Thursday, January 30, 2014

Tokyo Urban Garden


It's done.  My brother asked me who is the creepy guy in the back.  He is the keeper of my favorite urban garden.  He lives in such a rundown house near the train tracks and decorates it with colorful flowers year-round.  I guess it's the beauty of city life. You easily find someone doing something interesting. 

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Work In Progress: Tokyo Urban Garden


This piece is almost finished. Finally! I have been working on this since last year. And guess what! I don't like this piece!  I didn't like it anymore once I finished the first half of it, and it has been a painful process to tackle with my frustration with my skills and impatient personality.

Hey, but I am a mother now, and I should show a good example for my son.  I will finish it and think about how to continue developing this theme.  My inspiration is coming from living, again, in this neighborhood where I grew up.  Compared to my life in beautiful scenic California, this town looked so gray and dull when I came back.  I desperately tried to find beauty in this urban bed town, and all I got were the flowers and the colors some neighbors are displaying on their doorsteps.

Tokyo's famous street garden.

I think my idea is good, but I am having a hard time drawing what is in my imagination.  I am excited to keep working on this concept and how I can come up with better versions of it.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Inspiring start of 2014


My new year starts with many inspirations and new thoughts.   One of my new year resolutions is making more actions than spending time planning, thinking, and worrying. Oh, and whining and complaining in my head.

First thing first, I have been focusing on assisting my son who's in the first stage of figuring out about himself and the world.  So called Terrible Two:-) I used to be able to make some time for working out, drawing, or working on the computer.  I don't have that time anymore unless I wake up really early.  Now he demands me to take him to bed every night, so my precious night hours have been significantly reduced.  I fought about this issue so hard, but I decided to just focus on one thing at a time and set my priority on enjoying time with my son as much as possible.  I realized that this is the final year that I can spend all day long with my son.  So much to teach and give. 

Once I set my focus though, I have been feeling much inspired and creative.  I have so much new ideas for drawings now, and I enjoy planning on it whenever and wherever I can.  That lead me to finally start experimenting with gouache.  I love watercolor, but I enjoy the feel gouache creates as well.  Also about this blog, I would like to write more about myself instead of just presenting my works.  It would be a very slow process for awhile, but I think the important thing is making an action.  In a way, it is time for me to come out of the closet.  Show me, reveal me, and see how it goes.