped in gesso!




Inspiration came from a photo (left) I'd taken a couple of weeks back of Tia in the garden and a super children's book I've just bought (for myself!) called Wabi Sabi, written by Mark Reibstein with superb collaged illustrations by Ed Young.
"Wabi Sabi, a little cat in Kyoto, Japan, had never thought much about her name until friends visiting from another land asked her owner what it meant. At last, the master says, "That's hard to explain." And that is all she says. This unsatisfying answer sets Wabi Sabi on a journey to uncover the meaning of her name, and on the way discovers what wabi sabi is: a Japanese philosophy of seeing beauty in simplicity, the ordinary, and imperfection. Using spare text and haiku, Mark Reibstein weaves an extraordinary story about finding real beauty in unexpected places. Caldecott Medal-winning artist Ed Young complements the lyrical text with breathtaking collages. Together, they illustrate the unique world view that is wabi sabi. Wabi Sabi is a unique picture book that clearly explains a new way of seeing the world to readers."


Wabi Sabi had a very long path to publication and you can read the fascinating story (in 4 parts) here and more about Ed Young's work here. Finally, here's a video about the making of the book.

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